Customer Reviews

Earth Pressed Flat

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

It is difficult for a band to move forward after the departure of its lead sing. Such is even trickier when the departed lead singer had, in the eyes of many, eclipsed the rest of the band in terms of visibility.

So it was no surprise when the Maniacs first step out from under Natalie Merchant's shadow with "Love Among the Ruins" that things seemed a bit awkward.

Well, with their second post Merchant release the band takes a great confident step forward. The songs are better, and the album is more cohesive. The music flows with more ease, and Mary Ramsey's vocals (which actually aren't radically different from Merchant's) come through with a self assurance that sometimes seemed lacking on LATR (but was present on her two pre Maniac albums with John Lombardo under the moniker John & Mary).

So if you were a 10KM fan when Natalie was on board, and disappointed a bit with "Love Among The Ruins" be sure to give "The Earth Pressed Flat" a try. You are in for a real treat!

10,000 Maniacs have come back with a roar on the release "The Earth Pressed Flat". It combines the feel of previous albums like "In My Tribe" and "Our Time in Eden", yet adds in distinction all its own. The first single from the album, which is the title track "The Earth Pressed Flat", is a catchy pop song that will surely be a hit. A unique aspect of this album is the use of short "fillers" between each song. They range from quick musical snippits to rap. It's a little odd, but somehow it works. You have to listen to this album from beginning to end, over and over, because you feel like you are taking a musical journey. As much I liked "Love Among the Ruins", I like this even more. "The Earth Pressed Flat" will have fans asking "Natalie who?", as Mary Ramsey has solidly taken the band forward.

I've been a big fan over 10,000 Maniacs for over 20 years, yet one thing that has never ceased to amaze me are those people who seem to worship Natalie Merchant as if she and she alone *WAS* the band. Looking over some of the negative reviews for this solid album suggests that many of these people are here.

Merchant was undeniably a charismatic front woman for the band. Her wonderful vocals, her sharp song writing, and her energetic stage presence played a huge role in taking a band with such unseemingly likely commercial potential into a platinum selling act. During her tenure the band made three superb albums ("The Wishing Chair," "In My Tribe," and "Our Time in Eden") and she deserves much credit for them.

But just because she left t is no reason to dismiss the band as irrelevant. If anything Ms. Merchant's woefully uneven solo career has proved that the band too had a hand in its own success and had it not been for the fact that this album was on a small indie label the restrained promotional possibilities, this album would have been a much bigger hit than it was. It is certainly an improvement over the band's first post-Merchant album to pleasant, but safe "Love Among the Ruins."

Here we have songs that stand out -- "Glow," "Beyond the Blue," "Once a City," "Ellen" and a lovely cover of the old Fairport Convention/Sandy Denny (both a big influence on the bad since the early days) number "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" are just a few of them and all are sung by Mary Ramsey who vocally can easily go toe to toe with Merchant. Anyone who takes a little time and has a little bit of an opened mind will find that the band did not fall by the wayside with the departure of Merchant.

This album should be receieving so much more attention than it is, I just don't understand it. The Maniacs have returned to what they do best, writing and playing innovative, well layered, musical tunes. Mary's voice is at least as strong as Natalie Merchant's... those who say the band died when Natalie left have not given this album a good listening. I think anyone who has not heard the band since Natalie's departure will be pleasantly surprised, and those who have never heard 10KM at all will be instantly hooked. I know I was.

After a somewhat tentative first post Natalie album "Love Among The Ruins," 10KM roar back to life with "The Earth Pressed Flat," a delightful and solid album that allows them to forcefully, and confidently emerge from Ms. Merchant's very long shadow.

Songs like "Ellen," "Once a City," "Glow," "On and On (Mersey Song)" and "Time Turns" are just a few of the highlights on an album that the listener warms up to more decisively with each spin. After the band came in for some criticism for covering Roxy Music's "More Than This" on "Love Among The Ruins," it is nice to see that have not let that deter them from tacking a pair of covers this time out with Mimi Farina's "In The Quiet Morning," and Sandy Denny's still lovely "Who Knows Where The Time Goes."

In fact, so good is "The Earth Pressed Flat" that is upstages Natalie Merchant's most recent album "Ophelia" which, as much as it pains me to say, suffered from a serious lack of variety in its material.

So check out "The Earth Pressed Flat" and rediscover 10,000 Maniacs today!

Musically, this album is their most consistent since The Wishing Chair. John Lomardo's folk-pop influence is strong -- as is Rob Buck's chiming guitar. And the rest of the band is in top form. The songs have a dreaminess to them, especially with Mary Ramsey's whimsical lyrics. Her rambling style of writing, like on "Ellen" or "Beyond the Blue," fits perfectly with the instrumentals. Her voice is extremely clear on this album (she sounds better live), but that is not bad. With Buck's guitar leads and the smooth rythms of the other guys, her crisp delivery joins in for a new 10km direction.

It's unfortunate that people haven't given the 10,000 Maniacs the opportunity to WOW them since the departure of Natalie Merchant. Though still suffering from "Merchantitis," I'm here to tell you that the band is better without her. Mary Ramsa's "lead" gives the audience a three and one-half octave vocal feast from beginning to end. And she plays the violin too. The band itself is still as sharp and musically together as in their gravy days,and she plays the violin too, just like on those classic 10,000 Maniac albums of yore. The Earth Pressed Flat is one of those brilliant concept albums reminiscent of the 1970s or 80s. Each track is great and you wonder how the next track can be any better, but it is. Especially outstanding are "Smallest Step" and "On and On," in which Ramsay sings like an angel and shows her prowess on the fiddle. If you only have the time or money for 1 CD these days, this one is well worth it. Whether you like to listen to music in your car when you're happy or in your bedroom when you're meloncholy, this CD will speak to you. Give it a listen, you'll fall in love with the Maniacs all over again and with Ramsay for the first time...on the first listen.

The 10,000 Maniacs have come back with a roar. This album, a concept piece, is one on which the maniac's obviously took time and polished every step of the way. My favorite cuts on the album are "Ellen" and "Cabaret," both early maniac sounding "fun" songs. Mary Ramsey, now the front for the maniacs wrote five of the songs herself. While she doesn't write as much about social issues, she does, nonetheless, say something through her songs. Her voice has matured since "Love Among The Ruins" which was not bad either. Hopefully maniac fans will give this album the fair chance it deserves.

With "The Earth Pressed Flat," 10,000 Maniacs proved what many of us suspected but the masses never latched onto: Natalie Merchant needed the band more than the band needed Merchant.

Contrast this superb album (their second sans Merchant, the first being the OK, but meandering "Love Among the Ruins") with Merchant's output since she left the band. She went on this self indulgent route that might have had some promise if it had not gotten so bogged down in this endless introspection. Among her first three studio albums (there was also a superfluous live album in the mix) you'd be lucky to get a single album's worth of material -- the smart and articulate "Carnival" being the highlight. It wasn't until her fourth studio album -- the excellent "The House Carpenter's Daughter" that she came up with an album that seemed to justify her departure from the band.

But the band moved on and came up with a home run with "The Earth Pressed Flat" a good 5 years before Merchant's sole winner. The melodies here are warm and inviting, as are the vocals from Mary Ramsey (whose voice is similar to Merchant's although not without its own qualities) and the musicianship is first rate. There is nary a bum track here and that the public embraced Merchant's solo career while largely ignoring the band she left behind says a lot more about its priorities than it does the merits of Merchant's solo stuff.

10,000 Maniacs is a band that always puts out good music. With the release of The Earth Pressed Flat, a reborn version of the Maniacs came to life. From beginning to end, the album knocks out one catchy tune after another... deep and dark at times, which is great!