Surfacing was released as the first Lilith Fair tour hit the road, and Sarah McLachlan benefited enormously from the timing.
As the organizer of Lilith Fair, McLachlan was on the cover of magazines across America and Canada, which helped Surfacing debut at number two on the U.S.
charts -- a particularly remarkable feat since its predecessor, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, peaked at number 50.
All the commercial success and media hype disguised the fact that Surfacing not only didn't offer anything new from McLachlan, but it wasn't a particularly strong consolidation of her talents.
That it isn't to say it's a bad record, because it certainly isn't -- there are several fine songs on the album, including the single "Building a Mystery" -- but it doesn't offer anything new, and the songs aren't as consistently captivating as they were on Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.
And that suggests that even though McLachlan was at the height of her popularity, she may have begun to run out of ideas.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building a MysteryPierre Marchand, Sarah McLachlan | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 2 | I Love YouSarah McLachlan | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 3 | Sweet SurrenderSarah McLachlan | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 04:00 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 4 | AdiaPierre Marchand, Sarah McLachlan | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 04:04 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 5 | Do What You Have to DoSarah McLachlan, Coleen Wolstenholme | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 16 MB |
| 6 | WitnessPierre Marchand, Sarah McLachlan | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 04:47 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 7 | AngelSarah McLachlan | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 20 MB |
| 8 | Black & WhiteSarah McLachlan | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 05:02 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 9 | Full of GraceSarah McLachlan | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 19 MB |
| 10 | Last DanceSarah McLachlan | Sarah McLachlan | Play | 02:32 | 5 MB | 8 MB |
| 41 mins | 94 MB | |||||
| 41 mins | 231 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Creeggan | Bass (Upright) |
| 2 | Yves Desrosiers | Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar, Musical Saw, Slide Bass |
| 3 | Pierre Marchand | Bass, Composer, Drum Machine, Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 4 | Sarah McLachlan | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 5 | Brian Minato | Bass, Guitar (Electric) |
| 6 | Michel Pepin | Guitar (Electric) |
| 7 | Ashwin Sood | Drums, Percussion, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Coleen Wolstenholme | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |