Following the same pattern and approach as Grave Dancer's Union, Let Your Dim Light Shine firmly positions Soul Asylum as a mainstream rock & roll band. Gone are the breakneck punk rockers, replaced with searching, introspective ballads and socially conscious mid-tempo rockers. In itself, that wouldn't be a problem, but Dave Pirner has taken the weight of the world upon his shoulders, which becomes apparent from the lyrics. Pirner's lyrics are so overwrought that they not only approach self-parody, they go completely beyond it. Every lyric is weighted with such self-importance, making it easy to overlook the relative merits of the music, which isn't quite as impressive as that of their previous records.