Similar Albums:
- Artist: 10,000 Maniacs
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1985
- Total Time: 49:38
- Type: Lyrics are included with the album
- Genre: Rock
Review
While Natalie Merchant's elastic vocal cords are the obvious centerpiece of 10,000 Maniacs' lilting folk-pop, what becomes apparent early on in The Wishing Chair is that the band would likely dry up and drift away like a dandelion if it weren't for the inventive, wiry guitar playing of Robert Buck. It's Buck's instrument that acts as a constant (tin) foil for the spicy mustard goodness of Merchant's vocal cords, whether he's laying down the Johnny Marr-style spider riffs of "Grey Victory" and "Scorpio Rising," or inspiring a thousand private college-based cover bands with "Maddox Table"'s chorus pedal dynamics. While The Wishing Chair ends up being a little too long, it is nevertheless a sparkling major-label debut, and even bares its incisors a bit alongside more pastoral fare like "Cotton Alley." The shining "My Mother the War" bounces along on a tensile, new wave-inspired groove that even includes what can only be described as a mirthful whoop from the normally opaque Merchant. The majority of The Wishing Chair underpins the sound that came to define the Maniacs and Merchant's later solo flight. But when its hackles are raised, it's like finding out that the teacher's pet smokes cigarettes behind the school bus. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Can't Ignore the Train | 10,000 Maniacs | (2:43) | |
| Scorpio Rising | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:06) | |
| Just as the Tide Was A-Flowing | Traditional | 10,000 Maniacs | (2:25) |
| Lily Dale | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:11) | |
| Back o' the Moon | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:32) | |
| Maddox Table | Natalie Merchant | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:19) |
| The Colonial Wing [*] | 10,000 Maniacs | (4:02) | |
| Grey Victory | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:07) | |
| Among the Americans | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:07) | |
| Everyone a Puzzle Lover | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:17) | |
| Cotton Alley | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:23) | |
| Daktari [*] | 10,000 Maniacs | (4:23) | |
| My Mother the War | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:31) | |
| Tension Makes a Tangle | 10,000 Maniacs | (3:33) | |
| Arbor Day | Natalie Merchant | 10,000 Maniacs | (2:59) |
