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Sarah McLachlan treats us to an eclectic collection of goodies in Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume Two.

There’s not a lot that can be said about Sarah McLachlan that hasn’t already been said; one of the defining voices and talents of the ‘90s, Sarah has created a legacy of music that never fails to move, inspire and oftentimes, bring us to tears. Credited for saving the life of Darryl McDaniels (The DMC part of Run DMC) with the song Angel, she has helped to start the careers of numerous female musicians. As Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume Two proves, her relevance is constant – though having released only one album of original material since 1997 (2003’s Afterglow), Volume Two shows us that she was never really gone from the music scene, only diversifying, collaborating, and performing.

A combination of life collaborative performances, random songs from a scattering of soundtracks and covers, Volume Two is a beautiful collection from start to finish, as diverse as can be. The album begins with “Ordinary Miracle”,  previously released as a part of the Charlotte’s Web soundtrack. The song is sweet and melodic, nondescript yet interesting. “Blackbird”, a Beatles cover, is more faithful to the original song than the cover sung by whoever in 2007’s Across the Universe, and therein lies its shortcoming. It’s not that this guitar laced version isn’t as pretty or listenable as the the Across the Universe version, it just doesn’t stray far enough to make it stand out.

With “Time After Time”, Sarah adds her voice to the already monumentally popular Cyndi Lauper ballad. The two women, icons in their own rights, bring new depth and contrasting shades of beauty to the song. It plucks at the heartstrings mightily, a feat only topped by “When She Loved Me”, the heart-wrenchingly beautiful and melancholic song featured on Toy Story 2. Viciously beautiful and sad, it’s a song of loss that would bring the grinchiest of people to tears – at least, it did for me the first time I heard it, and upon hearing it again in this collection it becomes apparent that, thought the film was lovely, it was this song that made the moment so touching.

“Just Like Me”, another collaboration (this time with DMC) throws us to the far side of the cd’s spectrum, adding a funky rap rendition to the classic “Cat’s in the Cradle”. “Don’t Let Go”, the collaborative effort with Bryan Adams that worked as the theme to the film Spirit is here, along with “Homeless”, with Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Two live songs stand out as phenomenal: “Angel”, sung with the stellar Emmylou Harris and “Pills” with The Perishers are McLachlan’s usual brand of touching. Of the three voices spread over two songs, none are similar to each other’s, and none lacking in talent. Both provide a texturally contrasting sound, both interesting and pleasing.

“The Rainbow Connection” is featured, as well as “Prayer of St. Francis”. As any catholic or AA member can tell you, “The Prayer of St. Francis” is an important prayer, both religiously and historically. It was handed out to soldiers at the close of World War Two and summarized by Margaret Thatcher during her inauguration as Prime Minister in 1979. McLachlan’s version has been used by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to name one of the countless television shows that has pillaged this ballad.

“Unchained Melody” is the only underwhelming song on the album; strange and disjointed, it hardly resembles the original not only in sound but feel. Though the cover is musically interesting, the emotion behind the song is completely lost.

All in all, Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff Volume Two is well worth owning and listening to over and over again. The dull moments are very few, and it brings together several of McLachlan’s projects that had been scattered to the winds. The only real downside of the album is that it can’t bring together all of her random works – but we’ll just have to wait for volume three to begin filling in the rest of the blanks.

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