CD 1: 
01. Vox 4:53 
02. Steaming 4:44 
03. Ben's Song 4:55 
04. The Path Of Thorns (Terms) 5:51 
05. Into The Fire 3:31 
06. Drawn To The Rhythm 4:09 
07. Mercy 4:22 
08. Possession 4:38 
09. Hold On 4:10 
10. Good Enough 5:03 
11. Ice Cream 2:44 
12. Fumblin Towards Ecstasy 4:50 

CD 2: 
01. Building A Mystery 4:08 
02. Sweet Surrender 4:02 
03. Adia 4:05 
04. Angel 4:30 
05. I Will Remember You 3:34 
06. Fallen 3:48 
07. Stupid 3:23 
08. World On Fire 4:23 
09. Push 3:47 
10. Don't Give Up On Us 3:37 
11. U want me 2 4:07 
12. Hold On (Radio Remix) 4:09 
13. I Will Remember You (Original Version) 4:52 
14. World On Fire (Radio Remix) 4:30 
15. U want me 2 (Radio Remix) 4:09

Dedicated fans of Sarah McLachlan had a lot to buy in 2008, when the Canadian songwriter issued three retrospective albums. Rarities, B-Sides & Other Stuff, Vol. 2 led the pack in April, followed by a deluxe edition of Fumbling Toward Ecstasy several months later. Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan brought up the rear, arriving in October and compiling McLachlan's greatest hits along with two new songs. "Don't Give Up on Us" and "U Want Me 2" are standard McLachlan tunes, mixing adult contemporary songcraft with the soothing, evergreen vocals that helped her rise to prominence. As always, producer Pierre Marchand helms both of those new songs, and his presence throughout this compilation -- not to mention McLachlan's steady songcraft -- helps make Closer a consistent, unified work. Casual fans will find what they need in the regular 16-track version, while diehards might want to look at the two-disc version, which includes additional songs and several remixes. ---Andrew Leahey, AllMusic Review

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1. 	Possession 				
2. 	Wait 				
3. 	Plenty 				
4. 	Good Enough 				
5. 	Mary 				
6. 	Elsewhere 				
7. 	Circle 				
8. 	Ice 				
9. 	Hold On 				
10. 	Ice Cream 				
11. 	Fear 				
12. 	Fumbling Towards Ecstasy 				

Sarah McLachlan - Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Piano
Bill Dillon - Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Guitorgan, Bass, Piano
Pierre Marchand - Bass, Piano, Keyboards, Fake B-3 Organ, Drum Machine, Percussion Machine,
 808, Shaker, Found Sound
Brian Minato - Bass
David Kershaw - Hammond Organ
Jane Scarpantoni - Cello
Michel Dubeau - Saxophone
Ashwin Sood - Drums, Percussion
Jerry Marotta - Drums, Percussion
Lou Shefano - Drums
Guy Nadon - Drums

Although 1991's Solace made Sarah McLachlan a star in Canada, her international breakthrough arrived two years later with Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, a softly assured album that combined the atmospheric production of Pierre Marchand (a former apprentice -- and evident disciple -- of Daniel Lanois) with some of McLachlan's strongest songwriting to date. At the center of everything was her voice, an ethereal, lilting soprano that helped pave the way for Paula Cole, Lillith Fair, and a decade's worth of successful female songwriters. McLachlan utilized the crack between her chest and head voice, emphasizing the changing tones as her melodies climbed into the vocal stratosphere. She was also comparatively young at the time of Ecstasy's release, and her combination of vocal hooks and commercial appeal wouldn't be fully mastered until 1997's Surfacing. Even so, McLachlan's work was rarely as raw or honest as it is on this record, where tales of sin, lust, and love are delivered alongside piano arpeggios and electronic flourishes.

"Possession," the album's lead-off single, is a jarring love ballad with lyrics inspired by a stalker's correspondence. There's a double-edged quality to the song's eerie lines -- "I'll take your breath away," "I won't be denied," "Just close your eyes, dear" -- and Marchand underscores that tension by setting McLachlan's melodies to a nocturnal trip-hop beat. Elsewhere, the two lighten up with "Ice Cream," which likens love's sweetness to decadent deserts, yet Fumbling Towards Ecstasy takes most of its strength from the lush, rhythmic dreamscapes that dominate the album. Alternately dark and shimmering, intimate and ornate, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy launched McLachlan's international star power while setting a high bar for her future albums, many of which approached -- but not never quite eclipsed -- this career highlight. ---Andrew Leahey, AllMusic Review

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01. Awakenings 
02. Illusions Of Bliss 
03. Loving You Is Easy 
04. Changes 
05. Forgiveness 
06. Rivers Of Love 
07. Love Come 
08. Out Of Tune 
09. Heartbreak 
10. Don't Give Up On Us 
11. U Want Me 2 
12. Bring On The Wonder 
13. Love Come (Piano Version

Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Bill Dillon, Michel Pepin
Bass, Lap Steel Guitar, Electric Guitar – Yves Desrosiers
Drums, Percussion – Matt Chamberlain
Piano, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – Sarah McLachlan
Producer, Bass, Keyboards, Mixed By – Pierre Marchand

It’s been seven years since Sarah McLachlan released Afterglow, her last album of original material. That’s a lifetime in the pop world, perhaps, but McLachlan handles her absence well, filling Laws of Illusion with the same sort of adult contemporary fare that made her a star in the first place. The market has changed since McLachlan’s late-‘90s heyday; pop starlets like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift are now among the industry’s most highly prized female songwriters, making McLachlan seem a bit staid and outdated by comparison. With the 2010 revival of Lilith Fair, though, she has somewhat reconstructed the world as it existed a decade ago, and Laws of Illusion furthers the fantasy by taking its cues from Clinton-era folk-pop. It’s an album that aims to soothe rather than startle, replete with wistful, lovelorn lyrics and McLachlan’s signature arrangements -- a mix of new age atmospherics and singer/songwriter ambience -- courtesy of longtime producer Pierre Marchand. As he’s done in the past, Marchand splits his time between highlighting McLachlan’s voice with intimate piano chords and piling the orchestrations high, although the two devote more time to ballads this time around. In general, though, McLachlan simply sounds like McLachlan here, seemingly unaged by the seven years that have elapsed since her last record and unconcerned with new trends. ---Andrew Leahey, AllMusic Review

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01. In Your Shoes
02. Flesh And Blood
03. Monsters
04. Broken Heart
05. Surrender And Certainty
06. Song For My Father
07. Turn The Lights Down Low
08. Love Beside Me
09. Brink Of Destruction
10. Beautiful Girl
11. The Sound That Love Makes
12. What’s It Gonna Take
13. Little B

Paul Bushnell - Bass, Vocals
Matt Chamberlain - Percussion
Kevin Dean - Trumpet
Luke Doucet - Guitar, Vocals
Jamie Edwards - Keyboards
Emmanuel Ethier - Guitar
Bill Gossage - Bass
David Grott - Trombone
Christine Jensen - Horn Arrangements, Sax (Alto)
Ingrid Jensen - 	Trumpet
Vincent Jones - 	Bass, Drum Programming, Guitar, Hammond B3, Keyboards
Abe Laboriel, Jr. - Drums
Pierre Marchand - Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Piano
Melissa McClelland - Vocals
Philippe Melanson - Drums, Percussion
Joel Miller - Sax (Tenor)
Jamie Muhoberac - Keyboards, Vocals
Chris Potter - Bass
Joel Shearer - Guitar, Vocals
Ashwin Sood - Drums
Lyle Workman - Guitar, Vocals

Plagued by increasingly middling album sales, Sarah McLachlan is in a position to take the kind of risks she was probably wise to eschew in the wake of her blockbuster 1997 album Surfacing. Though longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand is on board for most of the songs, Shine On marks the first time since her 1988 debut that the singer-songwriter has worked on an album with producers other than him. It's also her first effort since her departure from Arista Records. Unfortunately, aside from the use of horns here and there (an apt choice for her debut on venerable jazz label Verve Records), neither of these moves appear to have moved McLachlan to make any substantive changes to her sound, which, since her commercial peak in the late '90s, has inched decidedly away from the alt-rock of her early work in favor of middle-of-the-road adult contemporary.

Best known for his work with such disparate acts as Metallica and Michael Buble, Bob Rock's production on the standout "Flesh and Blood" and the comparatively hard-edged "Love Beside Me" plugs a bit of figurative and literal electricity into the proceedings. The former showcases the exquisite breaks in McLachlan's voice and a percussive undercurrent reminiscent of tracks from the singer's 1993 album Fumbling Toward Ecstasy. The rest, however, is largely forgettable, with songs like "Brink of Destruction" that rarely live up to their typically melodramatic titles. The album's lead single, the string-laden "In Your Shoes," is a so-called empowerment anthem inspired by 16-year-old Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai filled with platitudes like "live your truth."

When McLachlan fully embraces the smooth-jazz path she's been threatening to go down for over a decade, as she does on "Surrender and Certainty" and "Song for My Father," which is surprisingly less saccharine than you might expect, it at least starts to feel like she's evolving as an artist. But those moments are few and far between on an album that feels longer than it is, which, I guess, is a desirable quality for what is basically glorified background music. ---Sal Cinquemani, slantmagazine.com

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CD1:
01 – Vox
02 – Steaming
03 – Ben’s Song
04 – The Path Of Thorns (Terms)
05 – Into The Fire
06 – Drawn To The Rhythm (Live)
07 – Back Door Man (Live)
08 – Possession
09 – Good Enough
10 – Elsewhere
11 – Fear
12 – Ice Cream (Freedom Session)
13 – Hold On (Freedom Session)
14 – Dear God
15 – I Will Remember You (Studio Version)
16 – Building A Mystery
17 – Sweet Surrender

CD2:
01 – Adia
02 – Angel
03 – Silence (Feat. Sarah McLachlan)
04 – When She Loved Me
05 – Blackbird
06 – The Rainbow Connection
07 – Fallen
08 – Stupid
09 – World On Fire
10 – Push (Live)
11 – Witness (Live)
12 – Time After Time (Feat. Sarah McLachlan)
13 – River
14 – Ordinary Miracle
15 – Don’t Give Up On Us
16 – U Want Me 2
17 – Loving You Is Easy
18 – Forgiveness
19 – Illusions Of Bliss

Sarah McLachlan has been enchanting listeners with her music for 25 years, beginning with her debut album Touch, in 1988. Her voice has remained as true and pure as ever through the years, soaring over beautiful and perfectly planned musical arrangements to great effect. The two discs include material spanning her entire career, both live and studio, alone and in collaboration with others. There are 30 songs included, from deep cuts to the familiar hits.

The thing that sets McLachlan apart and keeps her fascinating is not just the beauty of her voice and the textured and interesting musical arrangements that underpin it, but the total honesty and often heart-wrenching emotion of her lyrics. That said, she can also bring new depth and meaning to songs you’ve heard a thousand times by many artists. Witness the versions of “The Rainbow Connection,” “Blackbird,” “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story, and Joni Mitchell’s “River,” as well as the duet with Cyndi Lauper on “Time After Time” from disc two. She makes these familiar songs sound fresh and worth listening to many more times, by the sheer magic of her voice.

Of course, the songs beloved by McLachlan’s many fans are here. “Angel” is still one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking songs ever written. “Building a Mystery,” “Sweet Surrender,” “I Will Remember You” and “Adia” continue to weave their magic spells and let us peek straight into McLachlan’s soul.

As for the other material, disc one consists entirely of McLachlan’s own material except for “Dear God” (originally by XTC). Some listeners will prefer songs such as “The Path of Thorns, The (Terms),” and “Into the Fire,” which have a bit heavier accompaniment that balances the vocal and adds emotional impact to the songs, while others will be enchanted by the more ethereal numbers like “Steaming” and “Ben’s Song.” There are two excellent live songs here which illustrate the singer’s ability to maintain that perfect pitch and purity in performance: “Drawn to the Rhythm” and “Back Door Man.”

Disc two includes more original material and the covers mentioned above. It also contains two more extraordinary live performances: “Push” and “Witness.” In addition, there’s the popular late ’90s trance number by Delirium featuring McLachlan, “Silence,” and a highlight for this reviewer, “Ordinary Miracle,” co-written by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard and from the motion picture Charlotte’s Web.

Every listener will have their own favorites out of these 30 songs, but overall, this collection proves that McLachlan is consistently listenable, capable of inspiring joy and tears simultaneously to sensitive ears, and blessed with arrangements, musicians, and production professionals who know exactly how to complement her voice and material. This compilation will be a treasure to every one of the myriad of fans of this amazing woman and her music. –Rhetta Akamatsu, blogcritics.org

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