Enya - Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya
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Free Music Notes for Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya
Free Music Review: Beautiful and Never Long Enough
Hit: 5 Stars
I have discovered that Enya generally leaves a lot of blank space on a CD, and this collection that culls compositions from her first four CDs and adds two new songs maintains that tendency by using a little less than 58 minutes of the 80 minutes available on a CD. However, you always get carefully crafted quality versus quantity on any Enya CD.
Enya has released five original CDs in the course of 18+ years, with one of the five being a re-release of her debut album "Enya." I am excluding miscellaneous singles and participation in projects such as "Lord of the Rings." This collection has selections from Enya's first four CDs, thus excluding her most recent CD, "A Day without Rain." Also, the collection favors "Shepherd Moons" and "Memory of Trees" with five and four compositions from each, respectively, over "Watermark" and "The Celts," with three and two compositions from each, respectively. Considering that "Shepherd Moons" sold more than 10 million copies it is easy to understand why "Shepherd Moons" received the most emphasis. However, I have listened to all these CDs and I think that Enya is remarkably consistent, crafting and performing her music carefully with skill as exacting as her artistry. While I have yet to purchase "The Celts," I enjoy "Paint the Sky with Stars" because it is a collection of some of her better known works in addition to the crème de la crème. When I am in a certain mood I can listen to Enya for hours.
This CD begins with "Orinoco Flow" ("Watermark") and "Caribbean Blue" ("Shepherd Moons"), both songs that had videos receiving a lot of air play on MTV in the 80s. Both songs enticed me to purchase Enya's music, which I have added to a collection that extends from pop to alternative and progressive. After the enthusiastic "Orinoco Flow" and the fairy tale sounding "Caribbean Blue" the next song is the contemplative "Book of Days" ("Shepherd Moons"). The gears change a bit with "Anywhere Is" ("Memory of Trees"), which retains a contemplative theme, but with peppy beat and strong rhymes.
The next piece is one of two songs written specifically for this CD, "Only If." This song keeps the speed of the previous song and is a good song, if a bit less complex than many of Enya's songs. "The Celts" follows, its tune forming mental images of Irish dancers for me. "China Roses" ("Memory of Trees") follows and manages to capture the wonder of the universe and the beauty of heaven all in one song. This song transcends the poetic to the surrealistic both lyrically and vocally. The next track, "Shepherd Moons" ("Shepherd Moons"), is an instrumental in keeping with the dreamy vision of the previous song.
Once again the CD changes pace with "Ebudę" ("Shepherd Moons"), which appears to be sung in Irish Gaelic and makes a great listen, though I am unable to understand a word. "Storms in Africa" ("Watermark") is the next track, yet another instrumental and one that keeps a fast beat with a vaguely African flavor. "Watermark" is yet another instrumental from the same CD, one that is delicate and introspective with its strings and somber piano.
"Paint the Sky with Stars" is the second of the two compositions written specifically for this CD. This song is quiet and beautiful and dreamy, and could easily have been a part of "Memory of Trees" or "Shepherd Moons." The next song is "Marble Halls" ("Shepherd Moons"), which is a fairy tale of knights and maidens and longing for a true love lost. Enya's voice reaches beautiful emotional highs and makes me want to watch an old movie about King Arthur.
The following song was the last song on the CD "Memory of Trees," and every time I hear this song I feel as though the CD must be nearing an end because it feels as though we must awaken from the fantasy Enya has woven for us. "On My Way Home" returns us to this place and time, but with a longing for the place we leave, the poetry that has been woven for us. Yet, we rejoice for we return to a place of familiarity and keep the feelings we gained from this glorious music.
The next track is the instrumental title track to the previous CD, "Memory of Trees." While "Memory of Trees" is nominally an instrumental, there are voices that punctuate portions of the music. Feel the forests and the beasts great and small, real and mythical, populating the forest.
This CD ends with on the serious note of "Boadicea" ("The Celts"). The ending perhaps puts a bit of perspective on Enya's music, or perhaps reminds us that we must leave the aural journey on which she has taken us, not to return until we restart the CD.
Enya is not for everyone. Her music is beautiful and poetic. She deals in imagery and fantasy, sometimes in imagined history, but rarely in the here and now. Her music is often delicate. Her voice is beautiful. She is almost certainly one of a kind.
Free Music Review: Enya's majestic paintings...so far
Hit: 5 Stars
To herald the arrival of Amarantine, Enya's first CD since A Day Without Rain, I decided a retrospective of Paint the Sky With Stars, a compilation of Enya's greatest hits comprising of selections from her eponymous debut-later retitled The Celts, through The Memory of Trees was in order. The song selection is nearly evenly divided between the four albums, with two new songs.
Enya has stayed consistent with her usual oeuvre of Celtic-inspired new age, whether it be those ethereal multitracked vocals, tearful piano instrumentals, and a soft vibrant voice that makes her the best ever vocalist in the world. Songs like the traditional "Marble Halls" from the Shepherd Moons album, exemplify this.
The title tracks are the songs that usually end up as the haunting, thought-provoking instrumentals. "Watermark" is sheer beauty with its piano, ethereal strings and angelic vocalizing. "Shepherd Moons" has a more outer space-like quality, while a bit of melancholy accompanies "The Memory of Trees" and its angelic multitracked vocalizing and chorus. "The Celts" has more a mellow kind of fanfare with more conventional synths wrapped in Enya's buzzing wall of sound.
Some of the songs have a distinctive uptempo pizzicato strings sound, well, strings synth that is. "Anywhere Is" from Memory of Trees and the new song "Only If" are two of those. Only #88 in 1998 for the latter? Grrr! Embedded in the brisk tempo is the affirmation that "if you really want to, you can seize the day, only if you want to, you can find a way." As for the other new song, the title track is a hymn enveloped in the usual airy wall of synth.
It's natural that the CD starts with the #1 UK hit "Orinoco Flow," with its vibrant string synths and a chorus exhorting the listener to "sail away." The barbaric US was clearly not good enough for Enya, as this gem reached only #24 Stateside. Its "turn it up turn it up" refrain is also reprised in Memory of Trees' "On My Way Home." The original version of "Storms of Africa," sung in Gaelic, also on the Watermark album, is here. Insult was added to injury when another gem, the lilting "Caribbean Blue" from Shepherd Moons, only made it to #79 in 1992.
"China Roses" from Memory of Trees, is very well the precursor to "Only Time," both in terms of sound and thematically. This image of a dreamland is worth reprising here: "A new moon leads me to woods of dreams and I follow a new world waits for me. My dream, my way." One of my favourites from that album. Speaking of favourites, "Book of Days" is sung with the revised English lyrics as opposed to the original from Shepherd Moons.
Though I haven't seen the Celts documentary that Enya did the music on, "Boadicea" refers to the heroic queen of the Iceni, a.k.a. Boudicca, who bravely fought the Romans during the reigns of Claudius and Nero before she took her own life rather than be captured. This song's distinctive rhythmic synths and vocalizing was sampled by some untalented rap or R&B artist, an insult to this wonder!
I would've included "Athair Ar Neamh" from Memory of Trees and "Evening Falls" and "Exile" from Watermark, but still, a worthwhile collection showing the bright stars Enya has painted throughout her four galaxies.
Free Music Review: As Wonderful As Can Be (4.5 stars)
Hit: 5 Stars
The only reason why I gave this album 4.5 stars and not five is that with Enya it is unimaginable (at the moment) to see her make a radical leap to other musical fields; i.e. her genre has its limits -- but oh, what wonderful world there is within these 'limits.'I still do not now for sure why the genre is called "New Age", as New Age predominantly has to do with eastern religion (at least as far as I know); nevermind, Enya's music is among the most instantly recognisable and unique in the world. Mellow, with Celtic base and great for relaxation listening (maybe there's a hint at various 'new age' recordings).
In what she does, she is perfect, so perfect that she may have already reached her peak -- if so, the peak is in full bloom on this compilation, spanning her greatest hits from 1989's "Watermark" to 1997's new songs, "Only If" and "Paint the Sky with Stars".
From "Watermark", we have here her breakthrough, "Orinoco Flow", the title track, and the otherworldly euphoric "Storms in Africa", a beautiful composition with thunder-like drums and African chants, adding an authentic world music feel.
"Shepherd Moons" from 1991, contributed the delicate title tune, the hit "Caribbean Blue", and "Ebudae" sung in Gaelic; "Marble Halls" could well serve as a soundtrack to movies based on Bronte sisters' literary works, it's British in the most positive sense of the word, with the singer's pristing voice up in front. "Book of Days" was popularised by its fitting use in Cruise-Kidman starring epic 1992 flick "Far and Away".
From "The Memory of Trees" (1995) my personal favourite is "China Roses" with its breathtakingly beautiful melody. The hit single "Anywhere Is" is haunting -- as are many of Enya's songs. "On My Way Home" contains a motive from "Orinoco Flow" and the title track is another typically delicate composition, yet with rich instrumentation. However, it does not mean a large orchestra (what meets the ear may not be what it seems) -- look at Bjork, she is similarly accomplished in what she does and to her, computers are also of great help.
The album also contains "The Celts" and "Boadicea" (from the tv soundtrack "The Celts"), also the tracks which belong to the best Enya has released.
After September 11, the songstress got huge also in the US, thanks to her soothing recent album "A Day Without Rain" and the hit "Only Time". And since her music is very suitable for "The Lord of the Rings" series, her global appeal is sure to remain for quite a while. Despite this, though, one thing is certain: it is "Paint the Sky with Stars" that is Enya's cream.
If you are an open listener, this album should not be missed.
Free Music Review: Stellar!
Hit: 5 Stars
Enya's fifth major release, PAINT THE SKY WITH STARS, is an ubiquitous Best of collection, including a total of fourteen past favorites and two new recordings that clocks in at about 57 minutes, allocating 7:33 for new songs; 16:22 for the grandness of Shepherd Moons; 16:21 for the sheer esoteric grandeur of The Memory of Trees; 6:25 for the genteel, passionate The Celts; and 11:04 for the atmosphere and magnificence of Watermark.Tracks 1-5 are the real hits, the songs that garnered the most radio play and attention from 1988-1997, including the chart-topping Orinoco Flow, from "Watermark." It's a very nice selection of past singles, including the edit version of Anywhere Is and the new recording Only If... This new song is stunning. I love the very apparent voice layering, comparative to Book of Days. The inclusion of the French lyrics is so apt; Enya's French is as amazing as her Gaelic or English. Only If... is lighthearted, empowering, upbeat, and quite a sensual song that is Enya's clearest dalliance into "pop" since the Orinoco Flow. After the first few listenings you'll find yourself humming "Only if you want to..."
The remaining tracks 6-16 are an eclectic mix of instrumentals, introspective tracks, and relaxing vocals. Notables include "China Roses," a really elegant song from "The Memory of Trees," that sets an almost Utopian feeling; the upbeat Ebudę, from "Shepherd Moons;" the gentle adjurations and genteel refinement of the title track, Paint the Sky With Stars, the second new recording on the album; and On My Way Home, featured in a 3:36 remix/edit of the reflective, up-beat piece that appears in its more enjoyable, appropriate 5:08 form on "The Memory of Trees." Exile or Smaointe... (instead of the dull Marble Halls) would have also been nice editions on PAINT, as well, despite the fact they obviously didn't make the cut.
Overall, PAINT THE SKY WITH STARS is what we've come to expect from Enya - gentle, relaxing, beautiful, resplendent, stunning, and at times upbeat, able to reflect the emotional shades of everyday life. Enya sings all the vocals and plays almost all the instruments on all her pieces, which is something I think people tend to forget or not even realize. Such dedication and commitment to her albums is expressed through PAINT THE SKY WITH STARS very effectively. PAINT also does a successful job of creating a quick reference source for favorite tracks, instead of having to switch between various cds. The packaging is also quite beautiful (the collage fold out of various Enya pictures from her albums is a nice touch). If you're new to Enya, this is also a great introduction to a prolific singer who is so very gifted; if you enjoy Enya, then pick this up as well, even if you just purchase it for the two new tracks.
Free Music Review: The Etheral Lady Has Done It Again
Hit: 5 Stars
The first Enya song that I've ever heard was "Anywhere Is" when I was in Primary Six (12 years old). That was great! The song brings you into this really imaginary labyrinth where every turn is a new scenario and life. I heard it on "Max 2". It also depicted the song's album - "The Memory Of Trees" cover. That cover was great. After taking a long time to decide, I got "Paint The Sky With Stars". It happened that there was an advertisement about the album and the songs played were great. One of the best I've heard is "Book Of Days", especially the last segment. "The Celts" was unusually familiar. The first time I heard it, I could hum most of it. "Orinoco Flow" and "Caribbean Blue" seem to be twin sisters,yet each is unique. "Orinoco Flow" sounds like a journey on the oceans whilst "Caribbean Blue" is like a place surrounded by the blue seas and a evening dark blue where one relaxes on the beach. "Only If" is a highly contagious songs like the rest. Together with "Storms In Africa" and "The Celts", they sound like songs of hope, encouragement, journeying foward. "Storms In Africa" is really great. It's Part II version in the "Moonshadows" video and the original should have placed together. That rainy, thundering effects were marvellous. "The Memory Of Trees" is also one of my favourites. My idea of it is like a solitary, centuries old tree in an African plain that has withnessed the changes of time. "Shepherd Moons" reminds me of being alone looking at the moon atop a hill. "On My Way Home" is a really wonderful mix of pop and "Enyaesque" music. The bit of "Orinoco Flow" gives it a jumpy feeling, it makes you sway..."China Roses" though not as Oriental as it name implies, is nevertheless a must-hear. Those visions of roses in a plain of brown grass. The title track and "Marble Halls" sound very dreamy. You have the images of the night sky and all the stars or this really large mansion where you would to play around. "Boadicea" and "Ebudae" are totally awesome. It's so hard to hum "Boadicea". I really wonderful how Enya does that. "Ebudae" remains high on my favourites list. I simply cannot describe it. It was due to this album, I brought "Watermark" and "Shepherd Moons" after that. I will soon get "The Celts" and "The Memory Of Trees". I hope Enya continues doing her best in her next album.