The Silver Lining

1	Stand Up and Be Strong 4:23
2	Lately 3:27
3	Crazy Mixed Up World 3:56
4	All Is Well 3:13
5	Bus Named Desire 3:05
6	Whatcha Need 3:52
7	Standing Water 4:40
8	Success Is Not So Sweet 4:58
9	The Great Exaggerator 4:10
10	Oxygen 4:03
11	Good for You 3:52
12	Slowly Rising/Fearless Leader 8:00

Barnes & Noble

The title of this, Soul Asylum's first studio offering in nearly a decade, has a decidedly bittersweet tenor, given the fact that bassist and co-founder Karl Mueller died of cancer during the recording process -- leaving a hole in the band's soul, but also a powerful legacy to remember him by. The Silver Lining is far more spirited than the band's last offering -- 1998's Candy from a Stranger -- and not simply because it's more laden with punchy riffs like the ones that run through the galloping "Bus Named Desire." Yes, there's plenty of amps-to-11 attitude, but even acoustic tracks like "Fearless Leader" (a Woody Guthrie-esque indictment of politicians as a whole, albeit one that could be pinned to the lapel of George Bush) have a jut-jawed intensity that's as infectious as it is bracing. Frontman Dave Pirner has re-tapped his (once seemingly bottomless) inner reservoir of riffs that reconcile timelessness and off-kilter originality, and he strews them like confetti across The Silver Lining, piling them particularly high on "Crazy Mixed Up World" and "Stand Up and Be Strong." The latter tune pretty much sums up the album's wizened, but not weary, tenor -- an acknowledgment that life's a struggle, but an affirmation that it's a winnable one. David Sprague

Rolling Stone

Having once wooed alterna-teens, Soul Asylum have figured out a sound that their grown-up fans can enjoy. Christian Hoard

Billboard

Mixing pop melody and garage grit, "The Silver Lining" is an old-school alternative rock album full of oversized riffs and open-hearted hooks. Sven Philipp