Sarah's Music

The most important part of Sarah McLachlan, at least in my opinion, is her music. That's the part of her that we are allowed to see, the part that she shows the world. I would recognize her voice before her face, and I'm sure a lot of her fans feel the same way. Over the years, Sarah has made a wide variety of music, beginning with her teenage new wave band October Game, and ending, for the time being, right where she is now, at the height of her mainstream popularity. A lot of her old fans have mixed feelings about her "newfound" fame. Almost everyone I have spoken with on the subject is happy for the publicity she has been receiving and the recognition that is her due, but feels a little bit jealous, as though something that was theirs alone now has to be shared. I, personally, am thrilled at her success, and my only worry is now that she's so well known, my chances of ever meeting her are even less than before. At any rate, over all these years, Sarah's musical style has grown and developed into something beautiful, something that I know I couldn't live without. She has released seven albums, and she appears on many more, and I know I couldn't list everything that she has done. The album reviews that I am doing on this page are all albums that I own, and beyond that, the only thing that I can suggest is to check her official homepage. Everything you ever wanted to know about Sarah's musical carreer can be found there. Anyway, I'll do the reviews in order of release, and keep in mind that the opinions expressed here are mine, but if anyone has anything that they'd like to add to the reviews, feel free to e-mail me.

Sarah's first album was called "Touch", released in 1988. Even though the music is a little dated, and Sarah's voice had not been developed to its full potential yet, you can hear her talent shining through. This album was almost unheard of in the US at the time of its release, but she built herself the beginning of her Canadian fan base with it. If you are a fan who is used to her "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" and "Surfacing" efforts, I recommend this album as something different, a side of Sarah not seen too much anymore. To me, this album sounds kind of mystical and a little pagan. Some of the songs remind me of Enya in a way. The high points of this album for me are "Out of the Shadows," "Touch," "Sad Clown," and "Ben's Song."

Sarah's sophomore effort was "Solace," released in 1991. A fantastic follow up to "Touch," it still contained that mystical air while showing off her matured vocals. With this album, you can hear her gorgeous voice almost at its best. She used the higher octaves of her vocal range more with this album than with "Fumbling." This is one of my favorites in her collection, and there are a lot of great songs and exceptional lyrics displayed here. If you are a fan of her later work, I definitely suggest giving this one a try. It's less dated than "Touch" and gives you a little glimpse into where Sarah's roots are. On this album, my favorite songs are "Drawn to the Rhythm," "Into the Fire," "Lost,"and "Black."

Sarah's third album, "Live," is a rare one, released in 1992. Almost impossible to find anymore, there were only several thousand released. If you dig through hole in the wall music stores with good import selections, you may be lucky enough to find one, but it's not too likely, especially since she's in the limelight. A little tip, though: if you own the "Rarities" album, the live "Drawn to the Rhythm" is from the "Live" album. "Live" is an excellent quality recording of a concert performed at Harbourfront, Toronto, Canada and released by Nettwerk. It is relatively short with only seven songs, but good nonetheless. Sarah's passion for performing live is obvious with this album. Try to find it, especially if you have never had the pleasure of seeing her in concert.

To me, Sarah's crowning glory is "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy," her fourth album, released in 1993. Her sultry voice, fully polished, glides like silk over the twelve tracks (thirteen, if you count the acoustic "Possession") of the album. Her full vocal potential is realized, with the wide range of songs on this album. When I listen to this album, I can't imagine that anyone would ever want to listen to anything else. I was first introduced to Sarah's music with this album. This is the album that gained her airplay and recognition in the US, with "Possession" and "Hold On" in the radio rotations. I can't begin to explain the beauty of the music on this album, but I will say if you are someone who is unfamiliar with Sarah, and somehow you stumbled into my page, this is the album to get if you want to hear her at her best. The emotion in her songs touches a lot of people, and this album has helped more than one person through some tough times in their lives, myself included. It's hard to choose my favorite songs from this album, there are so many, but my top choices would most likely be "Possession," "Plenty," "Elsewhere," "Ice," and "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy."

In 1995, "The Freedom Sessions" was released. This was one of the first multimedia music CD's released, and it contained a CD-ROM as well as the music tracks. I have only seen the multimedia part once, since I don't have a CD-ROM, but it was well done. This album contains the beginning versions of a lot of the songs heard on "Fumbling." It is a lot of fun to listen to, and some of the versions are even better thsn what was on "Fumbling," such as "Ice Cream." On this album, my favorite songs are "Elsewhere" and "Hold On."

After "Freedom Sessions," there was a lag, or at least it seemed like a lag to me, before "Rarities, B-sides & Other Stuff" was released. I found it by accident one day in the music store because I didn't know about it in advance. I was excited and surprised when I ran across it. "Rarities" is a collection of songs, either rare or remixed, and one song, "Dear God," previously unreleased. This another of my Sarah collection favorites because of the great mix of music all together on one album. I love the slow songs, but I also like Sarah's bad-ass vocals on "Dear God" and the danceable beats in "Fear" and the "Possession" remix. My favorite Sarah song is on this album as well, "Song for a Winter's Night." Even if she didn't write it, she sounds so good singing it. I could listen to that song a hundred times in a row and not get sick of it. My other favorites on the album include "I Will Remember You" and "Blue." This is another of Sarah's multimedia CD's, although it wasn't advertised as such.

At long last, Sarah released "Surfacing" in 1997, giving her starved fans some new music. Sarah was a busy girl in 1997, what with getting married to her drummer, putting together Lilith Fair and touring both with Lilith and on her own, as well as putting out her newest creation. There are two versions of "Surfacing" at this point, one regular CD and then the other a two CD st with two extra songs and some extra multimedia. That one was released only in Canada and in the US only at Border's Bookstores, and a few of the aforementioned hole in the wall music shops. I have heard that it is being discussed whether or not to release the double set all over the US in the future, though, so if you don't have that one and would like it, keep your eyes open for it. "Surfacing" is a beautiful album, full of Sarah's dreamy vocals and touching lyrics, and it containd a few of the best songs that she has done. The only complaint I have of "Surfacing" is that it's a little short, being only 10 songs if you don't count the bonus two, and one of the songs is an instrumental and the other is "Full of Grace," which was released on "Rarities" as well as on "Moll Flanders." The remaining eight songs are worth getting the album, though. As busy as she was in 1997, I don't mind the album being a little short. My favorites on "Surfacing" are "Building a Mystery," "Sweet Surrender," "Witness," and "Black and White."

There are a few other songs that Sarah was the guest vocalist for, such as "Silence" on Delerium's "Karma," and a cover of "Unchained Melody" on Nettwerk's compilation album "Brewed Awakening," and both of those are fantastic. I know that there's more, but as I said, this is just what I own. I'd like to hear what you think about these albums, so please feel free to email me or sign my guestbook. I reply to everyone who contacts me.
Return to the Tree of Life
Return to Main Page

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page