CD Odyssey Disc 1587: Soundtrack

This week brings better news on the cat front. It turns out our poor cat is only mostly blind, and after ten days on blood pressure medication he has recovered a small portion of his vision. It is not a lot, but it’s enough for him to jump on and off stuff with a bit more confidence. Along with this newfound sight, he’s decided the veterinarian-approved food is not to his liking, and so is currently taking a stand against it. Argh…

Anyway, here is a new review.

Disc 1587 is…. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale

Artist: Various artists

Year of Release: 2003

What’s up with the Cover?  A graveyard angel. You’d think you’d want to market a Buffy the Vampire Slayer album with a picture from the show but here we get what I assume either a stock photo from the Interwebs or a prop from what Sheila and I affectionately call “the Buffy backlot”.

How I Came To Know It: This is one of two Buffy albums a former coworker gave me when she and her partner were downsizing their CD collection in 2020. Thanks, Anna!

How It Stacks Up: I have so many soundtracks that I have a hard time keeping track. I think I’m up around 36. Of those, I’ll say “Radio Sunnydale” slips just in front of my other Buffy soundtrack from 1999, landing at #28.

Back in the late nineties/early oughts both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and compact discs were all the rage, so it should not surprise you to hear that I have three different Buffy soundtracks. Of those, this one comes in at #2.

Ratings: 2 stars

If you are not familiar with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, my condolences. This show was some amazing TV that has more than held up over the almost two decades since it’s final episode aired. At some point I’m sure I’ll be pulling the DVD collection down to watch the whole thing for a 4^th time. Maybe not for a few years yet, but it will happen.

Those who are familiar with the show will know that music features prominently. The songs are generally selected because they either do a good job of setting a mood for a scene, or just appeal to young people of the day. Often it feels to be a mix of both.

While I know some of the songs on this record, most were new to me when I first got the record in 2020. This is because like today, back in 2003 I was not listening to the radio – Sunnydale or otherwise. For example, Sheila advises me that the Dandy Warhols’ “Bohemian Like You” was a big hit and even today gets occasional airtime. Good to know and I declare the song…OK.

The opening track was very familiar mind you, being a Breeder’s cover of the Buffy Main Title Theme. The original is by Nerf Herder, but the Breeders do a fine job of it, making it a bit grimier in the process. I liked it but I did miss that glorious drum roll featured at the end of the original.

Instead my favourites tended to be from artists I already liked, and songs I sometimes already had. Most notable is Aimee Mann’s “Pavlov’s Bell” a glorious track off her 2002 masterpiece, “Lost in Space.” Aimee Mann even was featured playing live on Buffy in one season, although I had forgotten the context and had to look it up. Playing herself, she gets to deliver the line, “Man, I hate playing vampire towns.” Nice. Anyway, it is a great song and well worth your time here or anywhere else it shows up.

Also good was Sarah McLachlan’s “Prayer of Saint Francis” which was apparently released on early editions of her 1997 record “Surfacing”. I am sad to say I don’t have that version, but that’s OK because here it is, and the song reminded me how much I used to love McLachlan back in the day. I still love her work, but I overplayed it a bit and am giving that part of my collection a rest. It was nice to have something “new to me” to enjoy by her. Like the Buffy series itself, I’ll be revisiting her collection one day down the road.

There are some unfortunate tunes that are very much of their time. “Sound of the Revolution” has a lot of weird Matrix-like sound effects hiding what is otherwise a boring and overproduced assortment of noises. “Ballad for Dead Friends” is exactly the overwrought Emo stew of sound which I expect was better when overlaid on some significant sequence on the show but fails to hold its own as music alone.

The CD ends with “The Final Fight” a soaring instrumental that had me thinking of Lord of the Rings travel sequences. It also had me remembered the glory of that final fight sequence as the show wrapped up. The song is full of bombast and majesty and probably only great if you are a fan looking to get nostalgic over the amazing final episode. I am, so it worked for me.

Overall, this record is a lot like how I imagine listening to the radio feels. Some great songs if you wait for them, sprinkled in with a bunch of others that are OK, but maybe not what you’d pick for yourself if you were making a mixed CD of your own. All the same, I had a good time and I’ll be keeping this collection of memories.

Best tracks: Buffy Main Theme – The Breeders, Stop Thinking About It – Joey Ramone; Pavlov’s Bell – Aimee Mann; Prayer of St. Francis – Sarah McLachlan

CD Odyssey Disc 857: Sarah McLachlan

Today’s game of Ulti was less than inspiring and my team lost badly. However, a day out running around with friends is fun regardless of whether you win or lose, so I declare it a success.

Is this next album a success? Er…kind of.

Disc 857 is….Afterglow

Artist: Sarah McLachlan

Year of Release: 2003

What’s up with the Cover? Sarah, looking beautiful and deep in thought. At this stage of her career McLachlan had sold a lot of albums, making me wonder why she still feels the need to wear some homeless man’s sweater.

How I Came To Know It: I’d liked Sarah McLachlan for years, so when this album came out in 2003 I just bought it as a matter of course. It ended up being the last Sarah McLachlan album I ever bought, but for all that I still like it.

How It Stacks Up:  I have five Sarah McLachlan albums. Of those five I put “Afterglow” in fourth spot, just ahead of “Touch”. And since this is my last Sarah McLachlan album here is the full recap, as tradition demands:

1. Solace: 4 stars (reviewed back at Disc 249)
2. Surfacing: 4 stars (reviewed back at Disc 758)
3. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy: 3 stars (reviewed back at Disc 703)
4. Afterglow: 2 stars (reviewed right here)
5. Touch: 2 stars (reviewed back at Disc 624)

Ratings: 2 stars but almost 3

Sarah McLachlan is one of those artists that got a lot of airplay in my stereo for a decade or so, but now rarely makes it into the rotation. “Afterglow” is not as strong as some of her earlier records, but it still has its moments.

On the plus side, McLachlan’s voice is still strong on “Afterglow” fifteen years after she released her first album, “Touch.” She is also an underrated piano player. She tickles the ivory with an easy grace and just a dash of jazz sensibility.

Because of this I found myself wishing both the vocals and piano would be more forward in the mix. The album suffers from a holdover of mid-nineties production, with too many layers and fuzz to let the songs shine through. I get that this is pop and not folk music, but even a pop song needs room to breathe. Instead we get odd little blue notes spread with wanton abandon through songs that can stand on their own without the dubious benefit of such parlour tricks.

On top of that mid-nineties business, there is an excess loudness to the recording level which was a common malaise at the start of the oughts. The bass thuds heavily in every track, and turning it down just pushes the vocals and piano further into the corner.

There are strong moments on the record despite the limitations of the production. The best song by a wide margin is “Worlds On Fire,” which appears to be McLachlan’s response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The tragedy brings out the best in her, as she thoughtfully explores the vulnerability we all felt in the wake of the attacks, mirrored against whatever fault lives in mankind that allows people to commit crimes like 9/11 in the first place.

McLachlan’s lyrics have always edged toward the schmaltzy, but when she’s on her game she manages to stay genuine. On “Afterglow” she strays on both sides of the line. “Train Wreck” feels overdone with McLachlan playing the part of a drama queen that I would cross the street to avoid, and a production that is so overly smooth that the whole display feels like an act.

Better is “Push” which has its own fair share of overblown lyrics, such as:

“Every time I look at you the world just melts away

All my troubles all my fears dissolve in your affections

You’ve seen me at my weakest but you take me as I am.”

Blech. That is bad stuff, but because the song is a bit more restrained and Sarah’s voice has a natural warmth she gets you to believe it. Similarly “Answer” is well served by just being McLachlan’s voice and piano. The sound is still a bit thick, but it is stripped down enough to still feel intimate enough to match the lyrics.

The lyrical nadir on the album is also the album’s biggest hit. “Fallen” is packed with oddly mangled sentences structured to serve forced rhymes.

“Though I’ve tried I’ve fallen

I have sunk so low

I messed up

Better I should know.”

“Better I should know” sounds like a line written by Yoda. Yoda is a great role model if you’re training to be a Jedi knight, but would be the world’s worst English teacher.

“Afterglow” is not a bad album, and as 2 star albums go I had a favourable experience. If you can cut through the dubious production decisions there are a few hidden gems that make the overall experience worth your time.

Best tracks:  World On Fire, Push, Answer

CD Odyssey Disc 758: Sarah McLachlan

I’m feeling worn out, ground down and tired. I’m also feeling stubborn though and stubborn goes a long way with me. In this case, stubborn is giving me enough energy to power through fatigue and melancholy, write my next review and keep this odyssey going.

Sleep is for the dead, my friends.

Disc 758 is….Surfacing

Artist: Sarah McLachlan

Year of Release: 1997

What’s up with the Cover? Sarah sits in a chair, so deep in thought that she’s seemingly unaware that she’s totally using that chair backwards.

How I Came To Know It: This is McLachlan’s fourth studio album, so by the time it came out I was already a fan and just buying her albums as they came out.

How It Stacks Up: I know I just gave “FumblingTowards Ecstasy” the silver medal not 58 albums ago, but I recant! “Surfacing” is the second best Sarah McLachlan album in my collection, just short of “Solace.”

Ratings: 4 stars

Sometimes we begrudge our favourite artists getting famous, because it feels like we’re losing them to the masses. With “Surfacing” we should just feel proud that Canada’s hometown girl, Sarah McLachlan, was being introduced to the world on such good terms.

The album performed brilliantly all around the world, and along with the Lilith Fair tour, helped establish McLachlan as an international celebrity. As for me, I never made it to a single Lilith Fair (or even a Lollapalooza), despite plenty of good intentions on both counts. What I did was play the living crap out of “Surfacing” for years.

The album doesn’t have the raw edge of her previous two records, but that just makes all its deep emotion more surprising. The production is classic late nineties. The drum machines of the eighties had long been rejected, but we hadn’t reached back to the organic seventies just yet. The songs all have an artificial air. The guitar has to be distorted, the notes have to be drawn out and everything has to run into everything else.

All that ambient sound and fuzz could easily pull you out of the experience, but instead it draws you in, like a warm bath or a good book – or both, if you are one of those people who’s willing to risk getting your book wet.

It does occasionally overstep, such as the odd beeps at the beginning of “Sweet Surrender,” but that’s not one of the better songs anyway and besides, these errors are rare. For the most part the production matches beautifully with the songs.

The album opens with “Building a Mystery” which is a character study, or maybe a series of character studies. For me, it is about how we build our characters in the first place, revealing our natures in our own constructs. I love how Hallowe’en makes people behave more like their true selves by giving them the shelter of a costume. “Building a Mystery” reminds me that we do this every day, just with more subtle brush strokes.

When she does strip down the arrangement, McLachlan still sticks with lots of echo, as she does on the quiet and devoted “I Love You” and the more upbeat but regret-filled “Adia.” “Adia” is a beautiful song that shows off McLachlan’s songwriting, singing chops and also a light touch on the piano. My only complaint with “Adia” are the god-awful mule shoes McLachlan wore for the video. Late nineties fashion was not kind to the eye, and the shoes of the era were by far the worst offender.

But I digress…

McLachlan’s voice is so high and ethereal on the whole album that it can feel a bit otherworldly, but not in that creepy Thom Yorke kind of way. Instead, this is the ethereality of angels. McLachlan herself covers a lot of angel-themed ground, including on “Witness” and the appropriately titled “Angel” although in both cases these are songs about yearning for heaven and not reaching it. It’s the human frailty that leaves us burning inside, seeking the cold comfort in unhealthy places in the absence of something more perfect. The distance between that perfection and our idealized grace is where both art and tragedy dwells, and McLachlan nails it.

When I first got this record I played it so much that I overdid it, and as a result I haven’t put it on regularly in years. Hearing it again for the Odyssey reminded me that I will eventually come back to it in force, and moreover that I’ll find some comfort there when I do.

Best tracks: Building a Mystery, Adia, Do What You Have To Do, Witness, Angel

CD Odyssey Disc 703: Sarah McLachlan

I was feeling a bit listless when I got home, further fuelled by watching yet another Boston Bruins loss before writing this review.

Fortunately, my Amazon order arrived! I don’t use Amazon as a rule, preferring the local record store hunt, but after I give it a good effort (at least a year) then I’ll break down and order music online. So look for reviews for the following seven albums (on 5 CDs) in coming months and years:

• Eric B . & Rakim – “Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em”
• Budgie – “Impeckable”
• Olympic Runners – “Put the Music Where Your Mouth Is” and “Out in Front”
• Nick Gilder – “City Nights” and “Frequency”
• Bonnie Tyler – “Faster than the Speed of Night”

Yes, those last two artists are guilty pleasures. I regret nothing.

Disc 703 is…. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

Artist: Sarah McLachlan

Year of Release: 1993

What’s up with the Cover? Sarah, getting all heartfelt and emotive. You can tell because she has her hand placed artfully over her breast. Then again, she could just be having a heart attack. That theory goes better with the pained expression on her face.

How I Came To Know It: I was a Sarah McLachlan fan from her previous album, “Solace” (reviewed way back at Disc 249). So when this album came out, I just bought it on spec.

How It Stacks Up:  We have five Sarah McLachlan albums. “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” is pretty much in a dead heat with “Surfacing” for second. However, since I believe in taking a stand on such matters I’ll put “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” slightly out in front, but still second to “Solace.”

Rating: 3 stars but almost 4

On “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” Sarah McLachlan finally achieved the blend of sounds I think she was looking for on previous efforts; an ambient combination of folk, pop, jazz and just a hint of soul. As a side benefit, it also put her on the pop music map – at least in Canada (the United States wouldn’t catch on until 1997’s “Surfacing”).

There is a sacrifice in combining so many different sounds, and the record doesn’t have the same stark and desolate power that “Solace” manages. That said it is plenty stark and desolate.

This is fuelled in part by McLachlan’s haunting voice. She sounds like an opera singer who is asleep and dreaming of being a folk singer. The power and precision is there, but the words spill out in big breathy phrases, like someone talking in their sleep. I love the effect of it all, and McLachlan knows how to infuse a melancholia that makes you feel like you’re hearing the songs float across to you in the night.

On “Elsewhere” where McLachlan sings “reaching out/reaching in” it feels like the breath of a dream, pulling you in to a land where you’re no longer certain of your bearings, or whether you even want to be.

“The opening track, “Possession” wades with you into “a sea of waking dreams”, which may not be the most original lyric, but works in the context of the song. What also works is the insistent neediness of the song. Here and throughout the album we are warned that while love can inspire, it can also drive us to the brink of madness.

In recent years it has become strangely popular to hate on Sarah McLachlan. For some, what seemed powerfully emotional then reflects back across the years as overwrought. I don’t see it that way; I think this album is well crafted, and the emotional core of it has held up strong.

This is despite some questionable percussion decisions here and there. “Circle” has a very annoying drum machine beat and on more than one occasion I swear I heard unwelcome bongos. Hippy buskers take note; bongos are rarely welcome.

There are also jazz elements in the songs, trying to resolve the melodies in creative ways that sometimes take their sweet time doing so. I’m not a fan of jazz, but the use of it is well timed and restrained on the record. I have to reluctantly admit that they make the songs better.

This album has a couple of Creative Maelstrom pet peeves. The song lyrics are included in the liner notes but they are presented in ‘messy handwriting’ font. If you’re including the lyrics, then you presumably want me to read them. Please make it easy to do so. It is a very nineties art design decision, and it has not aged well.

Also, the final track is actually two tracks, the second of which is a hidden “piano only” version of “Possession.” I really like having the alternate version, but I’d prefer it as its own track. The surprise of the bonus track on the first listen quickly wears off and leaves me wishing it stood on its own.

The song the piano “Possession” is paired with (possessed by?) is the title track, which would have benefited from the same stripped down production. It has some weird Sade-like beats that take away from the simple and poignant beauty of Sarah laying herself bare with a chorus of “if I shed a tear I won’t cage it/I won’t fear love.”

Part of me would like to hear all the songs produced more simply, but if you took all the organ and guitar and backbeat out of these songs you’d risk also stripping out their energy.

For an album with such a dreamlike and diffuse quality, the energy on “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” is exceptional. If there is an occasional stumble, it is always a graceful one; soon resolved into part of the overall dance.

Best tracks: Possession, Good Enough, Mary, Elsewhere, Hold On

CD Odyssey Disc 624: Sarah McLachlan

I’ve really been jumping from genre to genre lately on the Odyssey. I went from the dark progressive metal of Tool to the light and upbeat indie pop of the Ting Tings. Now I am bumped to new age folk-rock with this next album.

Disc 624 is…. Touch

Artist: Sarah McLachlan

Year of Release: 1989

What’s up with the Cover? I assume this is what it would have looked like if Galadriel had kept the One Ring (her golden hair would look black in ‘ring vision’).  Take the ring off, Galadriel – the Dark Lord can see you!

Also what are those creatures drawn in corners of the art border? Up top they look like fat Dr. Seuss birds, and down below they look like overweight octopuses.

For all the kidding, I do like this cover, which has a nice magical quality. Bonus points to McLachlan for doing the ‘hand tinting’ to the photograph, which I assume accounts for the Morgul-glow it has.

How I Came To Know It:  I heard the song “Vox” on MuchMusic and I liked it, so I bought this album. I am one of those fans from the beginning when it comes to Sarah McLachlan.

How It Stacks Up:  We have five Sarah McLachlan albums (her first five) and I must reluctantly declare “Touch” the least of the bunch. Sorry, Sarah – something had to be last.

Rating:  2 stars

“Touch” is an album by an artist still struggling to find her niche. McLachlan would go on to not only release a series of excellent records, but also to almost single-handedly launch the power of the all-woman tour with Lilith Fair. Back at the beginning she was just a newly discovered ingénue trying to figure it all out.

First the good stuff, because there is plenty of promise on “Touch” of what would come later. McLachlan’s voice is a thing of beauty, and she controls it with the grace and authority of an opera singer. A lot of these songs are incredibly vocally demanding and she delivers them well when lesser talents would have gone sharp or out of breath.

The hit off this record (minor as it was) is “Vox” and it is easy to see why. McLachlan’s vocals deliver the lyrics in a mysterious and breathless way that would help define the greatness of her next record, 1991’s “Solace.” Also, the keyboard riff on “Vox” is a pretty cool pop hook that nicely offsets the new age feel of the rest of the song. Even the lyrics of “Vox” are solid, as they describe a dreamy but troubled relationship (everything with this record is dreamy in some way):

"Through your eyes the strains of battle like a brooding storm

You're up and down these pristine velvet walls like focus never forms

My walls are getting wider and my eyes are drawn astray

I see you now, a vague deception of a dying day."

Unfortunately, someone decided that there can’t be too much of a good thing and ended the record with an extended version of “Vox”.The extended version is only two minutes longer, but those extra two minutes pack in a lot of terrible choices. Worst of all is the weird percussion sounds at the beginning that reminded me of the Dead Milkmen’s “Instant Club Hit” except without any of the self-aware mockery. Not all music is made for dancing, and trying to force it only makes it worse.

The drumming and percussion decisions on “Touch” are generally annoying. I’m not sure if they are trying to evoke tribal sounds or new wave drum machines but they often manage to mangle them together into a Frankenstein’s monster of distracting noise. McLachlan is game to keep these songs stable, and with the evocative power of her voice she generally succeeds. Her only reward for rescuing the songs is to have her pushed even lower down in the production mix. It was like when they made this album they hadn’t yet figured out that McLachlan is the reason people would buy it.

I will say that the title track has very pretty New Age production, where the drums and keyboards serve the melody, rather than overpowering it. The song has McLachlan singing in a simple hymn-like fashion that had me thinking of Enya’s first two albums. It may be a bit too much like Enya, in fact, but since I like Enya’s early albums I have no complaints with a little honest emulation.

This mood is broken by more goofy percussion on “Steaming” and then two terribly named songs in “Sad Clown” and “Uphill Battle.” While not a great song, “Sad Clown” has passable lyrics which are not – thankfully – about some morose circus performer. “Uphill Battle” is an instrumental that desperately needs McLachlan’s vocal talents to rescue it from itself.

Kudos to McLachlan for sticking to a reasonable 10 songs rather than going overboard and I also like the cover design as I noted earlier. However, the lyrics printed inside are provided in an almost unreadable handwritten scrawl. It may give it an organic look, but a note to artists; if you are including the lyrics it is presumably because you want us to be able to read them. Keep that in mind when you choose a font.

I’ll end on an up-note with “Ben’s Song.” This song shows the promise of everything “Touch” could have been if McLachlan’s talents were fully utilized. “Ben’s Song” is a meditation of sorts on the death of a loved one. Not the actual death, but merely the agony of imagining it will one day come to pass – the kind of dream that is so real it gives your heart a pain that threatens to knock you over with grief.

The song begins with McLachlan singing in a high, keening chant that is so pure and ethereal that you’re sure she’s stepped right out of the world of faerie. The only instruments are bass and piano. McLachlan plays the latter, reminding us of her exceptional talent as a pianist as well.

"On the hills of fire, the darkest hour

I was dreaming of my true love’s pyre

Who will bring a light to stoke the fire?

Fear not for you’re still breathing

"On a winter’s day, I saw the life blood drained away

A cold wind blows on a windless day”

The lyrics made me think of an ancient Viking woman sending her husband off to Valhalla, and the song fades out with McLachlan repeating “on a winter’s day” with a haunting resonance.

“Ben’s Song” would be the perfect ending to this album, and when I remember to rouse myself from its spell in time I stop the record here. Unfortunately, the “Vox” extended version is what the record execs leave us with instead – proof that they just didn’t know what they were doing.

Best tracks: Vox, Touch, Ben’s Song

CD Odyssey Disc 249: Sarah McLachlan

After an album that took five days to get through, I'm now on a run of 'one and done's. Here's my third straight album done the day I started. Too bad, though - I really like this record.

Disc 249 is...Solace
Artist: Sarah McLachlan

Year of Release: 1991

What’s Up With The Cover?: Extreme close up: Sarah McLachlan edition. I suppose if you are going to make your album cover a giant head, Sarah's is a good one to choose. She's a fetching lady, even when the photographer has made her look like some kind of statue or vampire-girl.

How I Came To Know It: I've had this album since it came out twenty years ago, so the exact nature of my discovery is a bit hazy at this point. I probably heard a couple of the songs and liked them and bought it.

How It Stacks Up: I have five Sarah McLachlan albums - I believe her first five. Of those, "Solace" is at the top of the list. Simply the best; better than all the rest, but without all that creepy Tina Turner stuff usually associated with that expression.

Rating: 4 stars

"Solace" was a pretty big album in Canada in 1991, and had at least three singles. This was before the rest of the world knew Sarah, before Lilith Fair, and before she became the default person to ask questions related to "women in music".

I don't think any of that relates to how good or bad this record is - in point of fact, McLachlan made a great deal of good music after she achieved international fame.

I do think that being early in her career, "Solace" benefits from sparse production, which allows her powerful songwriting to shine through. There are great production decisions on later McLachlan albums as well, but the best moments on "Solace" relate to what isn't done.

As an example, my favourite song on the album (and my favourite Sarah McLachlan song period) is "The Path of Thorns (Terms)". This song is pretty basic. Just a drum and a guitar and Sarah's beautiful voice. The guitar is basically just an Indigo-Girl strum-fest, but I'm always knocked out by the way the guitar strumming rises and falls in intensity - almost adding a whole separate rhythm to the song. Even after twenty years, and hundred of listens, every time I hear it, I can't help but "air strum" along.

Lyrically, "Solace" is very dark in places. It is an album that paints the spaces between people black - and exposes our vulnerabilities in that stark separation. It is introspective, but it is an introspection that is fundamentally about our desire to connect, however fleeting or failing those efforts are.

The lines that haunted me the most when I was 21 years old are still the lines that haunt me today, from the song "Shelter":

"I've seen a part of people that I never
really want to share
I've seen a part of people that I never
knew was there."

Simple lines, that admittedly don't translate their depth when transferred to the page. Sung by McLachlan in a soft, mournful manner they make me think of all the injustices that exist in the world - both the terrible events we read in the news, and the disappointments we encounter in our own lives - maybe even in ourselves. "Shelter" is a song about innocence, and how we all lose it along the way. At the same time, it reminds us that we can never truly lose it - because allowing ourselves to be disappointed reminds us that it can be better than that - and if we're still reminding ourselves, then we're still in the game.

There isn't much to say in the negative about this record. For the most part, McLachlan sticks to her sweet spot, both musically and thematically. There are a couple of songs that I could do without, however. For one, "Mercy", which takes her sad detachment too far - it is overly-sparse, and the lyrics seem strained to the point where she loses her audience into a sort of art-hall experiment.

At the other end, "Into the Fire" is too 'pop music' for my tastes. It is out of her sweet spot in the other direction - trying to hard for a radio-friendly sound, and losing any resonance in the process. Ironically, "Into The Fire" is the biggest hit on the record, which is a real crime, considering how many gems go unnoticed.

"Solace" is a powerful record from a powerful artist, who has left a lasting mark on the Canadian music scene. I almost gave this record five stars, and on another day I might have - but whatever the arbitrary rating, it is a record I don't plan to get tired of any time soon.

Best tracks: Drawn To The Rhythm, The Path of Thorns (Terms), I Will Not Forget You, Back Door Man, Shelter