"A self-proclaimed ""hell-on"" rock band, Soul Asylum is one inspirational band to thousands of startup groups across the country. It took Soul Asylum 10 years to achieve full-blown success in the music industry, but that tough toiling time was well worth it to the Minneapolis rockers who took the scene by storm in the early ‘90s with the classic ""Runaway Train,"" also scoring number ones with hit singles ""Somebody to Shove"" (1992) and ""Misery"" (1995).Before Soul Asylum was known for the mellow college rock track ""Runaway Train,"" the group was simply another teenage garage band looking to wreak havoc on their sleepy Minnesota town. Dan Murphy (guitar), Karl Mueller (bass) and Dave Pirner (drums) founded the beginnings of Soul Asylum under the moniker Loud Fast Rules in 1981, shifting their teenage act to a more sophisticated style with the quickly-turning years. Eventually adding Grant Young on board as the band's newest drummer, Soul Asylum's first jumpy rock album was 1984's Say What You Will, Clarence...Karl Sold the Truck. The album scored only marginally amid the bustling rock scene of the ‘80s, and the Minnesota band was overshadowed by already-established Twin Cities acts the Replacements and Husker Du.Soul Asylum continued pushing their luck, however, releasing several more albums in the late ‘80s and ‘90s before the magical Grave Dancer's Union was released in 1992. The album was exactly what Soul Asylum needed to kick their neutral career into drive, yielding the electrifying ""Somebody to Shove,"" as well as the classic mellow tune ""Runaway Train."" The album hit number one on the Heatseekers chart, blasting the name Soul Asylum into the alternative music realm. ""Runaway Train"" is undoubtedly the band's most popular song to date, and the Minnesota rockers had trouble living up to the single in years following its release. The band teetered on the edge of a breakup in the mid-1990s, but the official end to Soul Asylum came in 1998 when Mueller died of esophageal cancer (although band members did reunite for one more album in 2006)."