release date: Jan. 15, 2013
format: digital (14 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: 10,000 Maniacs, various
label: ORG Music - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "I Don't Love You Too" - 2. "When We Walked on Clouds" - 4. "Triangles" - 10. "Downhill"
8th studio album by 10,000 Maniacs with co-producer credits to more than 15 [!] people is the band's first studio release in 14 years, and it's the first to feature new guitarist Jeff Erickson, who has substituted Robert Buck after his passing in 2000. The band has experienced a heavy change on the members list during these past years. Although, Natalie Merchant didn't take part in the formation period of the band, it is with her as lead vocalist that the band became widely known and was subject of international fame. After her leave in 1993, John Lombardo returned to the fold, and Mary Ramsey, who had taken part in the band on viola and backing vocals for only a few years, was then established as the band's new lead singer up until around 2002, when the band of Gustafson, Drew, and Augustyniak wanted to continue with a new lead vocalist, Oskar Saville, and also had invited Jeff Erickson to play guitar. This decision led Ramsey and Lombardo to leave the band, and the two performed and released music as John & Mary; however, Ramsey returned around 2006 to play viola and to do backing vocals as she had done previously when Merchant was still in the band. Saville left again in 2007, which (once again) made room for Ramsey performing as lead vocalist. The formation of the band for this album feature Mary Ramsey on lead vocals, Jeff Erickson on lead guitar, Jerry Augustyniak on drums, and with founding members Steve Gustafson on bass, and Dennis Drew on keyboards.
Actually, this album isn't just all bad. I know I had given up on the band in the years following Merchant's leave - and not just because of that, but I didn't like the music led by Lombardo and Ramsey. It's not an album I like a lot, but listening to it, just to be updated on their music, it's really quite all right as a traditional folk pop release. All band members are credited for vocals on this album, and that's also a bit of a weak spot. There's no real outstanding vocal performances here, and the album is just something entirely different to what used to be the DNA of the band, and I do thnk that's its biggest hurdle. Also, you have to be really fond of folk fiddles and harmony-vocals without expectations of new takes on a much tried genre to really enjoy this. It draws heavily on folk but I actually come to think of more recent albums by British band The Beautiful South, who also embark on a stylistic blend of folk and soft rock in a more mainstream pop / rock tradition, only with the British band having more to offer in terms of vocal quality and lyrical content.
Music From the Motion Picture is by no means a poor album, but in the discography of one of the major bands of new rock music it's not the most favourable by 10,000 Manaics.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
