Disco de 10,000 Maniacs: “The Earth Pressed Flat”

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.

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!

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.

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!

The Earth Pressed Flat is the best 10,000 Maniacs Album since In My Tribe. Mary Ramsey's voice sounds more integrated into the songs, and the chiming quality of their music pervades the songs. Time Turns is lovely.