''Secrets of the I Ching'' is the first album by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

10,000 Maniacs 10,000 Maniacs are an American alternative rock band founded in 1981. They have released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums. They achieved their most significant success between 1987 and 1993, when they released four albums that c ...

(following their 1982 EP, '' Human Conflict Number Five''), released in 1983 by Mark Records. While the album also contained the band's own Christian Burial Music imprint, the label itself was fictitious. Re-recorded versions of the songs "Tension" (as "Tension Makes a Tangle"), "Grey Victory", "Daktari" and "My Mother the War" would later appear on the band's 1985 album '' The Wishing Chair''. The song "Tension" is itself a re-recording of a song that initially appeared on the band's ''Human Conflict Number Five'' EP. All the tracks on the LP appear in remixed, remastered and resequenced form on the 10,000 Maniacs compilation CD '' Hope Chest: The Fredonia Recordings 1982-1983'' (1990).

Background

Following the release of their debut EP, '' Human Conflict Number Five'', 10,000 Maniacs embarked upon several months of touring independent clubs, including the Eastern seaboard, and achieved a greater following after receiving airplay on college radio. The band decided to return to the studio in the spring of 1983. Like ''Human Conflict Number Five'' before it, ''Secrets of the I Ching'' was recorded at

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...

, Fredonia, and recording commenced the week of March 19, helmed by Albert Garzon, assisted by David Brick. Since the band were not students of the university, they were forced to conduct sessions only in the evening. The album is the first of their recordings with drummer Jerome Augustyniak. Like ''Human Conflict Number Five'', the album would bear the band's own fictitious Christian Burial Music imprint but was again manufactured by Mark Records out of Clarence, New York. 2,000 copies were pressed, once again funded by

Dennis Drew Dennis Arnold Drew (born August 8, 1957) is the keyboardist for the American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs. He has been with the band since its inception in 1981 and is one of three founding members along with Steve Gustafson and John Lo ...

's parents, but also aided by

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before ...

, Dan Lombardo, Frank Scuettle, Dan Deutsch and Mark Grosso. Also like their previous EP, the album was later reissued by Press Records in the US and UK, as well as Normal Records in Germany. In addition to garnering college radio airplay in the U.S.,

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

began playing "My Mother the War" in the UK, which led the band to tour there in 1984.

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' wrote that the album "begins to bring some needed focus to the band’s warmly eccentric vision by concentrating on the folk-rock elements ... the music ranges from screeching noise layered over a pop hook to almost psychedelic power calypso." '' MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'' called the album "sonically anemic." The ''

Spin Alternative Record Guide The ''Spin Alternative Record Guide'' is a music reference book compiled by the American music magazine ''Spin (magazine), Spin'' and published in 1995 by Vintage Books. It was editing, edited by the rock music, rock critic Eric Weisbard and Crai ...

'' wrote that "it's fun to hear he bandtry their chops on the hip genres of the day."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' said, "Not only does Natalie inflect the English language as if she grew up speaking some Polynesian tongue, but she writes lyrics to match, lyrics which from the crib sheet I'd adjudge the most sophomoric poetry-of-pretension to hit pop music since lysergic acid was in flower." In a 1994 interview with '' Q'' magazine, Merchant recalled this line from Christgau, saying, "I'll inform you that I was only 17 years old, so it made a big impression on me – that I'd written the most pretentious lyrics since lysergic acid had been in flower. I was upset then but now I laugh about it because I've put Robert Christgau in perspective."

Track listing

All lyrics by

and music by

John Lombardo John Lombardo (born 30 September 1952) is one of the founding members of the American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs and one of the band's most influential members, writing much of its early material, also being its oldest member in age. He ...

, except where indicated. Side one #"Grey Victory" (lyrics: Merchant; music: Lombardo, Rob Buck) – 3:07 #"Pour de Chirico" – 3:09 #"Death of Manolete" – 3:52 #"Tension" – 3:30 #"Daktari" (lyrics: Merchant, Lombardo; music: Lombardo) – 4:29 Side two #"Pit Viper" (lyrics: Merchant; music: Steven Gustafson) – 3:51 #"Katrina's Fair" (lyrics: Merchant; music: Buck) – 2:57 #"The Latin One" – 2:59 #"National Education Week" (lyrics: Merchant; music:

) – 2:47 #"My Mother the War" (lyrics: Merchant, Michael Walsh; music: Lombardo) – 3:32 The above track listing is for the original Mark Records pressing for Christian Burial Music, the band's own label. Subsequent editions of this album are missing "National Education Week".

Personnel

;10,000 Maniacs * Robert Buck – "principal guitars devices" (i.e., lead guitar, synthesizers) *

– voice *

– organ, piano * Steven Gustafson – bass guitar, third guitar * Jerome Augustyniak – percussion *

(as J.C. Lombardo) – second guitar, bass guitar ;Technical *Albert Garzon – co-producer, engineer, mixing *10,000 Maniacs – co-producers *David Brick – mixing *Bob Grotke – mastering *Natalie Merchant – package *John Lombardo – package * Gustav Doré – etching ("The Great Flood") Subsequent releases omit Albert Garzon's name and credit David Brick with co-production and engineering.

References

{{Authority control 1983 debut albums