01. Rainy Day
02. Love Among the Ruins
03. Even With My Eyes Closed
04. Girl on a Train
05. Green Children
06. A Room for Everything
07. More Than This
08. Big Star
09. You Won't Find Me There
10. All That Never Happens
11. Shining Light
12. Across the Fields
While many bands have changed their lead singer, few of them have been able to continue on in the public eye with any kind of real exposure. Bands like Van Halen and Dream Theater were the lucky ones. The 10,000 Maniacs were not.
With the departure of Natalie Merchant, the Maniacs were forced to fall back on the vocal talents of frequent collaborator, Mary Ramsey and John from 'John and Mary', whose guitarist, John Lombardo, was an original Maniac. With her, Natalie Merchant also took her piano playing talents and amazing songwriting abilities, so the debut 10,000 Maniacs cd without Merchant would show a new style in the band, with Ramsey's viola.
Although not a chart topper, 'Love Among the Ruins' did manage to spawn a somewhat successful radio hit with the Roxy Music song "More than This". The album is laced with beautifully written and ballads, extenuated by Ramsey's beautifully enchanting voice. Song's such as "Even With My Closed" and title track "Love Among the Ruins" show clearly that had people not gotten to know and love Natalie Merchant as the lead singer, the group would still go somewhere with Mary at the helm.
The band even managed to give a somewhat rocker in the vein of such Maniac favorites as "Like the Weather" and "Jezebel", with "Rainy Day". Although a little more viola focused than earlier Maniac songs, still a track best heard loudly.
The Maniacs released one more album without Natalie Merchant, who is still basking in the glow of a solo career which is turning out more hits than any track from her previous job, and then slipped into retirement, after founding member Robert Buck died of liver failure. He was 42. To honor Rob's memory, the band has established a scholarship fund through the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation.
Rob