Sarah McLachlan Surfacing 180g 45rpm 2LP

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Three of Sarah McLachlan's biggest pop hits mark her fourth studio album Surfacing. Released in July 1997, just as the first Lilith Fair tour hit the road, McLachlan benefitted enormously from the timing. Her face was on the cover of magazines across America and Canada; Surfacing reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 - a remarkable feat considering that its predecessor, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, peaked at No. 50.

Now, hear Surfacing on its definitive vinyl version - two 180-gram LPs cut at 45 RPM by legendary mastering engineer Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes. The premium LPs plated and pressed by Gary Salstrom and the crew at Quality Record Pressings are paired with a deluxe gatefold Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket. The 45 RPM pressing gives you four sides with a reduction in groove curvature and decreased distortion as your cartridge nears the center of the record. That's a major sonic advantage!

There's the requisite number of gorgeously melodic and deeply heartfelt songs here, writes reviewer Jeff Bateman - the addictive "Sweet Surrender", the Hollywood-style ballad "I Love You", the sad, profound "Angel", the flat-out spectacular "Witness". "Adia" and "Angel" were Top 5 hits; "Building A Mystery" hit the Top 15 and "Sweet Surrender" became a Top 30 hit.

The album won four Juno Awards including for Album of the Year. "Building A Mystery" was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, while the instrumental-only song "Last Dance" won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

McLachlan's bittersweet album proves again that what she and producer Pierre Marchand release is cut from the finest of cloth. The Analogue Productions/QRP pressing reissue treatment delivers sonics and luxury packaging second to none for discerning collectors.

This 45 RPM double LP shows off why it's a hi-fi show standard. Canadian McLachlan's vocals are inviting and intimate, sharing qualities with the likes of Lori Lieberman and Eleanor McEvoy while sounding nothing like them. The recording is sublime too, particularly notable its palpable sense of atmosphere and natural-sounding lower registers. There is a dichotomy in this release, however, which sounds like a pop music version of a Gainsborough Pictures costume drama, but covers much darker topics. That said, if you're a sucker for distaff singer-songwriters, you'll love it.