Enya Albums (10)
'And Winter Came'
Release Date 11/10/2008
Tracks 24
Label Warner Bros
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
In 2006 Enya released her most subtle and song-oriented album to date. Amarantine may have paled in comparison to Watermark or Shepherd Moons, but its under-produced (in Enya-world) balladry was a small leap forward for the reclusive Irish superstar. 2008's And Winter Came follows in the same footsteps as Amarantine, but it hints at the grandeur of earlier recordings, specifically 1994's Christmas EP. Enya's ferociously multi-tracked recording style lends itself well to the season, filling in the simplistic lyrical holes with small avalanches of vocal harmonies and the dated but reliable keyboard patches that have come to define the singer/composer's work over the years. Enya, lyricist Roma Ryan, and producer Nicky Ryan have crafted a pleasant little snow globe of an album that sounds exactly like one would expect from the longtime collaborators. For the most part the formula is intact, boasting a soft Edward Scissorhands-inspired intro, copious amounts of secular and non-secular ballads (all original), and two or three upbeat, midtempo jams to break the stillness. Of the former, the lovely and reverent "Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is the most effective, while the galloping "White Is in the Winter Night" leads the pack for the latter. There are copious amounts of "stars in the skies" and "bells ringing," and even a surprising left turn (maybe even a complete u-turn) near the end on "My! My! Time Flies!," a straight-up "Beatlesque" pop tune with drums and a screaming guitar solo that sounds like something off of a late-'60s Bee Gees record. As usual, Enya fans will be pleased with the results while non-believers will find that the same arguments against her are still valid, but in the end And Winter Came is an undeniably welcome addition to the holiday season, if only for its effortless, white, spray-painted pinecone elegance and potpourri-scented, gift shop comforts. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
'Sounds of the Season with Enya'
Release Date 1/1/2006
Tracks 6
Label Rhino
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What The Critics Say
Second only to U2 as the most successful Irish recording artist of all time, Enya has built an empire out of multi-tracking her beautiful voice over the same keyboard patches that appeared on her post-Clannad debut since 1987. It's an empire that has progressed at a slow burn, peaking in 2000 and 2001 with her chart-topping ballad and unofficial post-September 11th anthem, "Only Time." Amarantine, Enya's first full-length album in five years, builds on her reputation as the world's premier purveyor of audio comfort food, providing another collection of mini-soundtracks that are often as awkward in their earnestness as they are breathtaking in their production. Boasting 12 new songs that retain the tapestry of sound that is her trademark, while stealthily stripping it of some of its excess, Enya has managed to both repeat herself and move forward without losing anything in the translation. Besides the swirling, "Ebudae"-esque "The River Sings," Enya, lyricist Roma Ryan, and producer Nicky Ryan have crafted the most subtle record of their careers, a move that may alienate some Watermark-era purists. Standout tracks like "Long, Long Journey," "Water Shows the Hidden Heart," and the gorgeous -- but lyrically embarrassing -- title cut show a newfound understanding of the simple power of Enya's voice, resulting in an intimacy that's eluded previous releases. While Amarantine will do nothing to win over the wrongly pegged new age artist's many detractors, longtime fans will find enough moments of serendipitous pleasure to hold them over for another five years. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Enya's first full-length album of new material in five years (and her fourth in 12 years) will have a familiar sound to the millions who have followed her career so far. As usual, the slow songs sound like "Silent Night" being performed in a cathedral, and the less slow songs are paced by rhythm patterns that would be called pizzicato passages if they were being played on real strings instead of string-like synthesizers. Over the music, Enya sings in her multi-tracked, ethereal voice, making Roma Ryan's lyrics, which are full of pastoral imagery and abstract romantic sentiments, seem even more insubstantial than they already are. In the press materials accompanying the release, Enya explains why it took her five years to come up with less than 34 and a half minutes of music that sounds like most of her earlier music by noting that she plays all the instruments and does all the singing herself without using samples. It might be more accurate to say that there is no need for her to release albums any more frequently than she does, since each one sells over a long period of time. And since her listeners are more concerned with the mood she sets than with musical content, the similarity to her other albums is a good thing. This is music that works almost entirely as a surface pleasure; strip it of its pretensions, and it's just contemporary easy listening music. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
'The Frog Prince'
Release Date 7/31/1995
Tracks 16
Label Karussell Ltd
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
No surprises here, of course -- Enya didn't achieve new age superstardom by challenging anyone's expectations. This album is every bit as hushed, lovely, and soulless as everything else she's ever done; like a perfect angel food cake, it's sweet, soft, and utterly lacking in nutritive substance. There's nothing the matter with angel food cake, of course, and there's also nothing really the matter with The Memory of Trees, though its Druidic theme does smell awfully trendy (nothing was quite so hip as neopaganism in 1995), and it steers so strictly the same melodic and textural course she's been following throughout her solo career that you're tempted to wonder why anyone would want to spend the money on what amounts to a complete rehash of her earlier work. While other cultural influences play a greater part in this album, the beautiful and brooding Celtic melodies she brought with her from her earlier work with Clannad are still the primary raw materials, and her skillful use of them is still the main thing that sets her apart from the new age pack. She also has a truly lovely voice, and there's no point trying to resist the gentle charm of "China Roses" and the incantatory power of "Anywhere Is." But so little of the album lives up to the promise of these and one or two other tracks that it's hard to recommend it very enthusiastically. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Initially released simply as Enya, The Celts shows that the style she became famous for on Watermark was already well under way. With production and lyrical help fully in place thanks to her husband-and-wife gurus Nicky and Roma Ryan, Enya's combination of Celtic traditionalism and distinctly modern approach finds lush flower here. All the elements that characterize her music -- open, clear nods to her Irish heritage, any number of vocal overdubs to create an echoing, haunting feeling, and layers of synth and electronic percussion -- can be found almost track for track. The flip side is that those who find such a combination to be gloopy mush won't be at all convinced further by her work here. It's understandable why folk music traditionalists and anti-mainstream types would get the hives, but those not coming from that angle will find much that's rewarding. Given that The Celts is a commissioned piece of work, it actually stands on its own quite well. The charging surge of the title track functions both as a fine introduction and its own stirring, quietly powerful anthem, a good sign for the rest of the album. There are a couple of slight missteps -- an electric guitar solo disrupts the string-and-vocal flow of the truly lovely "I Want Tomorrow," for instance. Generally, though, her musical instincts serve her very well, with many striking highlights. The appropriately three-part "Triad" showcases her ear for vocal work excellently, while both versions of "To Go Beyond," especially the second, which closes the disc with an exquisite extra string part, also are worthy of note. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Calling Shepherd Moons a near carbon copy of Watermark puts it quite mildly. Like Watermark, Shepherd Moons opens with the title track, a calm instrumental, has another brief instrumental titled after a Dora Saint book smack in the middle ("No Holly for Miss Quinn"), and concludes with a number incorporating a striking uilleann pipes solo, "Smaointe...." In general, Enya's own musical style and work remains the same, again assisted on production by Nicky Ryan and with lyrics by Roma Ryan. Shepherd Moons does have one key factor that's also carried over from Watermark -- it's quite good listening. Though the total continuity means that those who enjoy her work will again be pleased and those who dislike it won't change their minds, in terms of finding her own vision and sticking with it, Enya has increasingly polished and refined her work to a strong, elegant degree. "Caribbean Blue," the lead single, avoids repeating the successful formula of "Orinoco Flow" by means of its waltz time -- a subtle enough change, but one that colors and drives the overall composition and performance, the closest Enya might ever get to a dance number. Some songs call to mind traditional Irish music even more strongly than much of her earlier work, while two other tracks are haunting rearrangements of old, traditional numbers. With her trademark understated drama in full flow many other places, especially on the wonderful "Book of Days" (replaced on later pressings with an English language version done for the film Far and Away), Enya shows herself to still have it, to grand effect. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Thanks to its distinct, downright catchy single "Orinoco Flow," which amusingly referenced both her record-company boss Rob Dickins and co-producer Ross Cullum in the lyrics, Enya's second album Watermark established her as the unexpected queen of gentle, Celtic-tinged new age music. To be sure, her success was as much due to marketing a niche audience in later years equally in love with Yanni and Michael Flatley's Irish dancing, but Enya's rarely given a sense of pandering in her work. She does what she does, just as she did before her fame. (Admittedly, avoiding overblown concerts run constantly on PBS hasn't hurt.) Indeed, the subtlety that characterizes her work at her best dominates Watermark, with the lovely title track, her multi-tracked voice gently swooping among the lead piano, and strings like a softly haunting ghost, as fine an example as any. "Orinoco Flow" itself, for all its implicit dramatics, gently charges instead of piling things on, while the organ-led "On Your Shore" feels like a hushed church piece. Elsewhere, meanwhile, Enya lets in a darkness not overly present on The Celts, resulting in work even more appropriate for a moody soundtrack than that album. "Cursum Perficio," with her steady chanting-via-overdub of the title phrase, gets more sweeping and passionate as the song progresses, matched in slightly calmer results with the equally compelling "The Longships." "Storms in Africa," meanwhile, uses drums from Chris Hughes to add to the understated, evocative fire of the song, which certainly lives up to its name. Watermark ends with a fascinating piece, "Na Laetha Geal M'Oige," where fellow Irish modern/traditional fusion artist Davy Spillane adds a gripping, heartbreaking uilleann pipe solo to the otherwise calm synth-based performance. It's a perfect combination of timelessness and technology, an appropriate end to this fine album. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
With production and lyrical help fully in place thanks to her husband-and-wife gurus Nicky and Roma Ryan, Enya's combination of Celtic traditionalism and distinctly modern approach finds lush flower on her self-titled debut. All the elements that characterize her music -- open, clear nods to her Irish heritage, any number of vocal overdubs to create an echoing, haunting feeling, and layers of synth and electronic percussion -- can be found almost track for track. The flip side is that those who find such a combination to be gloopy mush won't be at all convinced further by her work here. It's understandable why folk music traditionalists and anti-mainstream types would get the hives, but those not coming from that angle will find much that's rewarding. Given that the album is a commissioned piece of work, it actually stands on its own quite well. The charging surge of the title track functions both as a fine introduction and its own stirring, quietly powerful anthem, a good sign for the rest of the album. There are a couple of slight missteps -- an electric guitar solo disrupts the string-and-vocal flow of the truly lovely "I Want Tomorrow," for instance. Generally, though, her musical instincts serve her very well, with many striking highlights. The appropriately three-part "Triad" showcases her ear for vocal work excellently, while both versions of "To Go Beyond," especially the second, which closes the disc with an exquisite extra string part, also are worthy of note. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
