Description

Although 80s campus faves 10,000 Maniacs remain an ongoing if depleted concern to this day, the double-CD retrospective Campfire Songs (disc one offers a "Best Of"-style resume to break in new recruits, the second disc lures the converted with rare outtakes, demos and sundry surplus recordings) rightly concludes with the departure of gorgeously matriarchal poetess Natalie Merchant for a solo career in 1994. Disc one's judicious selection begs little quarrel, focusing on the watershed folk-pop albums "In My Tribe" (where Merchant effloresced into a vocalist of considerable charm, addressing domesticmore… social issues on "Don't Talk" and "What's The Matter Here?" with a tender and entirely plausible compunction) and the brooding adieu of "Our Time in Eden" but also allocates space to earlier, angular indie fare ( "My Mother the War", "Planned Obsolescence") dating from an era when 10,000 Maniacs enjoyed an almost sororal relationship with REM. Aside from the obvious pleasure of some hitherto unreleased Eden demos, the bonus disc is either respectable (a duet with Michael Stipe on a live version of Lulu's "To Sir with Love", the Nanci Griffith territory of "Let the Mystery Be") or ridiculous (a reggae version of Bowie's "Starman") but disc one serves as an indispensable reminder of 10,000 Maniacs' wistful literacy. --Kevin Maidment

Tracks

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Info:

Category:

Music > Albums

Case Type:

CD

Release Type:

Retail

Comments:

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Cover Info:

Title:

10,000 Maniacs - Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure & Unknown Recordings (2004) Retail CD

Part:

Front

Dimensions:

1541 x 1541 px

Size:

394 KB

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36 (0 today)

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Report a Problem Wrong Cover Duplicate Image Bad Quality Wrong Info

03/08/09 by musicworld

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