''Touch'' is the debut album by Canadian singer-songwriter

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is '' Surfacing'', for which she won two Grammy Awards (ou ...

, released in 1988 and then re-released in 1989. The album was originally released in 1988 by

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

. McLachlan later signed to Arista Records internationally (although remaining on Nettwerk in Canada), and a revamped version of ''Touch'', with several remixed songs and a new track, was released in 1989 on both labels. The original 1988 release was discontinued by Nettwerk, and is now considered a

collector's item A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

. It is distinguished by its black and

sepia Sepia may refer to: Biology * ''Sepia'' (genus), a genus of cuttlefish Color * Sepia (color), a reddish-brown color * Sepia tone, a photography technique Music * ''Sepia'', a 2001 album by Coco Mbassi * ''Sepia'' (album) by Yu Takahashi * " ...

cover. The first released single from the album was " Vox" in 1988, followed by "Steaming" in 1989. McLachlan did not achieve commercial stardom until 1991 in Canada, with ''

Solace Consolation, consolement, and solace are terms referring to psychological comfort given to someone who has suffered severe, upsetting loss, such as the death of a loved one. It is typically provided by expressing shared regret for that loss and ...

'', and 1994–1995 internationally, with her 1993 album ''

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy ''Fumbling Towards Ecstasy'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released on 22 October 1993 in Canada, 15 February 1994 in the United States, 24 May 1994 in Japan, and 14 August 1994 in Australia. It was prod ...

''. In 1993, McLachlan and Nettwerk were sued by Darryl Neudorf, a

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

musician and former member of 54-40, who alleged that he had made a significant and uncredited contribution to the songwriting on ''Touch''. Although both McLachlan and Nettwerk acknowledged that Neudorf was involved in the album's production, both took the position that his contribution had not been primarily in songwriting. The judge in that suit ultimately ruled in McLachlan's favor.

Track listing

¹ Not all versions of the original 1988 release contained these two tracks. Two 12-inch singles were released from the original 1988 album, each containing one of the alternate mixes that were on some, but not all, versions of the album release. The remix of "Vox" here is not the same remix that was on the 1989 album release.

Personnel

*Sarah McLachlan –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

12-string A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

and classical guitars,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*Stephen Nikleva –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

*David Kershaw –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

*Jeff Krosse (aka Jeff Sawatzky) – bass guitar, backing vocals *Naomi McLeod – backing vocals *Greg Reely – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

*Darren Phillips – drums, percussion, keyboards *Ross Hales – drums *Sherri Leigh (aka Sherri Iwaschuk) – percussion *Tippi – percussion *Steve – percussion *Rudy – percussion

Charts

The ''RPM'' Albums Chart between October 1988 and April 1989 is not available. The ''Touch'' peak position is taken from May 1989.

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Touch (Sarah Mclachlan Album) 1988 debut albums Sarah McLachlan albums Nettwerk Records albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by Greg Reely