Name: Blind Man's Zoo
Brand: Elektra (Label)
SKU: 310817
Price: 18.59 USD
Availability: InStock

Blind Man's Zoo

Rating

Performer Notes

Following the chart success of the Maniacs' fourth album, IN MY TRIBE, BLIND MAN'S ZOO seems curiously subdued. Setting the mood from the outset, "Eat For Two" is a decidedly downbeat narrative about unplanned pregnancy. On the surface, "You Happy Puppet" is a mid-tempo adult-contemporary rock song. But, when accompanied by vocalist Natalie Merchant's expressive vocals and lyrics, it turns into a brusque indictment of middle-class complacency. "Headstrong," one of the album's standout tracks, refers to such earlier, guitar-heavy rockers as "My Mother the War."
Robert Buck's elegant guitar work is given free reign on "Dust Bowl," a poignant story of poverty and the album' s other superlative track. "Hateful Hate" sets harsh, echoing drums against the righteous indignation of Merchant's anti-manifest destiny lyric. BLIND MAN'S ZOO might not be the album that one would have expected from a popular folk-influenced band, but it makes great strides in giving the band a depth and credibility that few of their peers possess.