With the departure of co-founding member, John Lombardo, remaining members Natalie Merchant, Robert Buck, Dennis Drew, Steve Gustafson, and Jerome Augustyniak would continue on as a five piece, seemingly undeterred. While one would expect the absence of Merchant's co-writer on the majority of their material to be a potential problem, instead, 1987's In My Tribe would serve to be the band's biggest album of all time.
Having said that, it's not like the singles from the album were burning up the charts. Rather, Like The Weather, and What's The Matter Here? would only turn out to be moderate hits, peaking at sixty-eight and eighty, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. Mainly, the group continued to find a strong foothold amongst the college radio scenes.
The overall sound continues the hipster trend which started with 1985's The Wishing Chair. It's a style I would definitely say I'm not the biggest fan of, but that it's okay in moderation. What I will say is that I found myself flipflopping back and forth. Either I would like a song for its solid instrumentation or Merchant's unique vocals, but usually never at the same time. This was incredibly prevalent for In My Tribe.
What I was definitely surprised about was the number of songs I did enjoy. There were quite a few; What's The Matter Here?, Hey Jack Kerouac, Like The Weather, The Painted Desert, Don't Talk, My Sister Rose, and A Campfire Song. The latter, I immediately picked up on the co-vocals of R.E.M.'s Michal Stipe, making it all the more enjoyable.
Look, I'm not going to call myself a fan of the band, but I will say that of the four albums, this was certainly the most enjoyable for me. Does it make me want to hear more from them? No, not necessarily. However, I will give them a nod of 80's approval.
Merchant, Buck, Drew, Gustafson, and Augustyniak would remain the 10,00 Maniacs until 1993 when Merchant would quit in a vain push for a solo career, to work with other musicians, and have full creative control. While part of this discography includes the 1989 album, Blind Man's Zoo, as noted in my post about their debut album, I've already played through that one for a Retro Spin.
The aftermath of Merchant leaving the band was Elektra unceremoniously dropping them from their label in lieu of signing directly with Natalie. The remaining members, Robert Buck, Dennis Drew, Steven Gustafson, and Jerry Augustyniak would reach out to previous member John Lombardo and his new bandmate, Mary Ramsey to join the band. Initially, they didn't have the rights to use the band's name, and as a result, started out as the long winded, John & Mary, Rob, Steve, Dennis, & Jerry. However, once they reobtained the name, they released two albums between 1997 and 1999.
Buck would take a short break in 1998 but return to the band the following year. Unfortunately, shortly after, he would pass away from liver failure, prompting the remaining members to take a break. Gustafson, Drew, and Augustyniak would regroup in 2002, and decide to carry on. However, upon learning that they'd hired a new guitarist, and singer, Jeff Erickson, and Oskar Saville, respectively, Lombardo quit the band again. This iteration would tour through 2004.
In 2006, Saville left, leaving room for Mary Ramsey to rejoin. This lineup released two more studio albums, with 2015's Twice Told Tales being their last. This would also feature Lombardo, who returned to the band. Since then, lineup changes continued to occur, with both Ramsey and Erickson departing, replaced briefly by Leigh Nash, and Matt Slocum. As of 2024, the band has consisted of founding members Dennis Drew, Steven Gustafson, as well as long standing members, Jerry Augustyniak, John Lombardo, and Mary Ramsey. Since her initial departure, Natalie Merchant has enjoyed a solo career and appears to have no intensions of ever reuniting with her former bandmates.
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