Let Your Dim Light Shine

Let Your Dim Light Shine is the seventh studio album by American rock band Soul Asylum, released June 6, 1995, on Columbia Records. Critically, it suffered in comparison to its predecessor, Grave Dancers Union, the band's breakout release. It includes the hit "Misery", which was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Syndicated Inc." on his album Bad Hair Day.

Let Your Dim Light Shine
Studio album by Soul Asylum
Released	June 6, 1995
Recorded	1994–1995
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	49:59
Label	Columbia
Producer	Butch Vig Soul Asylum
Soul Asylum chronology
Grave Dancers Union (1992) Let Your Dim Light Shine (1995) Candy from a Stranger (1998)
Singles from Let Your Dim Light Shine
"Misery" Released: 1995 "Just Like Anyone" Released: 1995 "Promises Broken" Released: 1996

It was the first Soul Asylum album with drummer Sterling Campbell, who had previously played drums on half of the tracks on Grave Dancers Union.

The album's title comes from a lyric of the song "Promises Broken".

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	B+[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Q	[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Spin	7/10[8]

AllMusic gave a mostly critical summary of Let Your Dim Light Shine, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine commenting that the music "isn't quite as impressive" compared to previous efforts, and moreover that this element is easily overlooked because of the "self-importance" of the lyrics.^[1]

Track listing

All songs written by David Pirner unless noted otherwise.

1. "Misery" – 4:24
2. "Shut Down" – 2:51
3. "To My Own Devices" – 2:59
4. "Hopes Up" – 3:45
5. "Promises Broken" (Dan Murphy, Marc Perlman) – 3:14
6. "Bittersweetheart" – 3:34
7. "String of Pearls" – 4:56
8. "Crawl" (Stephen Jordan, Pirner) – 4:00
9. "Caged Rat" – 3:03
10. "Eyes of a Child" – 3:35
11. "Just Like Anyone" – 2:47
12. "Tell Me When" (Pirner, David Samuels) – 3:42
13. "Nothing to Write Home About" – 3:14
14. "I Did My Best" – 3:46

For the Japanese release of Let Your Dim Light Shine, an additional track was added to the album. It was a cover of the Descendents song "Hope". Note that "Bittersweetheart" fades out at 3:17, but the guitar feedback remains, therefore "Bittersweetheart" quickly segues into "String of Pearls". The running time of both songs equals about 8 minutes and 30 seconds long.

Personnel

Soul Asylum

• Dave Pirner – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, trumpet, producer
• Dan Murphy – lead guitar, backing vocals, producer
• Karl Mueller – bass guitar, producer
• Sterling Campbell – drums, percussion, vocals, producer

Additional musicians

• Trini Alvarado – backing vocals
• John Devries – backing vocals
• Joey Huffman – organ, piano, mellotron
• Eric Pierson – guitar (on "Hopes Up", and "Caged Rat")
• Jane Scarpantoni – cello
• Dave Schramm – pedal steel guitar (on "I Did My Best")
• Tim Ray – piano, electric piano

Production

• John Siket – engineer
• Michael Stern – engineer (non credited)
• Butch Vig – producer
• Andy Wallace – mixer
• Howie Weinberg – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Let Your Dim Light Shine Chart (1995) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] 27 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] 21 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11] 45 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[12] 6 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 73 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] 23 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 32 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16] 8 Scottish Albums (OCC)[17] 27 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 37 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 23 UK Albums (OCC)[20] 22 US Billboard 200[21] 6

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Let Your Dim Light Shine Chart (1995) Position US Billboard 200[22] 97

Singles

Chart performance for singles from Let Your Dim Light Shine

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1995	"Misery"	US Billboard Hot 100	20
		US Mainstream Rock Tracks	2
		US Modern Rock Tracks	1
	"Just Like Anyone"	US Mainstream Rock Tracks	11
		US Modern Rock Tracks	19
1996	"Promises Broken"	US Billboard Hot 100	63
		US Mainstream Rock Tracks	29
		US Adult Contemporary	29

Certifications

Certifications for Let Your Dim Light Shine

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[23]	2× Platinum	200,000^
United States (RIAA)[24]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Let Your Dim Light Shine Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
2. Kot, Greg (June 8, 1995). "Pirner's Folly". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
3. Christgau, Robert (October 15, 2000). "Soul Asylum: Let Your Dim Light Shine". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
4. Browne, David (June 9, 1995). "Let Your Dim Light Shine". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
5. Hochman, Steve (June 4, 1995). "Album Review: Soul Asylum Is Searching With Its 'Dim Light'". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
6. "Let Your Dim Light Shine Review". Q. July 1995. p. 124.
7. Gardner, Elysa (February 2, 1998). "Soul Asylum: Let Your Dim Light Shine". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
8. Arnold, Gina (July 1995). "Soul Asylum: Let Your Dim Light Shine". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. p. 71.
9. "Australiancharts.com – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
11. "Ultratop.be – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
12. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8540". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
14. "Soul Asylum: Let Your Dim Light Shine" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
16. "Charts.nz – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
17. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
18. "Swedishcharts.com – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
19. "Swisscharts.com – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
21. "Soul Asylum Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
22. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1995". Billboard. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
23. "Canadian album certifications – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine". Music Canada. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
24. "American album certifications – Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 11, 2021.