In My Tribe

After a somewhat shaky start, 10,000 Maniacs came back strong with In My Tribe, which yielded the hit singles “Like the Weather” and “What’s the Matter Here?”. Over firm but gentle folk-rock accompaniment, singer Natalie Merchant covers topics like child abuse, illiteracy, guns, Beat literature and peace (although the band’s cover of Cat Stevens’ “Peace Train” would be omitted from later pressings of the album after Stevens made public comments that expressed apparent support for a fatwah against Salman Rushdie). Do the lyrics get a bit pretentious sometimes? Sure. But the songcraft is undeniable, and In My Tribe would turn out to be 10,000 Maniacs’ best album.