Love Among the Ruins
Studio album by
10,000 Maniacs
Released17 June 1997
GenreRock
Length49:19
LabelGeffen
ProducerFred Maher, John Keane
10,000 Maniacs chronology
MTV Unplugged
(1993)		 Love Among the Ruins
(1997)		 The Earth Pressed Flat
(1999)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link
The A.V. Club(average) link
Entertainment WeeklyB− link
The Rolling Stone Album Guide [1]

Love Among the Ruins (1997) is the sixth studio album by American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs and the first to feature new lead singer Mary Ramsey, following Natalie Merchant's departure in 1993.

Background

The two singles from the album—a cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This" and the original "Rainy Day"—were not initially intended to be included on the album. John Lombardo had just written "Rainy Day", which was deemed more radio-friendly than the other songs, and the record company insisted that the band record a cover song for inclusion.

While Ramsey and Lombardo shared lyric writing duties, the band chose to credit the songs as group collaborations, so that all members would receive equal royalties. Ramsey wrote the music to "All That Never Happens". Guitarist John Lombardo wrote "Rainy Day", "Even with My Eyes Closed", "Big Star", "Shining Light" and "Across the Fields" and shared a writing credit with drummer Jerry Augustyniak on "Girl on a Train". Guitarist Rob Buck wrote "Love Among the Ruins" and keyboardist Dennis Drew wrote "A Room for Everything". A live version of "Rainy Day" was also included on their 2016 album Playing Favorites.

The album title is adapted from Robert Browning's poem of the same name.

Track listing

All songs written by 10,000 Maniacs, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rainy Day" 4:46
2."Love Among the Ruins"10,000 Maniacs, Jules Shear4:01
3."Even with My Eyes Closed" 3:56
4."Girl on a Train" 4:11
5."Green Children" 4:14
6."A Room for Everything" 3:56
7."More Than This"Bryan Ferry4:06
8."Big Star" 3:07
9."You Won't Find Me There"10,000 Maniacs, Jules Shear4:09
10."All That Never Happens" 4:59
11."Shining Light"10,000 Maniacs, Jules Shear4:06
12."Across the Fields" 3:53
  • On an earlier acetate version of the album, "Smallest Step", "Beyond the Blue" and "Time Turns" were also included. When all three were omitted, the following tracks were added: "More Than This", "Rainy Day" and "All That Never Happens". All three omitted songs were re-recorded, with "Beyond the Blue" and "Time Turns" made available on U.S. and European versions of the "More Than This" single and "Smallest Step" appearing on 1999's The Earth Pressed Flat.

Release

Love Among the Ruins sold 200,000 copies, 30,000 of those within three months of release. Despite this, Geffen Records, according to Dennis Drew, "dropped us after the first three months."[2]

Personnel

10,000 Maniacs
Additional Musicians
Technical Staff

Singles

More Than This (U.S.)
  1. "More Than This"
  2. "More Than This" (Tee's Radio Edit)
  3. "Beyond the Blue"
More Than This (Australia)
  1. "More Than This"
  2. "More Than This" (Tee's Radio Edit)
  3. "Time Turns"
Rainy Day (Radio Promo Only)
  1. "Rainy Day (Radio Edit)"
  2. "Rainy Day (Album Version)"

References

Liner notes from 10,000 Maniacs album: Love Among the Ruins.

  1. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 807. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone 10,000 maniacs album guide.
  2. ↑ Muro, Matt (3 October 1999). "Where Rockers Have A Mind, and a Label, Of their Own". New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
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