10,000 Maniacs

I remember having an aversion to 10,000 Maniacs when my brother first told me their name. With my sixth grader's imagination, I envisioned a screaming punk rock band whose songs my brother's booming stereo would force me to endure.

But Natalie Merchant's voice is anything but harsh and grating. In their latest album, Our Time in Eden, Maniacs effectively blends Merchant's soothing voice with powerful drums, guitar and keyboards to produce a chilling sound.

Our Time In Eden combines both the fast-paced airy songs typical of In My Tribe with darker, stronger tracks like "Noah's Dove" and "How You've Grown." While the lyrics and messages of the songs are similar to In My Tribe, the pervading feeling of Our Time In Eden is of a more mature 10,000 Maniacs.

The song "Jezebel" deals with the pain and complexities of ending a marriage through a slow mournful beat followed by a quick, urgent one. The lyrics heighten the power of the song: "How I wish that we never had tried to be man and his wife/To weave our lives into a blindfold over both our eyes."

"These Are Days" is the perfect fast-paced summer highway cruising tune. It combines a strong, driving pop beat and Merchant's encouraging harmonies. "These are the days you'll remember/You'll know it's true you are blessed and lucky/It's true that you are touched by something that will grow and bloom in you.

"Few and Far Between" also has an uplifting pop feel to it. With bright horns in the background and a fast beat, Merchant entreats the listener to move beyond life's troubles and enjoy its fruits. "Till you drop that heavy baggage you're dragging behind/ There won't be room for us to both go on this ride."

In an effort to maintain a level of poetry in their lyrics, 10,000 Maniacs sometimes revert to weak, airy lines. In the title track, "Eden," the band gets a bit too caught up in the garden's imagery: "Willing to grow but rains are shallow/ Barren and wind-scattered seed on stone and dry land/ We will be/ Waiting for the light arisen to flood inside the prison."

More often than not, though, 10,000 Maniacs avoids falling into this bad poetry trap. Songs like "Circle Dream" fuse Merchant's unique voice, soft background instrumentation and well-written, image-laden lyrics, to form a hauntingly beautiful song.

If you liked In My Tribe for its stirring lyrics and ethereal sound, or if you didn't because it seemed too poppy, in either case you'll like Our Time In Eden's blend of 10,000 Maniacs' prior light sound and new-found maturity.