I absolutely LOVE 10,000 Maniacs!!!! I’ve seen Natalie Merchant more times than I can remember. The first time I saw 10,000 Maniacs they were playing William and Mary and I had won a front row center seat. They were amazing!!!! I have all of their CDs.
They were for me, back in the 90’s and together with R.E.M., the transition between what I listened as a teenager and what I then considered Adult music.
Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Liz Phair--this was such an incredible moment for women in music in general and these artists set the bar for so many that came after. Great piece and insights here! Spot on about the college sensibilities...just reading this puts me back on the quad, skipping Italian class because it was just too nice to be inside :) Thanks!
We're seeing Natalie Merchant perform on Saturday in Milwaukee, so I've been introducing my 15 and 17 year-old daughters to her repertoire. I literally put on "My Mother the War" for them on the drive to school only to return home and see your email. So the timing is inexplicable. One of the things that surprised me is how influenced by Joy Division/New Order that song is... the Peter Hook bass sound, the noisy guitar. Anyway, I love 10,000 maniacs. I think Natalie having left the band and the way they've continued without her has diminished their collective legacy from what it should be.
I totally forgot about The Wishing Chair. The first album I bought by them was In My Tribe which is still my favorite. Natalie Merchant's solo stuff isn't bad but it isn't as good as her work with 10,000 Maniacs.
Cool! I enjoy the band, but never dug into the catalog or listened to anything beyond Eden or Unplugged. This is great. I was surprised to hear a song with distortion/more of a rocker from them. As you note, Merchant's voice is transcendent and front and center (as it should be), but this track sorta turns up the volume of the band in a good way and now I'm listening more closely to all of the great guitar work on this album. Thanks for the excellent spin as always!
Wow. Awesome. And, if this is from the mid-eighties, they were ahead of their time. Sounds very much like that typical nineties sound by bands like The Tragically Hip, The Smashing Pumpkins and maybe a touch of Counting Crows or even Rage Against the Machine.
Love 10,000 Maniacs/Natalie Merchant, their stunning live version of 'My Mother the War' (at the Hammersmith Clarendon 1985) will always be one of my standout concert memories.
I will forever love 10KManiacs. Don’t forget the majesty of that Unplugged album.
I absolutely LOVE 10,000 Maniacs!!!! I’ve seen Natalie Merchant more times than I can remember. The first time I saw 10,000 Maniacs they were playing William and Mary and I had won a front row center seat. They were amazing!!!! I have all of their CDs.
Terrific review. This was quite a throwback read.
They were for me, back in the 90’s and together with R.E.M., the transition between what I listened as a teenager and what I then considered Adult music.
Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Liz Phair--this was such an incredible moment for women in music in general and these artists set the bar for so many that came after. Great piece and insights here! Spot on about the college sensibilities...just reading this puts me back on the quad, skipping Italian class because it was just too nice to be inside :) Thanks!
We're seeing Natalie Merchant perform on Saturday in Milwaukee, so I've been introducing my 15 and 17 year-old daughters to her repertoire. I literally put on "My Mother the War" for them on the drive to school only to return home and see your email. So the timing is inexplicable. One of the things that surprised me is how influenced by Joy Division/New Order that song is... the Peter Hook bass sound, the noisy guitar. Anyway, I love 10,000 maniacs. I think Natalie having left the band and the way they've continued without her has diminished their collective legacy from what it should be.
I totally forgot about The Wishing Chair. The first album I bought by them was In My Tribe which is still my favorite. Natalie Merchant's solo stuff isn't bad but it isn't as good as her work with 10,000 Maniacs.
Cool! I enjoy the band, but never dug into the catalog or listened to anything beyond Eden or Unplugged. This is great. I was surprised to hear a song with distortion/more of a rocker from them. As you note, Merchant's voice is transcendent and front and center (as it should be), but this track sorta turns up the volume of the band in a good way and now I'm listening more closely to all of the great guitar work on this album. Thanks for the excellent spin as always!
In My Tribe totally reminds me of my first love in Washington DC. It was a wonderful chapter of my life with a beautiful woman.
The Unplugged album is peak imo. So good.
Wow. Awesome. And, if this is from the mid-eighties, they were ahead of their time. Sounds very much like that typical nineties sound by bands like The Tragically Hip, The Smashing Pumpkins and maybe a touch of Counting Crows or even Rage Against the Machine.
AT least, that's what I hear in it.
Love 10,000 Maniacs/Natalie Merchant, their stunning live version of 'My Mother the War' (at the Hammersmith Clarendon 1985) will always be one of my standout concert memories.