This is a band that was tagged -- gleefully, at that -- as a failure when its 1995 album Let Your Dim Light Shine sold "only" a million copies. Of course, that was because its predecessor, Grave Dancer's Union, was a multi-million seller with a hit single, "Runaway Train," that locomotived Soul Asylum out of the punk rock underground (where it never belonged, anyway) and into the MTV mainstream -- to the vociferous chagrin of the group's longtime cult of supporters.

Backlash came in abundance when Dim Light fell a few million short of the mark. But Soul Asylum played it smart; after touring to promote Dim Light, the group members took some time off and apart from each other. Guitarist Dan Murphy toured with his side band, Golden Smog. Frontman Dave Pirner played drums in the O'Jeez and scored the film Chasing Amy. Soul Asylum also played at a high school prom in flood-ravaged Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Now Pirner, Murphy and bassist Karl Mueller -- along with a shifting array of drummers since Sterling Campbell left last year -- come forth with Candy From a Stranger. It's another collection that champions melody over mayhem, closer to Grave Dancer's Union than, say, the band's riff-heavy 1988 release, Hang Time. Oh, they still rock -- notably on the first single, "I Will Still Be Laughing," but the group also spends its time playing with psychedelia ("Creatures of Habit") and exploring mid-tempo balladry in "Close," "The Game" and "See You Later."

It may still displease the loyalists from the band's famously sloppy and drunken club days (hey, they come from the same town as the Replacements, after all), but Soul Asylum rightly considers it evolution. And as Pirner and Murphy sit down to chat in a conference room at Columbia Records' New York City headquarters, they're more than happy to tell those who would deny them that growth to get over it.

So, how did you get Candy From a Stranger going?

Murphy: We started doing pre-production at Dave's house, just with acoustic guitars, mostly. God, we spent about three weeks there. Then Chris [Kimsey, producer] really talked us into recording in studio.

Pirner: I don't think you can be too premeditated about what you're going to play. You bring things in, you feel out different ideas, and whatever the band responds to is what you focus on. For every one idea that gets worked on, there's ten that get thrown out.

Murphy: For me, when we started playing acoustically, it was a revelation. After that, we had this practice room with this huge PA and Marshall amps. It was cool. It was so incredibly loud. And these producers would come in ... Ed Stasium, we did hang time, and he's like, "This is how you guys practice?" We're like, "Yeah, we've always done it this way. Don't you think it's cool?"

But then you get into the situation where literally you go in to the record. I go to Dave, "That's what you're singing about there? That's so cool." You don't ever hear a lyric until he's singing a vocal in the studio, and you go, "Wow, if I would have known that, I would have played a lot less." (Laughs) It's like a circular way of learning.

Is it too dramatic to say that there was a period where Soul Asylum found itself again?

Murphy: I think it's not too dramatic. I think on the last record, we were so, maybe, just shell-shocked by the two years we spent before and how busy we were ... it was a completely different vibe. This time, to me, it really felt like we were in a band again, and there's silliness and pettiness and great things going on at the same time. On this record there were some really fun days and there were some bad days, and there were some crazy fights and everybody was just feeling great about it.

Fights? Over what?

Murphy: Kick drum patterns. Rushing parts. All the usual stuff. Who's the bigger asshole ..."

Pirner: It can get pretty esoteric at times. Everybody's just pretty uptight, so everybody's blowing steam sometimes. You really have to put up with people's mood swings a lot in a situation like that. You're trying to pretend like there's no pressure. You're trying to be open-minded and loose all day long, but somewhere in the back of your mind you know that studio's costing a lot of money every day, and you've got to get it right.

Murphy: I punched a hole in a wall. But in true anti-rock & roll fashion, I spackled it myself and painted it. It was at the house I was staying at -- I mean like a hole, a cheap house. It happened smack dab in the middle of a really bad week. I was just blowing off some steam.

Pirner: I really socked a picture, just shattered the glass.

Murphy: You cut your hand up a little bit.

Pirner: That's a good idea to do when you're in the studio ... trying to play an instrument and break your hand. Way to go!

What's different about the way you approach songs now?

Pirner: I think it's an effort to try to be more concise, to try and leave more space in your playing, to use less words that mean more and play less notes that mean more and put the bass drum down in the meaningful spot and not around it. It's a continuing effort ... I hope I'm getting better at it. I'd like to think I'm getting better at it.

Murphy: I was giving Dave a bunch of grief. "Runaway Train" won a Grammy,and I was like "Yeah, for 'Best Rock Song with Chorus,' 'cos up until that point, there's not a lot of choruses if you listen to old Soul Asylum stuff. I don't know if it was a conscious thing, but it's not so bad to have something you can name your song, 'cos you say it more than once.

Candy From a Stranger has a larger than usual number of happy sounding songs for you.

Pirner: There's resolve and relief in things. There's always kind of an answer to the questions, somehow. Sometimes I worry about writing bummer songs too much. It's all kind of in the way you perceive it ... You listen to it and I was like, "This is downright uplifting. This is all right. This sounds positive, or optimistic."

Hey, you're even laughing in the first single. At anyone in particular?

Pirner: I think it's directed at everybody. It's just kind of a thing about where you stand or something. And there's a certain level of defiance going on there. It's just more of a universal sentiment than a vindictive situation ... Not like I'm laughing at you. I'm laughing at myself and I'm laughing at the situation and I'm laughing at life, and that's just fine with me....

This is your "I Will Survive."

Pirner: Yeah. Kinda. (Laughs) Exactly.

Finally, what was your reaction of having "Misery" included in the Tommy Lee-Pamela Anderson sex video?

Murphy: Yeah, that's a weird little story. I was out on tour -- actually, playing guitar with the Jayhawks -- and one of the guys on the Wallflowers' crew goes, "Oh, I got this video in the bus and you're song's on it." I was like, "What?!" I had heard about that video and all that, but I wasn't going to go out and get it. And I went in and just watched and went "God ..." It just felt kind of weird. It's a pretty funny song for it, "Misery." And then you kind of question their motives. Why are they selling it for $40? Why didn't they ask us, and why didn't they get our permission? It makes us look like we're an active partner in this venture that's their wedding tape. I mean, it's sort of not serious and funny, and at the same time it's sort of serious. It's definitely a violation of our rights.

GARY GRAFF