by: Kevin Amorim (page C11)

Mary Ramsey groans. She's probably thinking, Another question about Natalie Merchant.

"There was weird blood there," the new singer for 10,000 Maniacs says by phone from a tour stop in Northampton, Mass. "Let's face it, all those years with those guys... Change was meant to be for her. What I'm trying to say is: Change is good."

It's been a good turn for Ramsey, who literally went from the shadows - she's pictured behind Merchant on the cover of 1993's Elektra release MTV Unplugged - to front and center of the Maniacs, who play Saturday at Mulcahy's in Wantagh.

When Merchant hung a U-turn for a solo career after the delivery of the Maniacs' Unplugged, the remaining band members regrouped with original guitarist John Lombardo. He had left the band in '86 to form a folk-rock duo, John & Mary, with Ramsey.

Ramsey, who already helped out with viola and violin on the Maniacs' Our Time in Eden (1992) and backing vocals and viola on Unplugged, was a natural for the singer opening. So it's easy to hear the similarities between the 10,000 Maniacs of old and this current six-person version of the group. Last year's fine Love Among the Ruins (Geffen) showcased that rock "lite" sound the Maniacs have come to play and Ramsey's soothing vocal lilt.

The album's first single, a radio-ready remake of Roxy Music's More Than This, was Ramsey's choice. "I always loved Roxy Music," she says. "They were real romantic and I was a sucker for it."