''Solace'' is the second studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing (album), Surfacing'' (1997), for which she won two G ...

, released in June 1991, on

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is an independent record label founded in 1984. The Vancouver-based company was created by principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record label to distribute recordings by the band Moev, but the label expanded in Ca ...

in Canada and in January 1992, on

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

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" (Mclachlan appeared nude in both the accompanying videos) and being certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

for sales of 200,000 copies in Canada. This was also the first of many Sarah McLachlan albums produced by

Pierre Marchand Pierre Marchand (born 1958) is a Canadian songwriter, musician and record producer. Marchand is known for his ongoing collaboration with Sarah McLachlan, having produced all of her albums since '' Solace'' in 1991. He also co-wrote several of M ...

. Although the album received favourable reviews internationally, her commercial breakthrough outside of Canada would not come until her next full album, ''

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy ''Fumbling Towards Ecstasy'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released on 22 October 1993 in Canada, 15 February 1994 in the United States, 24 May 1994 in Japan, and 14 August 1994 in Australia. It was prod ...

''. 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)”, which was performed 19 times between 2010 and 2012.Setlist.fm
‘The Path of Thorns (Terms)’

Critical reception

In a rave review for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Steve Hochman said that ''Solace'' "gorgeously recalls"

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning nearly seven decades. An Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning rec ...

, and

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer-songwriter who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as " guably the pre-eminent British folk-rock sin ...

"without sounding derivative", praising McLachlan's "strong, emotional songwriting and singing" and Marchand's "atmospheric yet involving production". Gary Dretzka was more ambivalent in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', 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". Writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'',

David Quantick David Quantick (born 14 May 1961) is an English novelist, comedy writer and critic, who has worked as a journalist and screenwriter. A former freelance writer for the music magazine ''NME'', his writing credits have included '' On the Hour'', ' ...

found the record merely promising, with "hints of possible excellence". Retrospectively,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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 A sophomore slump (also known as a sophomore jinx or sophomore jitters) is when a sophomore fails to live up to the relatively high standards that occurred during freshman year. It is commonly used to refer to the apathy of students (second year ...

" with "a superior collection of songs and performances". Richard Skanse stated in the 2004 ''

Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' 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".

Track listing

Note: In Canada, "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" appeared on Nettwerk's

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

tribute album, '' Island of Circles''.

Personnel

*Sarah McLachlan – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano *

– Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Bass, Piano, Organ, Keyboards, Accordion Reeds, Percussion *Bill Dillon – Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Mandolin, Pedal Steel, Guitorgan, Billatron *

Leo Nocentelli Leo Nocentelli (born June 15, 1946) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the funk band the Meters. He wrote the original versions of several funk classics such as " Cissy Strut" and "Hey ...

– Electric Guitar *Daryl Exnicious – Bass, Background Vocals * Hugh McMillan – Bass *

Jocelyne Lanois Jocelyne Chantal Lanois is a Canadian musician, bass player and songwriter from Hull, Quebec, who has been a member of the bands Martha and the Muffins and Crash Vegas. She has also had touring stints as bassplayer with Ani DiFranco and Chris Whi ...

– Bass *Alan Gevaert – Bass *Deni Bonet – Violin, Viola *Peter "Harpy" Conway – Harmonica *Ronald Jones – Drums, Percussion * Paul Brennan – Drums *

Ashwin Sood Ashwin Sood (born 25 September 1967) is an English–born Canadian musician and drummer. He is best known for his musical association with his ex-wife Sarah McLachlan. Sood was born in the United Kingdom to Indian immigrant parents, and grew up ...

– Drums *Michel Dupirre – Percussion *Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall, Greg Reely – Engineers *Andre Paquet – Freelancer *Kharen Hill Album photography for publicity and artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{Authority control 1991 albums Albums produced by Pierre Marchand Arista Records albums Folk rock albums by Canadian artists Nettwerk Records albums Sarah McLachlan albums