Blind Man's Zoo

At the time of Blind Man's Zoo being released, the members of 10,000 Maniacs were American singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant, keyboardist Dennis Drew, bassist Steve Gustafson, guitarist Rob Buck, and drummer Jerry Augustyniak. The band's first few releases—the Human Conflict Number Five EP (1982) and Secrets of the I Ching LP (1983), issued under their own record label Christian Burial Music—had lacked commercial success. These were followed by 10,000 Maniacs' second studio album, The Wishing Chair (1985), after they signed a contract with Elektra Records. The band's third album, In My Tribe, was released in July 1987 and became modestly successful, particularly due to its moderate hit single "Like the Weather", which was released six months thereafter.{{cite book |first=Anthony |last=DeCurtis |year=1999 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=710jaQyASrcC&pg=PA161 |title=Rocking My Life Away: Writing About Music and Other Matters |isbn=0-8223-2419-9 |pages=161–164 |publisher=Duke University Press |access-date=2020-03-20 |archive-date=2021-01-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110847/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Rocking_My_Life_Away/710jaQyASrcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=isbn%3A0822324199&pg=PA161&printsec=frontcover&bsq=blind+man%27s+zoo |url-status=live }} Reproduction of DeCurtis's original Rolling Stone article, also reproduced as "Five Hit Big Time as 10,000 Maniacs," p. C3+ of St. Louis Post-Dispatch{{'s}} June 4, 1989 issue, accessed via ProQuest.

Blind Man's Zoo{{'s}} title was inspired by a fictional game from a children's book. The album's production occurred from November 1988 to March 1989.{{cite AV media notes |title=Blind Man's Zoo |year=1989 |author=10,000 Maniacs |type=booklet |publisher=Elektra/Asylum Records |chapter=Acknowledgments }} The recording location was Dreamland Recording Studios, a converted rural church in Woodstock, New York.{{cite magazine |first=Timothy |last=White |author-link=Timothy White (editor) |date=July 1989 |title=Spins: '10,000 Maniacs, Blind Man's Zoo (Elektra)' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D2y5iVad5loC&q=%2210000+maniacs%22+%22trouble+me%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA107 |magazine=Spin |pages=107, 109 |access-date=February 19, 2017 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110848/https://books.google.com/books?id=D2y5iVad5loC&q=%2210000+maniacs%22+%22trouble+me%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA107 |url-status=live }} The mixing occurred at Right Track Studios in Manhattan.

Numerous songs on Blind Man's Zoo were inspired by social issues and contemporaneous events, despite Merchant's limited knowledge of politics.{{cite magazine |first=Jonathan |last=Van Meter |date=September 1989 |title=She Sells Sanctuary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PK1uLUXpAzoC&q=10000-maniacs+%22blind+man%27s+zoo%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA46 |magazine=Spin |pages=45–48 |access-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110908/https://books.google.com/books?id=PK1uLUXpAzoC&q=10000-maniacs+%22blind+man%27s+zoo%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA46 |url-status=live }} Merchant said that most of the album stems from her recurring theme of betrayal. Music critic Anthony DeCurtis considered it "a starkly pessimistic statement" in contrast to the band's usual "greatest professional optimism".

The first track, "Eat for Two", is about a teenage girl who is five months pregnant. Merchant did not intend for the song to have an anti-abortion message, and it does not address abortion. Blind Man's Zoo{{'s}} second track, "Please Forgive Us", concerns the United States interventions in Central America, especially the Iran–Contra affair.{{cite magazine |url=http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-blind-mans-zoo-vol-32-no-1/ |title=Picks and Pans Review: Blind Man's Zoo |magazine=People |date=July 3, 1989 |access-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-date=February 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219030156/http://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-blind-mans-zoo-vol-32-no-1/ |url-status=live }} The article incorrectly says "a young black man and a white woman" as part of the lyrics of "Jubilee". The actual lyrics say "a black girl and a white boy". The third track, "The Big Parade", references visitors of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the Vietnam War legacy. The fourth track, "Trouble Me", is a ballad featuring music composed by Dennis Drew and lyrics by Merchant in dedication to her father, who was hospitalized at the time of the writing.[https://books.google.com/books?id=kQw8AQAAIAAJ&q=%2210000+maniacs%22+%22trouble+me%22+-wikipedia Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218173224/https://books.google.com/books?id=kQw8AQAAIAAJ&q=%2210000+maniacs%22+%22trouble+me%22+-wikipedia&dq=%2210000+maniacs%22+%22trouble+me%22+-wikipedia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwit5rno3ZjSAhVOw2MKHbk3CUY4ChDoAQhFMAk |date=February 18, 2017 }}, edited by Michael LaBlanc. Vol. 3.{{cite AV media notes |title=Blind Man's Zoo |year=1989 |author=10,000 Maniacs |type=booklet |publisher=Elektra/Asylum Records }} Gospel singer Jevetta Steele provided background vocals for the song. Merchant said, "The most uplifting song is 'Trouble Me', which seems like the antidote for all the rest of the album."

The seventh track, "Poison in the Well", concerns a neighborhood suffering from effects of hazardous waste and refers to the chemical waste site Love Canal, which caused multiple cases of cancer and infertility. The eighth track, "Dust Bowl", is about a plighted mother financially struggling to raise her children in an impoverished manufacturing town.{{cite news |first=Joseph |last=Pryweller |date=1989-12-09 |df=mdy |title=10,000 Maniacs Show a Split Personality |url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19891209-1989-12-09-8912080171-story.html |work=Daily Press |location=Virginia |access-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-date=April 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411172630/https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19891209-1989-12-09-8912080171-story.html }} The ninth track, "The Lion's Share", concerns, as music critic Stephen Holden wrote, "colonialism's bitter fruits".{{cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=May 17, 1989 |title=The Pop Life |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A175687171/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=STND&xid=d58d8ec3 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 6, 2020 |url-access=registration |via=Gale OneFile: News |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110856/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA175687171&v=2.1&it=r&sid=STND&asid=d58d8ec3 |url-status=live }} "Hateful Hate", the tenth track of Blind Man's Zoo, concerns the European colonization of Africa as well as racial tensions between the European descendants and native Africans. The final track, "Jubilee", is a "semi[-]operatic" song about religious fanaticism involving a racist who burns down a dance hall, in which he had witnessed "a black girl and a white boy kissing shamelessly".{{cite AV media notes |title=Blind Man's Zoo |year=1989 |author=10,000 Maniacs |type=booklet |publisher=Elektra/Asylum Records |chapter=Jubilee |page=7 }}

Blind Man's Zoo was released on May 4, 1989 in the US and May 15 in the United Kingdom.{{cite encyclopedia |first=Chris |last=Woodstra |title=10,000 Maniacs" Blind Man's Zoo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xR7MdpuSlAEC&dq=%2210000%20maniacs%22%20%22blind%20man's%20zoo%22%20may%201989%20-wikipedia&pg=PT381 |encyclopedia=All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music |year=2001 |edition=4th |editor1=Vladimir Bogdanov |editor2=Chris Woodstra |editor3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |display-editors=etal |publisher=Music Player Network |location=San Francisco |access-date=August 3, 2020 |isbn=9780879306274 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110848/https://www.google.com/books/edition/All_Music_Guide/xR7MdpuSlAEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%2210000+maniacs%22+%22blind+man%27s+zoo%22+may+1989+-wikipedia&pg=PT381&printsec=frontcover&bsq=%2210000+maniacs%22+%22blind+man%27s+zoo%22+may+1989+-wikipedia |url-status=live }} The source reveals only the month and year of the release date, "May 1989".{{cite web |title=Gold & Platinum search results |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=blind+man%27s+zoo#search_section |publisher=Recording Industry Association of America |access-date=February 25, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110850/https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=blind+man%27s+zoo#search_section |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=10,000 Maniacs: Blind Man's Zoo |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/951-3669-2 |publisher=British Phonographic Industry |access-date=August 8, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110907/https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/951-3669-2 |url-status=live }} "Eat for Two", "Trouble Me", and "You Happy Puppet" were released as singles from the album.{{cite AV media notes |title=You Happy Puppet |others=10,000 Maniacs |year=1989 |publisher=Elektra |medium=CD |at=Front cover }} Catalog number 9 66669-2. Music videos for "Eat for Two", "Trouble Me", "You Happy Puppet", "Dust Bowl", and "Hateful Hate" were included on the VHS album 10,000 Maniacs: Time Capsule, Filmed 1982–1990.{{cite encyclopedia |title=10,000 Maniacs: Time Capsule 1982–1990 (1990) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v-LY0R4EqqMC&q=%22time%20capsule%22%20maniacs |encyclopedia=Video Source Book |publisher=Thomson Gale |year=2006 |edition=36th |page=2825 |isbn=9780787689780 |access-date=2020-12-05 |archive-date=2021-01-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110907/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Video_Source_Book/v-LY0R4EqqMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22time+capsule%22+maniacs |url-status=live }} The band's live performances of "Eat for Two" and "Trouble Me" were released on its 1993 MTV Unplugged album release.{{cite AV media notes |author=10,000 Maniacs |title-link=MTV Unplugged (10,000 Maniacs album) |title=MTV Unplugged |publisher=Elektra Entertainment |medium=CD |at=Back cover}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|3.5|5}}

| rev2 = CD Review

| rev2score = 8/10 (performance)
8/10 (sound quality)

| rev3 = Chicago Tribune

| rev3score = {{rating|3.5|4}}

| rev4 = The New Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}

| rev5 = Rolling Stone

| rev5score = {{rating|4|5}}

| rev6 = The Village Voice

| rev6score = B−

}}

Blind Man's Zoo was met with mixed reviews from music critics. The Chicago Tribune reviewer Greg Kot praised the album for "Merchant's powerful lyricism" on "the global theme of betrayal".{{cite web |first=Greg |last=Kot |author-link=Greg Kot |date=May 25, 1989 |title=10,000 Maniacs: Blind Man's Zoo (Elektra) |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/05/25/10000-maniacsblind-mans-zoo-elektra-starstarstar-12lead/ |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-date=February 18, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218225344/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-05-25/features/8902040115_1_star-peter-asher-plea }} Rolling Stone reviewer David Browne called the album 10,000 Maniacs's "best record", praising the band as "more focused" and "Buck's darting guitars [as] more powerful than ever".{{cite magazine |first=David |last=Browne |date=August 10, 1989 |title=Recordings: Blind Man's Zoo |magazine=Rolling Stone |issue=558 |page=95 |issn=0035-791X |id={{ProQuest|220144549}} }} Spin journalist Timothy White in July 1989 called the album 10,000 Maniacs's "best release" to that date. Fellow Spin journalist Jonathan Van Meter considered the lyrics "concerned, self-righteous, [and] at times pretentious yet thoroughly engaging". CD Review{{'}}s Larry Canale criticized Merchant's "unintelligible" vocals but praised her "novelettes and the band's sprightly, sometimes edgy melodies".{{cite magazine |last=Canale |first=Larry |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_cd-review_1989-09_6_1/page/n85/mode/2up |title=Review: 10,000 Maniacs – Blind Man's Zoo |magazine=CD Review |date=September 1989 |access-date=25 September 2021 |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=79 |location=Hancock, New Hampshire |publisher=WGE Publishing, Inc. |via=Internet Archive |issn=1044-1700 }} The staff of People praised the music of the album, especially Buck's guitar performance, but found it "monotonous" and further called "Jubilee" "a major downer".

The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau acknowledged Merchant's "own prosaic prosody with off-kilter guitar accentuating its eccentric undertow", while he highlighted the album's second half of occasionally successful politics, "like when the lottery-playing mom of 'Dust Bowl' rubs her fevered youngest down with rubbing alcohol". However, he was resigned to report Merchant's inability to "listen to 'common sense firm arguments{{'"}}, singling out "Hateful Hate" for how it "brushes by slavery on its way to {{sic|elephant|icide}} and ends up condemning 'curiosity'—again and again".{{cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=November 28, 1989 |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgvts-89.php |title=Consumer Guide: Turkey Shoot |url-status=live |newspaper=The Village Voice |access-date=December 29, 2020 |via=robertchristgau.com |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003103949/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgvts-89.php }}

In retrospective reviews, AllMusic's Chris Woodstra considered the album inferior to its predecessor In My Tribe and wrote that despite "all of its earnestness and good-intentioned teachings, Blind Man's Zoo ultimately fails in its heavy-handed and generally uninteresting approach".{{cite web |first=Chris |last=Woodstra |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/blind-mans-zoo-mw0000652869 |title=10,000 Maniacs – Blind Man's Zoo |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=August 2, 2020 |archive-date=August 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805212301/https://www.allmusic.com/album/blind-mans-zoo-mw0000652869 |url-status=live }} J.D. Considine, reviewing in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, wrote that the album "isn't quite as cheerful, but despite its issue-oriented focus, Merchant and her bandmates never turn their songs into a bully pulpit".{{cite encyclopedia |first=J.D. |last=Considine |year=2004 |title=10,000 Maniacs |encyclopedia=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1=Nathan Brackett |editor2=Christian David Hoard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&q=10000-maniacs+%22blind+man%27s+zoo%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA807 |edition=4th |pages=ix, 807 |isbn=9780743201698 |access-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110850/https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&q=10000-maniacs+%22blind+man%27s+zoo%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA807 |url-status=live }}

In the US, Blind Man's Zoo reached number 13 on the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending July 29, 1989.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1989-07-29 |title=Billboard 200 (The Week of July 29, 1989) |magazine=Billboard |access-date=December 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513083544/https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1989-07-29 |archive-date=May 13, 2018 |url-status=live }} The album posited number 47 on the 1989 year-end chart of the Billboard 200.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1989/top-billboard-200-albums |title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1989 |url-status=live |archive-date=March 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314061915/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1989/top-billboard-200-albums |magazine=Billboard |access-date=June 20, 2021 }} It was certified gold for shipping 500,000 units in the US on July 11, 1989, and later received a platinum certification for shipments of 1,000,000 units in the country on December 12, 1997, both of which were awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making it 10,000 Maniacs's fourth album to achieve the latter certification.{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0g0EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22blind%20man's%20zoo%22%20platinum%20certification&pg=PA28 |title=Artists & Music: RIAA Certifications – Platinum Albums |magazine=Billboard |page=28 |date=December 27, 1997 |access-date=December 16, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110908/https://books.google.com/books?id=0g0EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22blind+man%27s+zoo%22+platinum+certification&pg=PA28 |url-status=live }} Blind Man's Zoo debuted and peaked at number 18 on the UK Albums Chart for the week ending May 27, 1989.{{cite web |title=10,000 Maniacs |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25468/10,000%20maniacs/ |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-date=February 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219022155/http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25468/10,000%20maniacs/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Official Albums Chart Top 75 (21 May 1989 – 27 May 1989) |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19890521/7502/ |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=February 20, 2017 |archive-date=19 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219012024/http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19890521/7502/ |url-status=live }} It was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipping 60,000 units in the UK on August 14, 1989.{{cite web |title=BRIT Certified: Certification Levels |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-certified/award-levels/ |publisher=British Phonographic Industry |access-date=August 8, 2020 |archive-date=June 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620184449/https://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-certified/award-levels/ |url-status=live }} It became the band's highest-charting album in both the US and the UK.

On the US charts, "Trouble Me" reached number 20 at the Mainstream Rock chart for the week ending July 8, 1989,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/10000-maniacs/chart-history/rtt/ |title=10,000 Maniacs – Chart History (Mainstream Rock Songs) |magazine=Billboard |access-date=December 16, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110917/https://www.billboard.com/music/10000-maniacs/chart-history/RTT |url-status=live }} number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart for the week ending June 10,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/10000-maniacs/chart-history/mrt/ |title=10,000 Maniacs – Chart History (Alternative Airplay) |magazine=Billboard |access-date=December 16, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110919/https://www.billboard.com/music/10000-maniacs/chart-history/MRT |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/alternative-airplay/1989-06-09 |title=Alternative Airplay (The Week of June 10, 1989) |magazine=Billboard |url-access=subscription |access-date=December 16, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110911/https://www.billboard.com/charts/alternative-airplay/1989-06-09 |url-status=live }} number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending August 12,{{cite magazine |title=10,000 Maniacs – Chart History (Hot 100) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/10000-maniacs/chart-history/hsi/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=December 16, 2020 |archive-date=July 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716120306/https://www.billboard.com/music/10000-maniacs/chart-history/HSI |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1989-08-11 |title=The Hot 100 (Week of August 12, 1989) |magazine=Billboard |access-date=December 16, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110930/https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1989-08-11 |url-status=live }} and number 7 on the Adult Contemporary chart for the week ending August 19, 1989.{{cite magazine |title=10,000 Maniacs – Chart History (Adult Contemporary) |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/10000-maniacs/chart-history/asi/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=December 16, 2020 |archive-date=June 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621103241/https://www.billboard.com/music/10000-maniacs/chart-history/ASI |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/adult-contemporary/1989-08-18 |title=Adult Contemporary (The Week of August 19, 1989) |url-access=subscription |magazine=Billboard |access-date=December 16, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112110928/https://www.billboard.com/charts/adult-contemporary/1989-08-18 |url-status=live }} "Trouble Me" reached number 77 on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending June 17, 1989.{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19890611/7501/ |title=Official Singles Chart Top 100 (11 June 1989 - 17 June 1989) |publisher=Official Charts Company |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219011547/http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19890611/7501/ |archive-date=19 February 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=February 18, 2017 }} "Eat for Two" reached number 12 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for the week ending August 12, 1989, and number 93 on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending November 11.{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19891105/7501/ |title=Official Singles Chart Top 100 (05 November 1989 - 11 November 1989) |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-date=18 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218232039/http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19891105/7501/ |url-status=live }}

Credits are adapted from the album's booklet. All lyrics by Natalie Merchant.

{{Track listing

|headline = Side one

|title1 = Eat for Two

|length1 = 3:26

|music1 = Natalie Merchant

|title2 = Please Forgive Us

|music2 = Robert Buck

|length2 = 3:22

|title3 = The Big Parade

|music3 = Jerome Augustyniak

|length3 = 4:00

|title4 = Trouble Me

|music4 = Dennis Drew

|length4 = 3:08

|title5 = You Happy Puppet

|music5 = Buck

|length5 = 3:35

|title6 = Headstrong

|music6 = Merchant

|length6 = 4:13

}}

{{Track listing

|headline = Side two

|title7 = Poison in the Well

|music7 = Drew

|length7 = 3:05

|title8 = Dust Bowl

|music8 = Buck

|length8 = 4:11

|title9 = The Lion's Share

|music9 = Drew, Merchant

|length9 = 3:00

|title10 = Hateful Hate

|music10 = Merchant

|length10 = 4:28

|title11 = Jubilee

|music11 = Merchant

|length11 = 6:07

}}

Credits are adapted from the album's booklet.

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

10,000 Maniacs

• Jerome Augustyniak – drums
• Robert Buck – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
• Dennis Drew – organ, piano
• Steve Gustafson – bass guitar
• Natalie Merchant – vocals; piano and pipe organ on "Hateful Hate"

Additional musicians

• Jevetta Steele – backing vocals on "Trouble Me"
• Orchestra of St. Luke's – orchestra on "Jubilee":
• Krista Bennion Feeney – first violin
• Mitsuru Tsubota – second violin
• Louise Schulman – viola
• Myron Lutzke – cello
• Dennis Godburn – bassoon
• Robert Wolinsky – harpsichord
• Scott Kuney – classical guitar on "Jubilee"
• Frank Luther – double bass on "Jubilee"

Technical

• Peter Asher – producer
• Frank Filipetti – engineer, mixing
• Dave Cook – assistant engineer
• Dennice Brown – mixing assistant
• Jeff Abikzer – mixing assistant
• Darren Brown – "nimble technician"
• Larry Knight – "nimble technician"
• Jason Osborn – orchestral arrangement and direction on "Jubilee"
• Frank Olinsky (Manhattan Design) – packaging
• Natalie Merchant – packaging

{{div col end}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Blind Man's Zoo}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|title=Blind Man's Zoo|artist=10,000 Maniacs|award=Silver|id=951-3669-2|date=August 14, 1989|access-date=December 5, 2020}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=Blind Man's Zoo|artist=10,000 Maniacs|award=Platinum|date=December 12, 1997|access-date=December 5, 2020|refname=USPlatinum}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050412171923/http://www.nataliemerchant.com/history/discography/albums/trackLists/blindmanszoo.php Lyrics of Blind Man's Zoo] at Natalie Merchant's official website. {{webarchive||url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050412171923/http://www.nataliemerchant.com/history/discography/albums/trackLists/blindmanszoo.php|date=April 12, 2005|title=}}
• [https://www.discogs.com/10000-Maniacs-Blind-Mans-Zoo/master/74591 Blind Man's Zoo] at Discogs

{{10,000 Maniacs}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:10,000 Maniacs albums

Category:1989 albums

Category:Elektra Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Peter Asher

Category:Love Canal