5/5 Wonderful
  by Eric Whitehead (Fairfax, VA)
I have to admit,,When I first listen to this cd, I felt a bit dissapointed...the songs all seemed soft and slow. Nothing seemed to be easily accessible, with the Fallen being an exception.. But after listening, I discovered more to this whole album. Yes, this is different than her previous, but that is good! Change is good, and these songs show a maturity that some artist never aquire. I hate buying a new cd from an artist I enjoy and it sounds the same. These songs are all beautiful and now I love this album. The title Afterglow is apt, for these songs leave a warm, quiet feeling in your soul. Don't give up on this one just because it takes some time to enjoy. Best songs, in my opinion, World on Fire, Stupid and Time. Though I could find something to love on each song

5/5 What is the problem?
  by
I tell you what it is. People are judging this record according to their expectations. Such expectations are set up sky high that it becomes really impossible for Sarah or any artist for that matter to attain. People are expecting perfection all the time from her. Well, guess what? She's only human.

For me, I hear Afterglow and what I find is a collection of beautifully crafted songs, as we have come to expect from Sarah. Which brings to mind another problem: the music climate has changed so much that what is considered "good" music now is anything that's really loud ie rock, recycled crap ie rap and karaoke singers seems to be the height of music culture right now. Any female worth much in the industry has to at least take her clothes off in a video and show some skin in order to get attention. Anything else that doesn't fit into these narrowly-focused "rock-n-roll" ideals fall short in people's eyes.

Sarah has chosen to stay true to herself and made a record that is meaningful and emotionally-satisfying. It is quiet and low-key but it has been said that the most powerful moments can be found in silences and quietness is the loudest roar. She has chosen to disregard all music trends and fads and creates music that is relevant enough in current times yet sound timeless in its appeal. Contrary to what some reviewers have posted here, all the songs are very much varied in sound and not "samey" at all.

Open you ears to Fallen and hear the open regret, the fatalistic hopeless feeling that a mistake made can never be corrected brings. Read the lyrics in World on Fire and tell me that that is not one of the best songs ever written about the post 911 world? People say she doesn't rock, well please hear Stupid! Not only does she rock out, she actually sounds mightily pissed.

In Drifting, she gathers you up into the skies into drifting clouds and you understand why there it's so irresistable to escape from life. Then you're brought down to earth again in Trainwreck where Sarah revels in being an impending disaster and you're taken by her vulnerability. Push is Sarah's love poem to her husband and it's a suitably direct and heartfelt declaration of love.

Answer...what can one say about Answer? The most emotionally wrecking song on the album. If there is anyone that you ever truly love and need, you'll relate to this song. The lyrics are simple yet say so much. In Time, Sarah gives us a dark glimpse into a broken relationship that involves her ruminating about "shadows on the walls" keeping her company and being held as a token. The Celtic-like drumming bores into your ears as if Father Time is urgently telling you that it's best to let go of things that ails you.

Perfect Girl is the perfect ode to anyone who has yet to find himself or herself. Listen to her sing "And everything will come around in time" in a high note, as if singing in a high note could bring down the heavens and the Perfect Girl would indeed believe everything will indeed be alright for her. Imagine yourself in a bar or at home and you had too much to drink. You listen to Dirty Little Secret and you're reminded of why you got into that drunken state....much self-loathing and plenty of regret. The pleasantness of the music is deceiving as it hides a broken soul who, as the lyrics go, denied himself a capacity to love. The song ends in resigned acceptance of his lot.

In a way, this resigned acceptance could be similarly ascribed to Sarah. She's no longer the person she was. She's changed by motherhood and by the death of her mother. No one can expect her to make another Fumbling Towards Ecstacy. She's not a music machine who cranks out records every two years or so.

Afterglow is just one part of her journey. A journey which I hope, will take her to greater heights one day and inspire her to write a record that transcends everything she or anyone else has ever done. For me, I'll take Afterglow for what it is: as a slice of Sarah's artistic journey and enjoy it while I can.

5/5 ReSurfacing
  by Osh L (Toronto, Canada)
Sarah McLachlan's gorgeous, luscious voice is once again the centrepiece in her work. Despite most of the material being written well before life-changing events such as her mother's death and the birth of her daughter, the songs on this album are just about that -- life, death, and all the messy things in-between. Sarah's pacing and style, as always, are acquired tastes... she wraps her voice around you like a warm blanket in "Answer"; at other times, she glides coolly and effortlessly, as a glacier would over tundra, setting up an introspective mood.

Overall, the sound record to me seems to be a combination of her last three albums proper; there are the requisite Surfacing era piano-based ballads in "Answer," and "Dirty Little Secret," the Solace era melodies in "Drifting,' and the verses of 'Stupid', the Fumbling Towards Ecstasy textures and lyrical depth in "World on Fire," (mostly written by her producer Pierre Marchand) "Stupid," and the fantastic "Dirty Little Secret."

I like 9 out of the 10 songs, which, in my books, is no small feat for any artist to accomplish. "Drifing," is the only song that I'm indifferent about, but that might change after time.
Some highlights upon first listen:

"Fallen," the lead single, is about the irrevocable mistakes we make in our lives that force us to wallow within, and then move on. In terms of sound, it's reminiscent of "Building A Mystery," from her last album, Surfacing.

"World on Fire," is a beautiful song about ugliness. Being the only song written after her mother's passing and her daughter's birth, its subject matter is the reconciliation of innocence with chaos in our post 9/11 world. Sarah's voice soars, and the instrumentation is lush, harkening back to Fumbling Towards Ecstasy's layered textures.

"Stupid" is as close to a driving, straight-ahead rock song on the album as Sarah gets, and it is a great payoff. A killer chorus is bookended by Solace-style, melodic verses about being smitten by someone that you know is bad for you. Sarah's voice is raw and close to the edge; it would be amazing to see her just cut loose and let her powerful voice go completely, as it did in her cover of XTC's "Dear God." Another thing to note is that he strings and orchestration for "Stupid" are a brilliant touch.

"Train Wreck" is notable because it offers, for a Sarah McLachlan song, unusual instrumentation. There are ambient electronic sounds and beats, and hopefully this is an avenue she and her producer will further explore on her next album, when she tackles the weighty dramas that have consumed her life in the past few years.

"Answer" is, well, the Answer to "Angel." It's a low-key, very chill track that epitomizes what Sarah McLachlan's recent sound has transformed into -- an extremely soothing, maternal sound that comforts us and slows us down in our sometimes too fast-paced world. Centred around the piano, Sarah's voice is at the forefront, taking all troubles to "wash this from my mind."

"Dirty Little Secret" is a very personal song, and could well be this album's "Do What You Have To Do.' It has the storytelling quality of her work on Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. Confessional lyrics are glazed with a decadent wine sauce; the result is nothing short of epic, as she journeys through a messy relationship from the past.

It's hard to argue that Sarah is an artist that speaks to her audience, and that she is an artist who is getting more and more precise with her composing and deliberate in her writing. She conjures complex, emotional nuance in unpretentious, natural lyrics that can catch a listener offguard in a moment of vulnerability or reflection. This is an album that will surprise you on one of those nights when you're listening with headphones after one too many drinks.

In a bleak musical landscape littered with gangster rappers one-upping each other about guns, cash, and hos, cookie-cutter hip-hop beats and hooks, and manufactured pop tarts that are known best by their first names, Sarah's voice blasts across the skyline like a radiant shaft of light. Sarah McLachlan is so endearingly unphased by trends; instead, she tip-toes gently through the geography of the heart.

4/5 OK..calm down..it's different in a different way
  by David (Gary, IN)
I came to this site to check out the "official" reviews of the album, to see if they're consistent with my opinion. But I am alarmed at the "disappointment" of the early fan reviews. Can we get some order in here?

First of all, yes, I am a HUGE Sarah fan, since seeing her on TV in the wee hours of New Year's morn of '98. Since then I have heard all of her full-length releases (I own all but "Freedom.." and "Touch"). Is this as good as her proverbial best, "Fumbling Towards Ecstacy"? Of course not..I got hooked via "Surfacing", which in my opinion is even behind "Solace" in a list of her works. But, after enough listenings to tick off my 11-yr old, I think that "Afterglow" is at the same level as the CD that introduced me to her.

The "diss"appointed fans of the early reviews are revealing something about "Afterglow", and that is the fact that it is more piano-driven. I read somewhere it was the first album for which she penned the songs at the piano as opposed to the guitar, and it comes out. The songs are softer, perhaps a bit somber (it doesn't mean much, but there's no "Sweet Surrender" here). But my worse fears of Sarah becoming Enya were fortunately unfounded, and it's nowhere near a change in direction as evidenced by Jewel (not hating..I like "0304") or Liz Phair. She sat down with a different instrument, and it shows.

So..let's give the CD a few more listenings, we current owners. And as for you on the bubble, go to your nearest record store (not Wal-Mart!), and get it. The standouts do indeed include "Fallen" (I love it more since hearing the CD), and "Stupid", which is deceptively calm until it gets to the chorus. "Train Wreck" is a single waiting to happen, with a guitar line that, though it takes a back seat to the piano, makes the song a favorite of mine. Even though "Push" ruffles my feathers with memories of button-pushing women (will THIS tick you off? What about THAT?), as long as Sarah's pushing the proverbial buttons, I am alright. Sarah continues to write lyrics that make you smile out loud, and her words are expressed via one of the most beautiful voices ever to approach a mic.

So, get "Afterglow." Then find "Fumbling"..and then pick up "Solace"..what the hell, get'em all. And enjoy.

5/5 Only in the Afterglow do we look to our past to find the way
  by W. McNavage (Philadelphia PA)
I have been into Sarah since my freshman year in college when Fumbling was owned by ever college kid on my hall. Nine years, a surfacing, a lilith fair, a mirrorball and a long and much deserved rest later, Sarah McLachlan digs back into the past and resurfaces with an album that is both timid and kind of shocking. Many reviews say this album is too mellow or it sounds too much like Surfacing, but what resonates most when I hear this album are the most luxurious moments on her second album Solace combined with some of the haunting elements of Fumbling and Surfacing. I am one Sarah fan who did not obsessively LOVE Surfacing because I jumped on the Sarah boat long before her 8-million selling opus Surfacing was released and thought it was more for the masses and less for the underground Sarah 'word of mouth' fan.

The title Afterglow is perfect because after all the fame and exposure, here is an album that certainly doesn't lack any consistancy nor does it lack the style that longtime Sarah fans have come to expect and BEST OF ALL, it does not feel like a mass marketable album. This album is Sarah going back and revisiting her early recording days and literally resurfacing with an album greater than the sum of it's parts, an album that people who don't know her work will ask 'hey..this is gorgeous and intense, who is it?'

Afterglow is a celebration of everything that began with Touch and climaxed with Surfacing. It sonically attempts to answer what does an artist do when they have a mega-selling release and still maintain integrity as a songwriter and artist.

Fallen is an instant Sarah classic that bleeds into the amazing World on Fire that sounds like the creative child of both Solace and Fumbling. The next track, Stupid is an intense and passionate track that harkens back to B-Side's Dear God. This is aptly followed by the beautiful Drifting and the layered alto-soprano droll we all love that fumbles into Trainwreck, containing one my favourite sarah chorus' written to date and a sonic compliment to Surfacing's Black&White.

Answer is the Answer to Surfacing's Angel. Push is a tender love song that I have no comparison to make. Time, on the other hand, is a complex track filled with more layered vocals that I adore and rhythmically similar to Solace's Shelter. The album closes with Dirty Little Secret that can only be described as a cross between Surfacing's Full of Grace and B-Sides Song for a Winter's Night. If you love Joni Mitchell and Sarah, this song is an absolute delight.

So let the critics balk at this disc and let the die hard surfacing fans be disappointed. This an album for the fans who have appreciated all of Sarah's works, not just one album. After hearing so many elemnets of prior albums on this disc, I really feel it is journey back to take a step forward. The music world and lovers of music have waited long for this album to be released, and it is an absolute pleasure on my ears and my soul....like every single release this amazing artist has produced.