Love Among the Ruins [IMPORT]

10,000 Maniacs

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 17, 1997)
• Original Release Date: June 17, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Geffen UK
• ASIN: B000000OVT
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,912 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Rainy Day

2. Love Among the Ruins

3. Even With My Eyes Closed

4. Girl on a Train

5. Green Children

6. Room for Everything

7. More Than This

8. Big Star

9. You Won't Find

10. All That Never Happens

11. Shining Light

12. Across the Fields

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good album overall, integrating John & Mary into the band., January 9, 1999

By A Customer

Love Among the Ruins is the first new studio album from 10,000 Maniacs since 1992's Our Time in Eden.

Leaving soon-after the release of MTV Unplugged in 1993, Natalie Merchant was replaced by Mary Ramsey. Mary, part of the duo John & Mary, brings new life into the band. She adds a vocal quality similar to Natalie's, but also brings a unique contributiion in her excellent viola playing.

More Than This and Rainy Day, singles from the album, are good pop songs that are sure to please. Green Children will cast aside any doubts of Mary's vocal ability.

With Love Among the Ruins, the musical style of 10,000 Maniacs has returned somewhat to the early days of the band. LAtR sounds very similar to The Wishing Chair, reflecting the return of John Lombardo, also of John & Mary. Although Mary Ramsey is frequently referred to as 10KM's "new" lead singer, it should be noted that she contributed to both Our Time in Eden and MTV Unplugged as well. John Lombardo, having left the band after the release of the The Wishing Chair, is a welcome return. His excellent guitar work is heard throughout Love Among the Ruins. In short, the integration of John & Mary into the band has produced a hybrid of old and new that can only be described as excellent.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get off Mary's back!, July 12, 1999

By A Customer

Yeah, yeah, yeah--10,000 Maniacs is dead; Mary Ramsey is no Natalie Merchant; This isn't the same band.... yadda, yadda, yadda. Listen, this is a GREAT album. Mary Ramsey's voice is soothing and the band is as finely tuned as ever. If this CD had been released by a group with a different name, fans of the Maniacs would be singing its praises--instead these bitter fans are still crying in their beer. Get over it! They're right though; 10,000 Maniacs isn't the same group without Natalie, but that doesn't mean "different" is bad. KEEP ON SINGING, MARY! (BTW I've also bought Natalie's solo albums and love them too.)

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superb, May 23, 2003

By	Michael J Edelman (Huntington Woods, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Natalie Merchant may have been the lyrical muse of 10,000 Maniacs, but this album (and Merchant's solo works) show that the compositional genius rested with Buck et al. I bought this album on a whim, not having heard any of it, and I was very plesantly surprised. Even without Merchant's distinctive voice this is very definitely a 10,000 Maniacs album, with all the distinctive melodies and arrangements we expect from the band. It's a pity that the reformed Maniacs haven't gotten the same press that Merchant has, as I think their post-breakup musical output has, in general, been superior to hers.