Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997
From: Steven Holiday (sholiday@execpc.com)
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The Phoenix Media/Communications Group
1996
Enya
One-world wonder
She's the woman with the celestial voice, a one-name wonder who's been giving us ambient anthems since 1988. Despite the mournful title of Enya's latest album, The Memory of Trees (Reprise), her new songs are as hypnotically uplifting as ever. Not exactly sing-alongs, her tunes combine Gaelic lyrics and chants with songs in English. Really, though, the words are the last thing you pay attention to. Her New Agey keyboards and impeccable studio polish create an inimitable sound. A native of Ireland, Enya was born into a musical family that spawned the band Clannad. She joined the group briefly, then left behind her smallish role as keyboardist to venture out on her own with producer Nicky Ryan. Watermark (Reprise), her second album, contained the deliciously haunting track "Orinoco Flow," which brought her into the spotlight and onto several countries' top-10 lists. Perpetually mysterious, Enya has never been one to launch a world tour or present herself to the public eye. Then again, given the extensive electronic studio tweaking of The Memory of Trees (which was two years in the making), Enya might find it difficult to slap together a live sound that meets her standards. In any case, she's an artist whose transcendental melodies cross the boundaries of New Age and Celtic folk, organic and electronic. She is reason enough for real Celtic pride.
-- Sara Stewart
Copyright ) 1996 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group. All rights reserved.
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The Stanford Daily Online
Volume 208 104th YEAR 1-23-96
Intermission: "Enya Ni Bharonain has built a career out of making utterly unique music which, at its introduction,..."
Enya
The Memory of Trees
2 discs
Enya Ni Bharonain has built a career out of making utterly unique music which, at its introduction, was almost entirely unprecedented for popular audiences.
The brilliant success of "Watermark" in 1988 underscored both a significant artistic achievement for Enya and an important introduction of world music to a mass audience.
Unfortunately, Enya's original vision seems to have ended with the majesty of "Watermark." Her subsequent work has been repetitive and uninspired, a trend that continues with her newest work, "The Memory of Trees."
The problem is not that her singing is less beautiful or the music less lovely. The problem is that she seems to have nothing new to say.
Songs blend together until one track is almost indistinguishable from the next. Each song flows along easily, lulling the listener into an almost submissive trance. The music fails to annoy, but it also fails to enlighten.
The album opens with the title track, "The Memory of Trees," an enchanting song which seems to promise great things until one realizes that half of album is not significantly different from this piece.
The next song, "Anywhere Is," actually succeeds in interrupting the flow of the album, but only because it seems to mark Enya's nadir as an artist. The melody is horribly unimaginative, to the point of rendering the song virtually unlistenable. The track evokes images of a laboring songwriter, which makes one wonder exactly how inspired Enya was to make this new album.
Another track, this time notable for its brilliance, is "Once You Had Gold," a sparse, hymn-like song, which Enya's majestic voice carries to ethereal heights. The song is as redeeming as it is beautiful, coming as close as a song can to making an entire album worthwhile.
Unfortunately for Enya, one cannot forget that her work used to be so much more. "The Memory of Trees" contains many beautiful moments and will undoubtedly satisfy many Enya fans, but the essential repetitiveness of the album is difficult to accept.
The irony is that this repetitiveness is the very antithesis of what initially was Enya's greatest strength, her originality.
-Soren Johnson
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Music Monitor 1996
Enya: The Memory of Trees
(Reprise)
by Velvet Vernon
When I heard the theme of this album was going to center around the power, mystery and wisdom traditionally associated with trees, I was excited. With her New Age/Celtic musical leanings, this seemed like the perfect marriage of idea and artist, so I was surprised when I wasn't impressed with the final product. It made me take a hard look at what, for me, didn't work.
What have we come to expect from an Enya CD? Soft vocals, layered harmonies, atmospheric instrumentation, the occasional Gaelic song or Celtic musical idiom? Well, if that's what comes to your mind, you'll probably like her new release. In fact, the disc's problem may be that it all seems a bit too formulaic; so much of what is here sounds like what has gone before.
She does throw in other ethnic flavorings on two of the songs, the Japanese sounding instrumental track "Tea House Moon" and "La Sonadora," which she sings in Spanish (or perhaps it's Italian, I can't quite make it out). "Pax Deorum" begins with Latin chanting in lower register monotones, then it flowers into harmony and then octave song chant. "Athair Ar Neamh," the one Gaelic song included on this release, is by far one of my favorites, recalling her Watermark direction, while the title track sounds more in the vein of Shepherd Moon. "Anywhere Is," the first single, is an uptempo tune with undertones of a marching beat and a very catchy melodic chorus, while the final track on the album, "On My Way Home," culminates it nicely with its moderate walking tempo which builds gradually in intensity as she goes home noticing the magic of the everyday world around her.
So the problem is...what? The lyrics are solid and the production is fine. Maybe it's just that, overall, the tracks sound better individually, where they can each shine, rather than as a whole, where they tend to merge together into something that's mediocre. It took a few listenings to fully appreciate everything, but I do like it. So give it a try, even though you may want to do it one "memory" at a time.
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MSOE Ingenium 18 January 96
The Memory of Trees
Rating: 8/10
At long last, the queen of celestial voices, dulcet tones and ethereal soundscapes returns with a new collection of aural portraits to seduce your mind and heart. I've grown somewhat fond of this album, but it seems that some of her past works are better.
Enya had shown a definite progression of style throughout her career, but The Memory of Trees seems to be Shepherd Moons, part 2. Which is fine, I suppose, but some continuous evolution in her style would have been fascinating to hear.
Nonetheless, Enya is still spectacular to hear. Darker tracks like "Pax Deorum" and "La Sonadora" I especially enjoyed. The title track is also very good - very evocative. Some of the more lyrical tracks, are more pop-ish, such as "Anywhere Is." Roma Ryan is still Enya's lyricist, and Nicky Ryan is still involved in production. And the stunning cover art is perhaps the best yet. Wanna win me as your friend forever? Find me a larger poster of the cover art.
The result? If you like Enya, get this - you won't be disappointed. If you have no idea who she is, get this, but be sure to look for her more definitive album, Watermark.
-Erik Nielsen