Afterglow (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Afterglow
Type = Album
Artist = Sarah McLachlan


Released = 4 November 2003
Recorded = 2002-2003
Genre = Pop
Length =
Label = Nettwerk/Arista
Producer = Pierre Marchand
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wuadqj4wojta link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|2|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/sarahmclachlan/albums/album/300657/review/5942806/afterglow link]
Last album = "Remixed"
(2001)
This album = "Afterglow"
(2003)
Next album = "Afterglow Live"
(2004)

"Afterglow" is a 2003 album by Sarah McLachlan.

It was her first album of new material in six years, after the success of "Surfacing" and the Lilith Fair festival. Following those successes, McLachlan took a few years furlough to start a family with her husband and drummer, Ashwin Sood. Their daughter, India Ann Sushill Sood, was born in 2002.

She also did a lot of work with the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach program, funding music lessons for disadvantaged children.

Unlike past albums where she went to an isolated cottage to write the songs, she wrote the songs for "Afterglow" in her family home mainly before the birth of her child. She wrote the songs entirely on piano, which is also a departure from her previous albums which she wrote on guitar. Longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand produced the album. McLachlan wrote all of the songs on the album, including two she wrote with Marchand.

The song Answer was featured in the 2008 movie The Brave One, starring Jodie Foster.

Chart success and award nominations

"Afterglow" was released on November 4, 2003 and was a big success in North America, reaching number two on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Canadian charts. It also has reached #33 in the UK (McLachlan's biggest success there thus far) and the top 50 in Australia in 2004. The first single, "Fallen", reached the top ten on the "Adult Top 40" Billboard charts and a remix reached top ten in the United States dance charts. A second single, "Stupid" was released in March of 2004.

McLachlan was nominated in five Juno Award categories in Canada, including "Album of the Year" and "Pop Album of the Year" for "Afterglow", and "Songwriter of the Year" for the songs on the album. The awards were announced on April 42004. The album was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Vocal Album field in 2005.

Although not as massive a success overall as "Surfacing", "Afterglow" managed to sell 4,121,000 units in the U.S. alone as of October 2006 and went four times platinum according to the official biography of McLachlan on the Billboard website. Worldwide, the sales of the album are close to 5 million copies, principally in Canada, UK and USA.

Track listing

#"Fallen" – 3:47 (McLachlan)
#"World on Fire" – 4:22 (McLachlan, Marchand)
#"Stupid" – 3:24 (McLachlan)
#"Drifting" – 3:23 (McLachlan)
#"Train Wreck" – 4:36 (McLachlan)
#"Push" – 3:56 (McLachlan)
#"Answer" – 3:58 (McLachlan)
#"Time" – 4:07 (McLachlan)
#"Perfect Girl" – 4:43 (McLachlan, Marchand)
#"Dirty Little Secret" – 3:56 (McLachlan)

Personnel

*Sarah McLachlan: Vocals, Electric Guitar, Piano, Rhodes Piano, Keyboards
*Pierre Marchand: Guitar, Bass, Piano, Keyboards, Synthesizer Bass
*Bill Dillon: Guitar, Guitorgan, Church Organ
*Michael Chaves: Guitar
*Michel Pepin: Guitar
*Sean Ashby: Guitar
*Yves Desrosiers: Guitar
*Mark Jowett: Guitar
*Ethan Johns: Guitar
*Tony Levin: Bass
*Daryl Johnson: Bass
*Jim Creeggan: Acoustic Bass
*David Kershaw: Hammond Organ
*Jorane: Cello, Background Vocals, Vocal Treatments
*Ashwin Sood: Drums, Percussion, Loops, Keyboard Bass
*Jerry Marotta: Percussion

Album Charts