10,000 Maniacs - Love Among the Ruins

Every song here sports the customized blend of sprightly guitars and warm-bath keyboards that marked this band's salad days. But Mary Ramsay is no Natalie Merchant, and her bland delivery ensures that these dozen tunes sound more or less identical, even if their ho-hum cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This" was a big radio hit. --Jeff Bateman Amazon.com

an alright cd but not Natalie Merchant

This cd is alright and 10,000 Maniacs fans will probably like it. However, it does not have the same feel as earlier Natalie Merchant works. The song writing is not as spectacular as before and the songs are not as catchy. I'd recommend cds: In My Tribe and Our Time in Eden. But, if you love those and are looking for more then this would be a good choice. Their cover or Roxy Music's More Than This is the best song and had a music video accompanying it when it was released. Shining Light is the next best song and is worth a listen. September 17, 2007

Fantastic album, better than with Merchant

I liked some of the 10,000 Maniac albums with Merchant, such as In My Tribe and Blind Man's Zoo--but Our Time in Eden was strange and fragmented, hard to understand. Merchant was so in love with writing odd lyrics that she forgot the main purpose of a song: to tell a story.

Mary's voice is beautiful, sweet and strong, and the title song "Love Among the Ruins" is just gorgeous. "Shining Light" is another strong song, and with this album it becomes clear that 10,000 Maniacs was never just about Merchant, though she'd have liked us to think so. January 20, 2006

Natalie who?

I'm soooo sick and tired of the comparison of Mary Ramsey to Natalie Merchant. Mary's cover of Roxy Music's classic "More Than This" is, quite simply, beautiful. She does it in her own simple, smooth, and sultry style. As a matter of fact, her version was the first I'd ever heard of this peerless and dreamy song. Roxy Music's original will always be the best, but the 10,000 Maniacs version stands tall in its own right, too. Hey, there's a reason this song was such a popular radio play in the late 90's.

There's no need to be so harsh on Mary Ramsey's singing talents ... besides, most of her critics wish they could sing half as well as she can! So, enjoy this song and the album for what it is, a nice work from a talented group of musicians. October 2, 2005

Beauty and the Past...

Yep, I agree, let's leave the comparisons with Natalie out of the picture. This is a superb album, despite the all-too common lousy editorial review (where do Amazon find these clowns?)

I discovered this album by accident when I went into the TV room and was captivated by Mary's beauty in the band's cover of Bryan Ferry's stunnning song More Than This. It was only at the end of the video that I realized that it was the Maniacs.

This is an exceptional album, which stands on its own.
August 15, 2005

Stop the comparisons

I remember, back when this album was released in 1997, hearing a radio DJ, in an attempt to promote the album, proclaim, "Mary Ramsey sounds just like Natalie Merchant!!" And I remember thinking to myself, "No she doesn't; what in the world is he listening to?" Because it was just that kind of comparison, I think, which doomed this lineup of 10,000 Maniacs right from the start.

I will say that Mary Ramsey's voice is just as distinctive as Natalie Merchant's. But it is very different--neither better nor worse--just different. The rest of the band, though, sound like classic Maniacs. Their music reminds me more of their "Blind Man's Zoo" era than anything else.

But what is clear upon listening to this album is not only that Ramsey sounds different from Merchant, but that when Merchant left the band to pursue a solo career, she also took with her the band's social and political consciousness. The songs on this album lack the anti-war, pro-liberal, pro-feminist commentary that the earlier 10,000 Maniacs albums are known for (which demonstrates just how much of a powerful creative influence Merchant had over the band). Instead, we have a dozen of your typical mid-nineties adult-contemporary-style love songs. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but again, it makes for a very different "10,000 Maniacs experience". The songs here are pleasant, upbeat, and catchy.

When Merchant left the band and Ramsey was brought in, the wise thing to do would have been to give this new lineup a different name. That way, they could have had a fresh start without the never-ending (mostly negative) comparisons between Ramsey and Merchant. I think if that had happened, then the former Maniacs might have seen a lot more post-Merchant success than they did.

Because when you strip away all of the old-10,000 Maniacs baggage, when you free this band from their anxiety of influence, when you stop trying to compare Ramsey to Merchant, when you stop trying to compare this album to "Our Time in Eden" or "In My Tribe," when you are willing to listen to this band not as "10,000 Maniacs" but simply as a group of talented musicians, then you find that "Love Among the Ruins" really is a very good album that deserves to be judged by its own merits and not forever compared to a different lineup--indeed, a different band altogether. July 31, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...