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: Ever flowing...
Hit: 5 Stars
If you had but one Enya CD to buy, this would be it. You'd be missing much of the richness that comes through on her other albums (hence, I actually advocate you buy all of them in addition to this!), but given limited time and budget, this one is a great collection of many of the essentials of Enya's work.This is one of my 'desert island discs' (were I to be stranded on a deserted island, this is one of ten the CDs I would opt to take).
This CD contains the highlights from her albums `The Celts', `Watermark', `Caribbean Blue', and `The Memory of Trees'. There are a few variations, however. The rendition of `Book of Days' on this, which was used in the cinematic film `Far and Away', is in English on this CD, whereas on the original album it is in Gaelic.
Classic tracks from the albums are here; this is her 'greatest hits so far' album (I hate the idea of a 'greatest hits' album for a still-productive artist, as if the best is behind). `Orinoco Flow' was her first 'smash' hit (having achieved some notice and popularity from `The Celts', it actually took this song to break into the charts and mainstream notice). The music from this song is flowing and haunting, with an interesting combination of celtic influences and modern recording techniques. Other popularly known songs include `Caribbean Blue', a song in a similar style; `Storms in Africa', an interesting juxtaposition of African and celtic rhythms with interesting lyrical content; `Anywhere is', likewise with overdubs and haunting strains, but a determined beat that is hopeful and progressive.
Lesser known songs from her albums include `The Celts' and `Boadicea', both used as backing tracks for the BBC series on the history of the Celtic peoples.
There are two new tracks on this album, too: `Only if...', which is upbeat with a strong tempo and lyric, and `Paint the Sky with Stars', a beautiful, subdued, melancholy tune which brings the trademark celtic sadness to bear on this, the title track.
Produced with husband Nicky Ryan, this is an excellent collection that gives both a good introduction and a good musical synopsis of a truly remarkable artist, one who has combined ancient and modern in quite innovative ways.
Free Music Review: Great overview of her work
Hit: 5 Stars
I already owned every Enya CD from "The Celts" on up (plus her "Silent Night" single), so I basically just bought this CD for the two extra songs on it: "Paint the Sky with Stars," and "Only If..."."Only If" is a typical uptempo number with staccato accents that, to me, sounds almost like a rewrite of "Anywhere Is." The fact that it immediately follows that song only serves to accentuate that similarity. Nevertheless, it is a nice, enjoyable song that can't help but fit perfectly into this collection.
"Paint the sky with stars" is a really evocative, romantic title for a song (and album). The song itself is a very slow, somber number, in the tradition of songs like "How Can I Keep From Singing?" from Shepherd Moons. Again, nothing new and different here at all, but a song that is very nice and fits in with the rest of her work.
Enya has been criticized for sounding basically the same on every single album. That may be true, but what a sound! This is why I got hooked and bought every one of them. If you are just starting out with "Paint the Sky with Stars," you will have a great overview, but I would suggest that if you like this album, go out and buy the rest. They are definitely worth it. Start with "Watermark" (her most popular album), then go backwards to "The Celts," then forward past Watermark to Shepherd Moons and The Memory Of Trees.
Although a lot of Enya's work is similar from album to album, you will start to notice a distinctive "feel" to each one of them. Watermark sounds more joyful than Shepherd Moons, for example. To me, Shepherd Moons really does have more of a "nighttime" sound (to match its title and album cover), more introspective and somber, than does Watermark. This is one thing you won't get in this compilation: Enya does build a distinctive mood into each of her albums and sustains that mood for the length of the album. All are beautiful, and if you like this compilation at all, the "proper" albums are definitely worthy of a place in your collection.
Free Music Review: Accompany Enya on her unforgettable musical journey
Hit: 5 Stars
In the end of 1997 Enya released this "best of"-album including tracks from her earlier albums and two brand new songs (Only If and Paint The Sky With Stars).
Paint The Sky With Stars starts very explosive with her huge hit Orinoco Flow. The enchanting Caribbean Blue is followed by her proud and powerful hit Book Of Days. Anywhere Is and Only If are filled with energy and enthusiasm. The Celts is an amazing track - a typical soundtrack. China Roses, Shepherd Moons, Ebudę, Storms In Africa, Watermark, Paint The Sky With Stars and Marble Halls are examples of Enya's ability to create relaxing and beautiful music. On My Way Home* is a very beautiful and powerful song and The Memory Of Trees is a gorgeous track. The mystical Boadieca finish Enya's "best of"-album.
The CD-booklet is fantastic! It looks very antique and the handwritten text is extremely beautiful. The combination of the antique art and a night sky filled with stars are perfect!
To me Paint The Sky With Stars is one of few albums that I consider as important to own because you can listen to it anytime. The music is very inspiring and evokes your senses; you may see the harsh ocean waves in Book Of Days, you may hear the distant echoes in The Celts, you may feel the increasing winds in Storms In Africa and you may remember all the good days in On My Way Home.
I think that Paint The Sky With Stars is the best album to start with as it contains all her hits until 1997. If you like this album - with the mix of powerful and beatuiful songs and the mix of English, Gaelic, Latin and instrumental tracks - then I recommend you to buy her other CDs as well.
This album topped the Swedish album chart for two weeks and it became the third most sold album of 1997! Paint The Sky With Stars deserves a top place among the world's best-selling album.
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*Note that it's not the same version on her 1995 album The Memory Of Trees. The version on Paint The Sky With Stars is shorter but more powerful.
Free Music Review: Let the Orinoco Flow
Hit: 5 Stars
I really want to speak of Orinoco Flow alone, because other titles are "only" good. Orinoco Flow is the artist's good catch. I like to compare it to Smetana's Die Moldau, that is, a talented--but no genius--compositor's sudden awaking to a melody which is to compete with the greatest music of all time, those of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart. It's enough of the mere two first seconds of Orinoco Flow to pervade the space all around with intense an emotion, created by the far away rumbling echo of the piano or its sharp jolts detonating by waves. And it's only getting better as the music proceeds.Anyway, while the singing fits very well with the music, and Enya's voice seems like an angel's, it's really a pity there's not much sense in it. It's essentially a childish succession of names with a too obvious quest for rhymes (from Bissau to Pilau, from Fiji to Tiree, from Peru to Cebu, from Bali to Cali...). One really could expect a deeper, more spiritual meaning going along with this music. The theme of sailing is in my humble opinion an error. I think the music is well suited for the universe's history, opening with the tumultuous Big-Bang (we have never heard a music with such an intense opening, have we?), going through its expansion as the music soften, the really cool, quiet passage in between could account for the gas condensation of the earlier time, and the music exploding again could refer to stars formation, the smooth ending letting the universe meet its future alone. An extended, lengthened version could really be made an opera.
The artist's choice still is respectable, and sometimes the lyrics aren't too bad with such nicely put lines as "From the Deep Sea of Clouds to the Island of the Moon", but the reference a bit later to Rob Dickens driving the boat of a jolly crew of fellows ruins it all.
If one can forget this not-too-minor flaw, this new-age song is may be the greatest composition of our modern time.
Free Music Review: Absolutely amazing....
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm not a new age fan by any means, but I am enthralled by the beauty of Enya's music. Sometimes it's sheer simplicity is breathtaking, the use of the Gaelic language is also sometimes spell-binding.I haven't been overly impressed by her studio albums, and I'll explain why in a sec. This CD however draws all that is good about Enya and brings together all of her singles in the way you really need to hear them. OK, to explain the previous comment: I first heard Orinco Flow way back, (was it '91? - can't remember...) and fell in love at first hearing. Here was something totally different, then came Storms In Africa which was just as good. Right, I thought, better buy the album. Of course, the version of SIA was a slow more relaxed affair and a bit of a disappointment to that which I'd heard already. Same happened again with Carribean Blue and Book Of Days (possibly the best Enya track ever...). I made the mistake twice and then waited patiently hoping for the day the inevitable compilation would come out. I was overjoyed when I got my hands on "Paint The Stars...", everything I wanted was there, plus some more.
My one complaint with Enya is that she makes some incredible sounding tracks like Book Of Days and then wants to slow them down and loose the power of these songs. Can't someone make her see sense and keep making this type of track? The soundscapes are amazing. I do like some of the slower ones, really i do, I just prefer the more uptempo (and it's really not that much uptempo) ones.
I'm an 80's boy (Visage, Ultravox, Duran Duran, etc), now in my thirties, and currently into modern synthpop like De/Vision, Red Flag, Avant Garde (to name a few). As you can see, Enya doesn't fit the mould of music you might expect me to listen to. I do and it's beautiful. Enough said, if you are one of the few uninitiated then buy this CD now...