Soul Asylum
Candy From A Stranger
[Columbia]
Rating: 2.5
Before gaining international stardom with the annoyingly- repetitive
"Tubthumping," anarchist- poseurs Chumbawamba released an album called
Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records, a slap in the face for
Ethiopia fund- raisers USA for Africa and Hands Across America.
A little less than a decade later, Soul Asylum discovered that pictures
of missing children sell records just as well when they shot the video
for "Runaway Train."
Candy From a Stranger is the antithesis of every pre- Let Your
Dim Light Shine Soul Asylum record in that there's not an original note
on it. Mediocrity lurks in every hook and chord. Even the hit single,
"I Will Still Be Laughing," is composed of riffs bogarted directly
from REM's "Crush With Eyeliner," and Dave Pirner's raspy attempts to vocally
salvage the pretentious "Blood Into Wine" prove an exercise in futility.
But it's "Close" that is the most contrived and cliche- ridden of
all, with such innovative lyrics as "If it's the thought that counts/ You
can always count on me." Just more evidence that Soul Asylum's dim light
is growing even dimmer.
-Susan Moll