Laws of Illusion
Encyclopedia
Laws of Illusion is the seventh studio album
by Canadian
singer-songwriter
Sarah McLachlan
. It was released by Arista Records
on June 15, 2010. Recording for the album took place in Montreal and Vancouver and production was handled by Pierre Marchand
, with whom McLachlan has frequently collaborated in the past.
According to McLachlan, her original idea for the album's title was Loss and Illusion, but she chose the final title when she proposed the original title to Marchand and he misunderstood her, hearing Laws of Illusion instead.
along with an instant download of McLachlan's song "One Dream", which she wrote for the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
"Loving You Is Easy" debuted at number 28 on the Billboard
Adult Contemporary Songs on the week of May 29, 2010 and has risen to number 14 as of July 17, 2010. The song also debuted at number 38 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 on the week of June 26, 2010. "Loving You Is Easy" debuted at number 86 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100
on the week of June 12, 2010 It has so far peaked at number 59.
The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200
, selling 94,000 copies in its first week of release and selling an additional 38,000 copies in its second week. The album has been less successful in the UK, debuting at #76. In Australia, the album debuted at #12, making it her highest charting album there. The album sold over 280,000 copies in USA and over 35,000 copies in Canada.
score of 65 out of 100.
Allmusic noted that the album "furthers the fantasy by taking its cues from dated 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 record producer
Pierre Marchand
."
Rolling Stone
gave the album a negative review, stating that "Sarah McLachlan's first disc since splitting from her husband, Ashwin Sood, feels scattered: The carefree single 'Loving You Is Easy' feels out of place. The rest alternates between vulnerability
and bitterness
, using the same sighs and moans with which she used to convey ecstasy."
SputnikMusic
gave the album 4 stars and praised McLachlan's musical return to the style she explored in her earlier albums, such as Surfacing
, Touch
and Solace
.
Slant
gave the album rather negative review noting that "Laws of Illusion sounds both effortless and effort-less."
Musicians
Technical personnel
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
. It was released by Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
on June 15, 2010. Recording for the album took place in Montreal and Vancouver and production was handled by Pierre Marchand
Pierre Marchand
Pierre Marchand is a Canadian songwriter, musician and record producer.Pierre Marchand is known for his ongoing collaboration with Sarah McLachlan, having produced all of her albums since Solace...
, with whom McLachlan has frequently collaborated in the past.
According to McLachlan, her original idea for the album's title was Loss and Illusion, but she chose the final title when she proposed the original title to Marchand and he misunderstood her, hearing Laws of Illusion instead.
Release
Customers who pre-ordered the album through sarahmclachlan.com were given "exclusive pre-access" to tickets to the 2010 Lilith FairLilith Fair
Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 to 1999, and was revived in the summer of 2010. It...
along with an instant download of McLachlan's song "One Dream", which she wrote for the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Singles
"Loving You Is Easy" was released on April 23, 2010. McLachlan's official website announced the track listing on May 14, 2010."Loving You Is Easy" debuted at number 28 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Adult Contemporary Songs on the week of May 29, 2010 and has risen to number 14 as of July 17, 2010. The song also debuted at number 38 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 on the week of June 26, 2010. "Loving You Is Easy" debuted at number 86 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
on the week of June 12, 2010 It has so far peaked at number 59.
Chart performance
The album debuted at #2 on the Canadian album charts, selling 22,000 copies in its first week of release.The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling 94,000 copies in its first week of release and selling an additional 38,000 copies in its second week. The album has been less successful in the UK, debuting at #76. In Australia, the album debuted at #12, making it her highest charting album there. The album sold over 280,000 copies in USA and over 35,000 copies in Canada.
Critical reception
"Laws of Illusion" received generally favorable reviews upon its release, with a MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
score of 65 out of 100.
Allmusic noted that the album "furthers the fantasy by taking its cues from dated Clinton-era folk-pop
Balkan pop
Balkan Pop is a mixture of traditional east European folk music and western dance music.-See also:*Chalga*Laïko*Manele*Turbo-Folk*Arabesque*Filmi...
. 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 record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Pierre Marchand
Pierre Marchand
Pierre Marchand is a Canadian songwriter, musician and record producer.Pierre Marchand is known for his ongoing collaboration with Sarah McLachlan, having produced all of her albums since Solace...
."
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave the album a negative review, stating that "Sarah McLachlan's first disc since splitting from her husband, Ashwin Sood, feels scattered: The carefree single 'Loving You Is Easy' feels out of place. The rest alternates between vulnerability
Vulnerability
Vulnerability refer to the susceptibility of a person, group, society, sex or system to physical or emotional injury or attack. The term can also refer to a person who lets their guard down, leaving themselves open to censure or criticism...
and bitterness
Resentment
Resentment is the experience of a negative emotion felt as a result of a real or imagined wrong done. Etymologically, the word originates from French "ressentir", re-, intensive prefix, and sentir "to feel"; from the Latin "sentire"...
, using the same sighs and moans with which she used to convey ecstasy."
SputnikMusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
gave the album 4 stars and praised McLachlan's musical return to the style she explored in her earlier albums, such as Surfacing
Surfacing (album)
Surfacing is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. Released on July 15, 1997, it was produced by McLachlan's frequent collaborator, Pierre Marchand. McLachlan set about writing Surfacing in 1996, after two and a half years touring for her previous album, 1994's...
, Touch
Touch (Sarah McLachlan album)
Touch is the debut album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan which was released in 1988 and then re-released in 1989.The album was originally released in 1988 by Nettwerk...
and Solace
Solace (Sarah McLachlan album)
* In Canada, "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" appeared on Nettwerk's Donovan tribute album, Island of Circles. McLachlan fought hard to not have the song on her album but she eventually let Arista Records include it on the record...
.
Slant
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
gave the album rather negative review noting that "Laws of Illusion sounds both effortless and effort-less."
Track listing
"·" Tracks that feature piano versions/video on Deluxe Edition- Japanese Edition Includes 2 Bonus Tracks - "Loving You Is Easy" (Acoustic), "One Dream"
Personnel
Credits for Laws of Illusion adapted from Allmusic.Musicians
- Sarah McLachlanSarah McLachlanSarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
– guitar (acoustic), piano, composer, glockenspiel, harmonium, vocals, vocals (background), wurlitzer - Matt ChamberlainMatt ChamberlainMatthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...
– percussion, drums - Colin CrippsColin CrippsColin Cripps is a Canadian musician and record producer.-Career:Cripps has been a member and producer of the bands Crash Vegas and Junkhouse, and a frequent collaborator with bands such as Blue Rodeo, Jim Cuddy Band, and The Headstones.He has also produced and written material for Kathleen...
– guitar (acoustic), guitar (electric), vocals (background) - Yves Desrosiers – guitar (acoustic), guitar (alectric), lap steel guitar, slide bass
- Bill Dillon – guitar (acoustic), guitar (electric)
- Luke DoucetLuke DoucetLuke Doucet is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He writes and performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock band Veal....
– guitar (acoustic), dobro, guitar (electric), vocals (background) - Robbie Kuster – percussion, drums, vocals (background)
- J.F. Lemieux – bass, vocals (background)
- Catherine Lesaunier – cello
- Maxime St-Pierre – trumpet, flugelhorn
- Pierre MarchandPierre MarchandPierre Marchand is a Canadian songwriter, musician and record producer.Pierre Marchand is known for his ongoing collaboration with Sarah McLachlan, having produced all of her albums since Solace...
– guitar (acoustic), bass, composer, glockenspiel, harmonium, keyboards, vocals (background), producer, engineer, mixing, tack piano - Michel Pepin – guitar (acoustic), guitar (electric)
Technical personnel
- Chris PotterChris Potter (producer)Chris Potter is a British music producer and mixer, most famous for his work as long-term collaborator and producer of The Verve and Richard Ashcroft....
– engineer - Kharen Hill – photography, cover photo, tray photo
- Raphael MazzuccoRaphael MazzuccoRaphael Mazzucco or Rafael Mazzucco is a Canadian fashion, art and music photographer. His photographs have appeared on the cover of five consecutive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, including the 2006, 2008 and 2009 main cover images....
– photography - John Rummen – design
- Pascal Shefteshy – engineer, mixing assistant
- Adam Ayan – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Fred Bouchard – pro-tools
Release history
| Date | Type | Label | Catalog # |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 15, 2010 | CD (Barnes & Noble Exclusive) | Arista Arista Records Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records... |
72629 |
| CD | RCA RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... |
55367 | |
| CD/DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... (U.S. Deluxe Edition) |
71991 | ||
| LP | 73963 | ||
| LP | 8869755367 | ||
| CD (Canadian Edition) | Nettwerk Nettwerk The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg... |
0670030895 | |
| CD/DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... (Canadian Deluxe Edition) |
30903 | ||
| June 21, 2010 | CD (U.K.) | Arista Arista Records Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records... |
88697553672 |
| CD/DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... (U.K.) |
88697719912 |