| Grave Dancers Union | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Soul Asylum |
| Cover: | Soul Asylum Grave Dancer's Union.jpg |
| Caption: | Cover art by Jan Saudek |
| Released: | October 6, 1992 |
| Recorded: | February−May 1992 |
| Studio: | The Power Station and River Sound, New York City Pachyderm Discs, Cannon Falls, Minnesota Cherokee Studios, Hollywood |
| Length: | 44:42 |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Michael Beinhorn |
| Prev Title: | And the Horse They Rode In On |
| Prev Year: | 1990 |
| Next Title: | Let Your Dim Light Shine |
| Next Year: | 1995 |
Grave Dancers Union is the sixth studio album by American alternative rock band Soul Asylum and was released in 1992. The album spent 76 weeks on the US Billboard music charts and was certified triple-platinum in 1993, establishing Soul Asylum as one of the most successful rock groups of the first half of the 1990s.
During recording of Grave Dancers Union, producer Michael Beinhorn grew dissatisfied with drummer Grant Young's performance and brought in Sterling Campbell. He and Campbell would each wind up playing on half the record.[1] Due to the band's reluctance to admit that a session musician was involved in the album's recording, Campbell was credited as "percussionist." Young would continue as the band's drummer for touring duties after the album was released, until he was dismissed and officially replaced by Campbell prior to the recording of their next album, Let Your Dim Light Shine.[2]
The single "Runaway Train", released in June 1993, reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award for best rock song in 1994. Though the album had sold moderately well to that point, the breakout success of that single was a major factor in the album's eventual multi-platinum sales figures.
The album cover features a photograph by Czech photographer Jan Saudek titled "Fate Descends Towards the River Leading Two Innocent Children", which was taken in 1970.
The album's title comes from the line "I tried to dance at a funeral, New Orleans style, I joined the Grave Dancers Union, I had to file", from the song "Without a Trace".
Soul Asylum
Additional musicians
Production
| Peak position | |
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[3] | 63 |
|---|---|
| Position | ||
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[4] | 22 | |
|---|---|---|
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[5] | 49 | |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[6] | 27 | |
| US Billboard 200[7] | 35 |
| 1992 | "Somebody to Shove" | Modern Rock Tracks[8] | 1 |
| 1993 | "Black Gold" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 |
| Modern Rock Tracks | 6 | ||
| "Runaway Train" | Adult Contemporary | 15 | |
| Mainstream Rock Tracks | 3 | ||
| Modern Rock Tracks | 13 | ||
| The Billboard Hot 100 | 5 | ||
| Top 40 Mainstream | 2 | ||
| "Somebody to Shove" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 9 | |
| "Without a Trace" | 6 | ||
| Modern Rock Tracks | 27 |