by: Paul Freeman, Entertainment News Service (page 8G)

Do not fear 10,000 Maniacs. They are here to help us, adding distinctive music and lyrics to the rock scene.

Over the past decade, the band has climbed from cult status to mainstream popularity - and the appeal of its most recent album, Our Time in Eden, extended far beyond the alternative scene.

However, Natalie Merchant, the lead singer and chief songwriter of the group, downplays the burgeoning celebrity.

"In comparison to a lot of other performers, our success has been modest," she said. "We've been on television quite a bit, but I have no trouble being anonymous. Actually, when we were doing Jay Leno's show, I got kicked out of the backstage area. I was mistaken for a tourist."

A couple more albums like Our Time in Eden, and Merchant should be recognized even by talk-show staffs. In putting together the powerful collection of songs, Merchant and her compatriots - guitarist Rob Buck, keyboardist Dennis Drew, bassist Steve Gustafson and drummer Jerome Augustyniak - made a conscious effort to create new musical textures, going beyond their usual blend of folk, rock, country and reggae.

"We wanted to branch out, try writing a different way, take the lyrics in a different direction, make changes," Merchant said.

"We did more collaborating. We tried to involve everyone in the writing process at the same time, which we'd never done before. We used to work in isolation and then bring the songs to the rest of the group. We wanted to have some experimentation in rehearsal and not feel that every note we played should be intended to end up on a record."

Merchant, who had moved to New York City, took the road back to her scenic hometown of Jamestown, N.Y., to write with the band.

"I went back to the places I used to go as a child growing up in the countryside. I'd spend entire days lying down in a field or swimming in ponds. So I didn't go back to my room and say to myself, 'What kind of issues do I want to discuss?' The main thing I wanted to do was listen to the instrumentation, let the music speak to me emotionally and write in response to that."

Merchant has always been known as an issue-conscious writer. She has tackled such subjects as teen pregnancy, nuclear fallout and child abuse. But she tries not to preach. It's a fine line to walk.

"I've put my toe over the other side a couple of times and been embarrassed. The key is to focus on the human element. I like to be told stories rather than be given a list of facts."

On Our Time in Eden, one song, I'm Not the Man, deals with capital punishment; another, Tolerance, touches on urban tensions.

"I didn't totally abandon issues on that record," Merchant said, "but I wanted to concentrate on beautiful songs. I really enjoy writing about simple things, like pure physical sensation, emotional states and interaction between people.

"We all decided that we wanted to write music that was more inspiring, that could soothe people and bring joy to their lives.

"I like to motivate people to appreciate the fact that they're alive. That was the major thrust of this record. If you care about the right of all living things and of the coming generation to enjoy being alive, then you'll get involved in actively improving the state of the planet."

The album's poetic lyrics are complemented by diverse sounds. The band added new instruments and outside musicians. Viola, steel guitar, banjo, electric sitar, accordion, bassoons and the James Brown Horns can be heard.

"We had firmly established the 10,000 Maniacs sound, which was limiting," Merchant said. "We wanted other instruments, and we didn't want to use technological imitations. Why take someone who has played violin all their life and replace them with a microchip? There's a magic in collaborating with real musicians."

Merchant originally connected with her fellow Maniac musicians in 1981.

"We met at the college radio station in our hometown. We were working there as disc jockeys. I was younger, having entered college at 16. I gravitated toward the radio station because they had new records I couldn't otherwise get in the hinterlands. That was in the days before MTV."

Merchant had never imagined herself as a performer.

"I was terrified of people. I still can't speak well in front of a crowd, but I can sing. I was 17 when we started. Much of my growing up has been done on stage. I'm not quite as antisocial."

The band's name certainly has an antisocial connotation. It came from the Herschell Gordon Lewis horror movie "2,000 Maniacs." Multiply that by five and you've got a rock group.

"We wanted to set ourselves apart from other bands playing in town. We were one of the only groups doing original material, rather than covers. We thought people would remember such an outrageous name."

But, Merchant said, "over the years, it's been a detriment. In the early days, we would get a lot of skinheads, decked out in leather and tattoos, expecting a metal band. They would take one look at me, wearing a Depression-era dress, hair down to my butt, singing in this sweet voice, and they'd throw things at me. I'd start crying. Sometimes I wish we were called Mama's Little Butterfly or something."

For several rugged years, the band toured and lived in a school bus. In 1987, it broke through to platinum status with the In My Tribe album, produced by Peter Asher. After 1989's Blind Man's Zoo, there were rumors of a split. They took a year to refocus.

"We just toured too much for that album. We were exhausted and uninspired. I told the band that I couldn't conceive of writing another record because I had no experiences to draw from, other than band-on-the-road songs, which I had no interest in. The year off was great. It revitalized me."

Making music leaves Merchant little time for a personal life.

"It's pretty much impossible to maintain a relationship, not just in terms of a lover, but in terms of family and friends, because I'm always away. But I don't think it will always be like this.