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Tuesday, 06 December 2005 05:03

From the beginning, Faces & Names is not a great album; instead, it a solid mixture of rock, soul, and R&B influenced songs. Like New Orleans, it is a gumbo, a mixture of musical styles. As the story goes, producer-to-the-stars Daniel Lanois was looking to sell his mansion in New Orleans, home to the legendary Kingsway Studio. Pirner saw this as an opportunity to record at the notorious studio before it was put to rest. Lyrically, on Face & Names, we find Pirner to be a little more upbeat than usual. The songs seem to float between confessional numbers and soulful rockers and ballads. For Soul Asylum fans, this is a different-sounding album that is still worth a listen. As fans, we tend to want our artists to not explore new territories, which is a shame. Faces & Names is an album that Pirner should be proud of and fans of Soul Asylum should give a chance.