Love Among the Ruins by 10,000 Maniacs

Love Among the Ruins (1997) was the first album released by 10,000 Maniacs with their new lead singer, Mary Ramsey, after Natalie Merchant left in 1993. The two singles from the album, a cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This" and "Rainy Day", were not originally intended to be included on the album. John Lombardo had just written "Rainy Day", which was deemed more radio friendly than the other songs, and the record company insisted that the band record a cover song for inclusion. The band chose to credit the songs as group collaborations so that all members would receive equal royalties. Ramsey and Lombardo shared the lyric writing. Ramsey wrote the music to "All That Never Happens". Lombardo wrote "Rainy Day", "Even with My Eyes Closed", "Big Star", "Shining Light" and "Across the Fields". Lombardo shared a writing credit with Jerry Augustyniak on "Girl on a Train". Rob Buck wrote "Love Among the Ruins", and Dennis Drew wrote "A Room For Everything". A live version was also included on their 2016 album Playing Favorites. The album title is adapted from Robert Browning's poem of the same name.