Picking Up Where We Left Off: Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstacy
I didn’t make it all the way through the Afterglow Live DVD the other night, but we did watch about 2/3 of it and that was enough to make me want to start my morning listening to more Sarah McLachlan.
FTE was the album where it all came together for McLachlan. She showed promise and had good songs on the earlier records, but there was something on those records that needed further development and perfecting. FTE is the result of that progress. It’s a throwback to the bygone days when labels were more often willing to allow artists a couple albums to get their feet wet. Labels weren’t perfect then but just take a look at what is happening at EMI today. A private equity firm has bought them out and artists can’t get away from there fast enough! In today’s business climate, one has to wonder if McLachlan even would have been allowed to get past the first record or if she would have even been signed at all.
As it turns out, she was allowed to continue and just like with so many other great artists her third album is where it all seemed to come together. FTE is an essential, engaging record. It is an album filled with songs with troubling themes, but it is delivered beautifully. The songs are fully realized, the lyrics are sharp, the music is wonderfully captured, and McLachlan’s voice is focused.
Her voice was always impossibly beautiful, but there were times on her early records it seemed to control her rather than be controlled by her. On FTE, it is fully under her command and serves these songs. She has one of those “phonebook” voices (I’d listen to her sing the Yellow Pages), but on FTE she has songs worthy of that voice.
If you don’t own it, this is one of the top albums of the ’90s. If you’re still unsure, check out a couple songs on iTunes. I’d start out with “Possession” and “Good Enough.” Those are the obvious choices as both got some degree of radio play when the disc was released. If you want to know if the album has anything to offer beyond those standout tracks, try “Wait” and “Elsewhere.” The title track is also spectacular. Truthfully, there’s not a bad song on the record. This is one of those albums that demands to be heard in its entirety, from beginning to end.
Filed under: Tags: Music of the Moment, Sarah McLachlan
