Afterglow (Sarah McLachlan album)

Afterglow is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. Released on 4 November 2003 on Nettwerk in Canada and 4 November 2003 on Arista Records in the United States, it was her first album of new material in six years, after the success of Surfacing and the Lilith Fair festival.

Afterglow
Studio album by Sarah McLachlan
Released	4 November 2003
Recorded	August 2002 – 2003
Genre	Pop
Length	40:11
Label	Nettwerk (Canada) Arista (US)
Producer	Pierre Marchand
Sarah McLachlan chronology
Remixed (2001) Afterglow (2003) Afterglow Live (2004)
Singles from Afterglow
"Fallen" Released: 22 September 2003 "Stupid" Released: 31 May 2004 "World on Fire" Released: 14 June 2004

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	55/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Blender	[3]
E! Online	B−[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[4]
Mojo	[4]
Q Magazine	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Slant Magazine	[6]
Stylus Magazine	(F)[7]

Unlike past albums where she went to an isolated cottage to write the songs, she wrote the songs for Afterglow in her family home mainly before the birth of her child. She wrote the songs entirely on piano, which was also a departure from her previous albums which she wrote on guitar. Longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand produced the album. McLachlan wrote eight of the 10 songs herself and co-wrote the other two with Marchand.

The song "Answer" was featured in the 2007 movie The Brave One. It has also been used in television commercials for the ASPCA, with McLachlan appearing in person.

Commercial performance and award nominations

Afterglow was released on 4 November 2003 and was a success in North America, reaching number two on the Billboard 200, selling 361,000 copies in its first week of release and number one on the Canadian charts.[8] It reached #33 in the UK (McLachlan's biggest success there thus far) and the top 50 in Australia in 2004. The first single, "Fallen", reached the top ten on the Adult Top 40 Billboard charts and a remix reached top ten in the United States dance charts. A second single, "Stupid" was released in March 2004.

McLachlan was nominated in five Juno Award categories in Canada, including Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year for Afterglow, and Songwriter of the Year for the songs on the album. The awards were announced on 4 April 2004. The album was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Vocal Album field in 2005.

Although not as successful as Surfacing, Afterglow has sold over 2.3 million copies in the US (as of November 2004) and went two times platinum.[9] Worldwide, the album has sold more than four million copies (as of October 2006).[10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Fallen"	Sarah McLachlan	3:47
2.	"World on Fire"	McLachlan, Pierre Marchand	4:22
3.	"Stupid"	McLachlan	3:24
4.	"Drifting"	McLachlan	3:23
5.	"Train Wreck"	McLachlan	4:36
6.	"Push"	McLachlan	3:56
7.	"Answer"	McLachlan	3:58
8.	"Time"	McLachlan	4:07
9.	"Perfect Girl"	McLachlan, Marchand	4:43
10.	"Dirty Little Secret"	McLachlan	3:55

Personnel

• Sarah McLachlan – vocals, electric guitar, piano, Rhodes piano, keyboards
• Sean Ashby – guitar
• Michel Pepin – guitar
• Pete Caigan – engineering
• Michael Chaves – guitar
• Jim Creeggan – acoustic bass
• Yanick Daunais – engineering
• Bill Dillon – guitar, guitorgan, church organ
• Yves Desrosiers – guitar
• Kharen Hill – photography
• Brian Hogue – engineering
• Ethan Johns – guitar
• Jorane – cello, background vocals, vocal treatments
• Mark Jowett – guitar
• David Kershaw – Hammond organ
• Daryl Johnson – bass guitar
• Tony Levin – bass guitar
• Roman Klun – engineering
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Pierre Marchand – guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesizer bass, production, engineering, mixing
• Jerry Marotta – percussion
• John Oliviera – engineering
• Chis Potter – engineering, mixing
• Ashwin Sood – drums, percussion, loops, keyboard bass
• Linda Strawberry – engineering

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2003–04) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 22 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 72 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 18 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 23 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[15] 1 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[16] 33 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 23 European Albums (Top 100)[18] 28 French Albums (SNEP)[19] 65 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 25 Irish Albums (IRMA)[21] 20 Italian Albums (FIMI)[22] 66 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[23] 30 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[24] 14 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[25] 37 Scottish Albums (OCC)[26] 26 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[27] 20 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 19 UK Albums (OCC)[29] 33 US Billboard 200[30] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2003) Position US Billboard 200[31] 124 Chart (2004) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] 83 US Billboard 200[33] 34

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[34]	Gold	35,000^^
Canada (Music Canada)[35]	5× Platinum	500,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[36]	Gold	100,000^^
United States (RIAA)[37]	2× Platinum	2,300,000[9]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	4,000,000[10]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Afterglow reviews". CBS Interactive. 4 November 2003. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
2. Allmusic review
3. Blender review
4. "Afterglow by Sarah McLachlan" – via www.metacritic.com.
5. "Rolling Stone review".
6. Cinquemani, Sal. "Review: Sarah McLachlan, Afterglow".
7. "Stylus Magazine". stylusmagazine.com.
8. Caulfield, Keith. "Drake Debuts At No. 1 on Billboard 200". billboard.com. 23 June 2010.
9. "McLachlan Returning To The Road Next Spring". Billboard. 2 December 2004. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
10. "Sarah McLachlan Releases Holiday Album, "Wintersong"". Starpulse. 26 October 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
11. "Australiancharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
12. "Austriancharts.at – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
13. "Ultratop.be – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
14. "Ultratop.be – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
15. "Sarah McLachlan Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
16. "Danishcharts.dk – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
17. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
18. "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
19. "Lescharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
21. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 6, 2004". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
22. "Italiancharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
23. "Charts.nz – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
24. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
25. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
26. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
27. "Swedishcharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
28. "Swisscharts.com – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
29. "Sarah McLachlan | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
30. "Sarah McLachlan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
31. "2003: Billboard 200 Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
32. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2004". ARIA. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
33. "2004: Billboard 200 Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
34. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
35. "Canadian album certifications – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". Music Canada. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
36. "British album certifications – Sarah McLachlan – Afterglow". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 October 2016. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Afterglow in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
37. "American album certifications – Sarah Mc Lachlan – Afterglow". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 26 October 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.