Love Among the Ruinsformat: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,15]
producer: John Keane
label: Geffen Records - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Rainy Day" - 5. "Green Children" - 7. "More Than This" - 11. "Shining Light"
6th studio album by 10,000 Maniacs following nearly five years after Our Time in Eden (Sep. 1992) is the first without Nathalie Merchant, who has been substituted by Mary Ramsey, and back in the band is founding member guitarist and songwriter John Lombardo, making the band a sextet once again. The style has changed to be less jangle pop, less mainstream pop / rock, and with more stress on traditional folk, and what's more devastating is that the great songs simply are absent. Nathalie Merchant almost wrote all lyrics for the band and now that part is left to the band as such, and although, Ramsey is not a bad singer, it's just that she simply doesn't have an instrument of a matching caliber to substitute Merchant. A cover version of "More Than This" originally performed by Roxy Music (written by Bryan Ferry) doesn't come up to the magic of the original. This is one of the band's least successful albums to date, imho, although, I'm fully aware that by losing old fans they manage to attract a new audience, who find the new stylistic blend and sound a welcoming turn.
With this, I initially lost my interest in the band, who by no means was seen as a mere failure. I do think that some of the original fans really welcomed the return of Lombardo - the band's original guitarist and songwriter - and with him, 10,000 Maniacs returned to a more traditional stand of folk pop, which had been the basis for the duo John & Mary (Lombardo & Ramsey). Shortly after this, guitarist Robert Buck took a year off from the band to focus on another musical project but he returned again for what was regarded the final album from 1999. Sadly however, he passed away from a liver failure in Dec. 2000, which by then nearly put an end to the band.
Love Among the Ruins is not my recommended album to start with but it's part of the discography of 10,000 Maniacs albeit a fine example of contemporary soft rock founded on traditional folk. And if you, as I, associate this band with the sound of Nathalie Merchant, I suggest starting with the band's first five studio albums.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Rolling Stone 2,5 / 5 stars ]
