by: Michael Zabrodsky (Hot Trax column, page 9T)

The band 10,000 Maniacs has reemerged as a favorite on the pop music charts. The new release, MTV Unplugged, is proving to be one of their best-selling albums. It's very good. With the departure of lead singer Natalie Merchant in late summer, the band is still together.

"It's doing very well," keyboardist Dennis Drew said of the release. "It's a different texture."

"From the very beginning she (Natalie) told us she wanted to quit, but we talked her out of it. She wanted to quit after Our Time in Eden, but we talked her out of it. She wanted to be a solo act by the time she was 30, and she turned 30 in October."

"There is no ill will between the members of the group. This is a natural passage," she told Rolling Stone magazine.

Drew said the band has sounded better, but the overall performance is better. And as for the rest of the band, some of them are pursuing solo projects.

"We don't have a record deal any more," he added. "We will probably never sound as good as we did with a great singer like her."

Because the Night, is doing very well right now on the charts, and the next single is Hey Jack Kerouac.

"It's run its course," Drew said of the band with Ms. Merchant.