10,000 Maniacs Album: “In My Tribe [Reissue]”

This really is an amazingly good album, filled with depth and passion and shaped by one of music's most distinct, compelling voices (Natalie Merchant). I actually bought this album long ago, before I had even heard any 10,000 Maniacs music. The name of the group had a certain appeal to me, and there is something about the cover and its enticing shade of purple that drew me to it. Of course, what matters here is really the music, and I think this album reveals the very heart and soul of Natalie Merchant and the Maniacs. Not yet superstars, all of the musicians poured copious amounts of passion into each and every song, making this music both incredibly enchanting to the ears and compelling to the heart and mind. Merchant's unique voice is a beacon of soul-seeking enlightenment examining themes most artists (as well as most people) often shy away from. For example, What's the Matter Here? focuses on child abuse, Don't Talk addresses a struggling alcoholic, and Gun Shy is a plaintive lament for a world in which soldiers are needed. Cherry Tree, my favorite, is a song about the personal shame illiteracy can engender in a person, and it expresses such passion and joy in the prospect of learning that it could well serve as the de facto theme song for any adult literacy program. Verdi Cries is, quite simply, hauntingly beautiful. It is unfortunate (yet understandable) that the group's cover of Cat Stevens' Peace Train was removed from later releases of the album because I quite enjoy it-it's certainly much better than the original.

About the Weather is really the only song I remember ever getting playing time on the radio, but there are at least half a dozen songs on here that I find even more enjoyable. R.E.M. fans might be interested to know that Michael Stipe lends his voice (albeit rather briefly) to A Campfire Song. I can't get very excited about My Sister Rose, but every other song on the album is simply fabulous. Merchant's devotion to the music is beyond question, considering the fact that she essentially collapsed from exhaustion during the tour that followed this impeccable album's release. It's almost impossible to get tired of any of these songs, no matter how many times you listen to them.

I have held out reviewing this CD for a very long time. Why? Because I don't know what to say about a CD that touched me very personally and changed my outlook on music and life. There are not very many CD's that sound as fresh today as when they were first purchased over 10 ten years ago. But "In My Tribe" does. The word "masterpiece" is overused, even by me, but it definitely applies to this CD. Every track is powerful lyrically and musically. For me, that power culminates in "Don't Talk." It is Natalie and the Maniacs at their very best. The lyrics never fail to get into my soul. If you have ever felt disillusioned in your life, then this song will speak to you. "Like the Weather" captures the mood of everyone at his or her lowest point, when just getting up in the morning doesn't seem to be quite worth it. Ever wonder about the state of marriage in the world today? Then listen to "My Sister Rose." "Gun Shy" could be about so many in our society today. And the tragedy of child abuse and the lack of resources to stop it get brilliant treatment in "What's the Matter Here." Everyone knows that Natalie Merchant has a beautiful voice, and "Verdi Cries" has the title reaction nearly each time I listen to it--it can move all but the hardest heart and soul to tears. Music does not come any better than this CD. It is a wonder, an amazing display of talent. If you do not own it, you will not be sorry you bought it. It is truly tremendous.

I first saw and heard 10,000 Maniacs when they opened for R.E.M on their "Document" tour. The very next day I found someone in my dorm (I was a freshman in college) with a CD so I could make a copy. I wore out the tape and replaced it with a CD. "Verdi Cries" is my second favorite on the album, but the song that is my favorite (and not mentioned by other reviewers) is "Cherry Tree." This simple song about illiteracy is beautiful and touching - it still is fresh well over ten years after release. This is the Maniacs' best album...a musical treasure.

I borrowed this CD from the library once when I was in high school. It was spring break, and I was alternating this CD with The Smiths' Meat Is Murder. I was also reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and a biography of Marie Antoinette. Now whenever I hear In My Tribe, it is inextricably tied to the memory of The Fountainhead (and likewise with Marie Antoinette and Meat is Murder). Some records are like that. You get them and they make an immediate and indelible impression. In My Tribe was like that, although I found Natalie Merchant's voice grating and the lyrics a bit preachy and condescending. However, there was something very original and compelling about the album that kept it in my CD player, got me some overdue fines, and eventually inspired me to buy the CD. I bought all the other Maniacs CDs, listened to them a few times, did not like them and eventually gave them away, so I can say safely that this is their finest work and transcends even critics like myself. I am not a 10,000 Maniacs fan, but this album has an energy and magnetism that make it hard to resist. I still love "Hey, Jack Kerouac", "The Painted Desert", "City of Angels" and "Verdi Cries". All are a bit melancholy, a little bit desolate, and these songs (particularly the last three I listed) seemed to fit the frame of mind, the book I was reading, the place I was in my life at the time. Like the ongoing soundtrack of life. So based on my personal experience I am not sure that I can recommend this album wholeheartedly saying it was something everyone would recognise as brilliant. I can say that at the time (and still) it serves its purpose and moves me to a comfortable and nostalgic place.

In My Tribe was released when I was five years old, most of the music I was listening to when I was five has aged, badly, I was listening to whatever was on the mainstream pop/rock stations and sadly in Australia anyway, 10,000 Maniacs was not a band that got airplay on such stations.

Cut to 2003 and I'm watching VH1, Natalie Merchant's "Carnival" comes on and I remember being 13 and staying up until midnight on a Sunday just to hear "Carnival" on Rick Dee's Top 40 countdown. I was intrigued by Merchant in the video clip so I went online to see what I could find out about her, that is when I discovered the exixtence of 10,000 Maniacs, I came on here and decided that after listening to some audio samples and reading other reivews that In My Tribe was probably a good entry point to the music of 10,000 Maniacs.

Boy was I ever right, the album on first listen sounds both of it's time and timeless, Natalie's voice and lyrics are quite unlike anything I've ever heard before, every single song on the album is repeatedly listenable. To someone who had never heard thier music before it still sounded new, fresh and different. I could hear a little bit of every muscial style I had ever been exposed to in these songs, a beginners guide to music in under an hour.

The standout tracks, at least in my mind, are "Hey Jack Kerouac", "The Painted Desert" and "Verdi Cries".