Solace (Sarah McLachlan album)

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28 January 1992 (US)Morin Heights at Lars Westvind's house, in Vancouver at Mushroom Studio and Venture Studios and in New Orleans at Karen's HousePop45:31Nettwerk (Canada)
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Solace is the second studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released in June 1991, on Nettwerk in Canada and in January 1992, on Arista Records in the United States. It was the album that first made her a star in Canada, spawning the hit singles "The Path of Thorns (Terms)" and "Into the Fire" and being certified double platinum for sales of 200,000 copies in Canada. This was also the first of many Sarah McLachlan albums produced by Pierre Marchand.

Although the album received favourable reviews internationally, her commercial breakthrough outside of Canada would not come until her next full album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. Although McLachlan has not discarded the album's songs from her concerts so completely as those of Touch, nothing from Solace has been performed live since 1999 except for "The Path of Thorns (Terms)",<ref>Setlist.fm; Sarah McLachlan Album Statistics</ref> which was performed 19 times between 2010 and 2012.<ref>Setlist.fm; ‘The Path of Thorns (Terms)’ Template:Webarchive</ref>

Critical reception

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In a review for the Los Angeles Times, Steve Hochman said that Solace "gorgeously recalls" Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, and Sandy Denny "without sounding derivative", praising McLachlan's "strong, emotional songwriting and singing" and Marchand's "atmospheric yet involving production".<ref name="Hochman"/> Gary Dretzka was more ambivalent in the Chicago Tribune, commenting that the album's songs "are not without some poetic beauty", but "no one piece really stands out" due to their similar "somber emotional range".<ref name="Dretzka"/> Writing for NME, David Quantick found the record merely promising, with "hints of possible excellence".<ref name="Quantick"/>

Retrospectively, AllMusic critic Kelly McCartney deemed Solace "a wonderful record that offers a glimpse of the astounding talent of a young Sarah McLachlan", writing that McLachlan avoided the "sophomore jinx" with "a superior collection of songs and performances".<ref name="McCartney"/> Richard Skanse stated in the 2004 Rolling Stone Album Guide that Solace "represented a considerable leap in maturity and focus" for McLachlan, noting the album's "less muddled" production and its songs' "sharper hooks and distinctive melodies".<ref name="Skanse"/>

Track listing

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Note: In Canada, "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" appeared on Nettwerk's Donovan tribute album, Island of Circles.

Personnel

Sarah McLachlan – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano
Pierre Marchand – Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Bass, Piano, Organ, Keyboards, Accordion Reeds, Percussion
Bill Dillon – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Mandolin, Pedal Steel, Guitorgan, Billatron
Leo Nocentelli – Electric Guitar
Daryl Exnicious – Bass, Background Vocals
Hugh McMillan – Bass
Jocelyne Lanois – Bass
Alan Gevaert – Bass
Deni Bonet – Violin, Viola
Peter "Harpy" Conway – Harmonica
Ronald Jones – Drums, Percussion
Paul Brennan – Drums
Ashwin Sood – Drums
Michel Dupirre – Percussion
Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall, Greg Reely – Engineers
Andre Paquet – Freelancer
Kharen Hill Album photography for publicity and artwork