Buried Treasures: ALF, The Verve Pipe, Soul Asylum, God Forbid
By: Andrew
I listened to the latest All The Remains album. I cannot believe this is the same band that released This Darkened Heart and The Fall of Ideals. The under 18 crowd must rejoice. If you no longer bring a lunchbox to school, it’s time to move on. All That Remains 2012 isn’t for you. This buried treasure is a lunchbox. I brought this with me to school during my early grade school days. ALF, at that time, was king.
At the height of their popularity in the mid-90′s, I saw Soul Asylum headline Jones Beach. A few years later, I saw them headline at Tramps. And they didn’t headline Tramps by choice, but by necessity. Talk about frustrated incorporated. “Somebody To Shove” leads Grave Dancer’s Union. While “Runaway Train” is the one that’s remembered, “Somebody To Shove” and “Black Gold” are the top two tracks.
I saw the Verve Pipe live in, I want to say 1997. Irving Plaza. Touring in support of Villains. If memory serves me correct, “Photograph” was the lead single and being played on radio. I’m not even sure if “The Freshmen” even took mainstream shape yet. At the time, it was the victim of saturation. The rock stations, adult contemporary, top 40, etc. I remember being in NYC and it was on K-Rock, then WPLJ (95.5), then Z100. The song was unavoidable. Revisited years later, I realized it’s a masterpiece. Excellent writing, competent composition. Truly one of the best songs from the 90′s.
“Scraping The Walls” is a standout track from God Forbid’s latest release, Equilibrium. Unfortunately, “Don’t Tell Me What To Dream” is the only song most people know from the record. I’m not entirely sure why or how Century Media decided to run with that one. *The audio on this is a bit choppy, but it’s the only one out there.
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I always enjoy these posts. Keep ‘em coming.
I can’t believe Soul Asylum headlined sheds back in the 90′s. I didn’t think Runaway Train was that big of a hit. I thought it was marketing more than anything because they used it on MTV to address missing children or something like that.
I’ve been off the God Forbid bandwagon since Dallas left but this track is excellent. Reminds me of In Flames and bands from Europe. Yet there from Jersey.
Midas(Quote) (Reply)
i so totally forgot about the verve pipe…hahahaha.
back in the day before i was wise to this stuff i always confused verve pipe, verve and there was this punk band from jersey called verve nation. too many verve’s at once.
freshmen is a really good song man. i haven’t listened to it in about 10 years. so totally odd how music hits you at diff points in your life and has two different affects
Uriah Heep(Quote) (Reply)
I don’t know if anyone remembers but they had a single in 98 or 99 and played one of the Dysfunctional Picnics. It was barely played on the radio and they were out of the spotlight at that time. They had an early day slot. I just saw them live this past summer at Bowery and they were still pretty good. Really hot girls at the show.
Ollie(Quote) (Reply)
Ollie,
I think I was at the show you’re talking about. I was at a couple of the Jones Beach K-Rock shows. I think Soul Asylum went on so early in the day that they followed Fred Norris’ band. I could be wrong, but that’s where my memory takes me on that one. That record after Let Your Dim Light Shine really didn’t have a place in any one format. Was it rock? Adult contemporary? It kind of got lost in the shuffle.
ALL KNOWING FORCE: Andrew Bilach(Quote) (Reply)
The new All That Remains CD isn’t that bad man. Yeah it’s commercial but it’s not as bad as you’re saying it is. It’s no Fall Of Ideals though.
I once saw Dave Pirner’s hair in like 96 and there were things in it. Dust, etc. Dude must never have showered.
duckie(Quote) (Reply)
Haha! I won the album with I Will Still Be Laughing from some radio station back in the day. I think their fall from grace was about 1998.
I haven’t listened to that Verve Pipe song in a decade. I agree that it sounds better now than it did then due to the oversaturation.
007(Quote) (Reply)
Was the A-Team lunch box not available? Dude was into ALF and admits it.
(so was I…sshhh)
The new God Forbid is killer.
the*homestead(Quote) (Reply)
I had that exact same lunchbox! first grade!
ALL KNOWING FORCE: Darius(Quote) (Reply)
Dude, none of this is bad. I used to watch the Hogan Family which was on after ALF
Tony(Quote) (Reply)
ALF was the f’n man. I wish I could visit Melmac
Dennis(Quote) (Reply)
Dennis,
Not only did I wish I could visit Melmac, but I despised by parents (for a short time) because all we had was a cat. ALF was a bad ass. Anyone that was lucky enough to carry his lunch box should reflect on their childhood with happiness and honor.
Tony,
The Hogan Family? If you were a kid and watched that alone —- that’s a problem.
Off to Youtube to find ALF clips.
ArchedIsisByleveling(Quote) (Reply)
Soul Asylum never released strong albums. Each album even before Grave Dancers Union I could cherry pick individual tracks that were excellent but the bulk of the release was filler junk. Still they should receive more mainstream credit because as far as post grunge rock goes, they were right up there.
Old White Ford(Quote) (Reply)
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