Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996
From: promero@[157.100.1.2]
Enya: The Difference
Watermark, Shepherd Moons, The Celts and the Memory Of Trees, all of them wonderful albums in my opinion... however, some think that TMOT is bad or not really worth the wait, some others say it is nice, but not her best, and others really love it. The reason for this, i think, is because of each album's different Atmosphere... Let's begin with the masses favorite, Watermark.
Now Watermark is indeed an excellent album, and its main characteristic is Depth. This is perhaps the deepest and most introspective CD i have ever bought. It is more of an internal journey than anything else (with the exception of the Orinoco Flow song). And it closely resembles its title: like water it flows freely, and is at times peaceful and stable, and other times just whirling around with activity. I think that most people who have found delight and favor this album is because it touches them in a personal way.
Our second stop is Shepherd Moons. I bought SM and WM together, and strangely enough i found myself listening more to SM than WM itself. SM's characteristic is perhaps that it goes a bit deeper into the dream world, the lyrics may not be "unrealistic" as someone classified the lyrics on TMOT (i think Jim J. said), but the music itself is a lot more (dare i say it) "magical" than WM. If we look at SM in general, you might see that its atmosphere is very different to WM in the way that (straight from the Cover) there seems to be more than meets the eye to it... i don't know if i am expressing myself clearly, because i have an abstract idea of it, and it's hard putting it into words. On this CD reality takes a few leaves on some songs (like Caribbean Blue, Afer Ventus, Angeles [maybe?] etc), while in others it is still present (like How Can i Keep From singing, Evacuee, etc). All in all this CD had more of the "Dreamer" atmosphere than Watermark, and i found myself more akin to this CD, because i am in a way, a dreamer :). I say that music doesn't have to be "realistic", being something that is completely out of the ordinary, it can be used to point and express greater things than to emphazise on the ordinary (that's my opinion, YMMV).
The Memory Of trees... a mixed bag, if you may. Looking back, we see that WM is Deep, MS is surrealistic while still maintaining the Depth... what is TMOT? Well, TMOT is surrealistic but, unlike SM, it is not deep. TMOT is a more lighthearted way of surrealism, to those expecting the Depth of Watermark, and the Worlds--thin-veil of SM, this CD could have been a disappointment. It is a good piece of work, Enya seems to have stepped outside of her personal / intimal voyages to take a gander at the world [Like waking up and seeing it for the first time], I detect a bit of wonder at the world itself (like in China Roses, For example, or La Sonadora and even in The Memory of trees, if you set your mind on abstract to get impressions [well... those are the impressions i got]) wonder at life (like in Anywhere Is, Once you had gold, On My way Home...). This is a very different CD in Atmosphere, i knew it from the moment i listened to Anywhere is (they let me hear the CD first before buying it) that i would be getting something very different. This difference has disappointed some of her listeners, while it has delighted others. On my account i am very pleased with TMOT (and i also change CDs depending on how i am feeling) and I'm eager to see how her next Cd (*if* there ever is a next CD) will vary from this one.
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996
From: Jim Waters (jwaters@az.com)
Thank you, Promero. I don't usually save an individual's own review, but I saved yours. Just one disappointment, though. YOU LEFT OUT "THE CELTS"! Do you suppose you might be able to include a short analysis of TC in the same vain as your analysis of the other three? To me, TC seems just as "dream-like" as SM, yet with just as much depth as WM, although its introspective would be on the Celtic culture rather than self-introspection as in WM. With not much lyrics, though, it seems that interpretation must come mostly from the individual listener.
BTW, My own personnal favorite album is Shepherd Moons, but I just wanted to make sure The Celts didn't get left out.
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996
From: promero@[157.100.1.2]
The Celts (sorry, i forgot to include this one in the first article :))
The Celts was, in my opinion, the album that started it all, not WM, since most who bought Watermark, bought it because they already had listened to "enya" 2 years ago.
In this CD, the main property is again Dream and Depth, but --as Jim pointed out-- of a different kind altogether. If i had to select Enya's most dreamlike CD, it would be indeed, the Celts. From the title track, you are immediately transported to a Dream, this CD has a very impressive feature, which is how masterfully Enya has captured the Celtic Spirit, both in age and mysticism, and brought it here. It digs deeply into the Celtic world Enya weaves, increasing in depth and also increasing the surreality factor (Listen to Alderaban, by the time i got there i had the impression i was sinking deeper into the dream The Celts had gotten me into) The stunning thing here is that you an actually touch that celtic world, I do say that Enya did this recording masterfully... and it was only a Soundtrack, can you imagine what she would have done if she would have gone a little farther then? Now, to look at this CD as a whole: this disc is definitvely, completely different from the rest of her CDs, mainly because here --i think-- she digs upon most of the Celtic influence than the classical one. The depth in which she goes into the Celts is of excellent quality... i also like her dreamlike haze atmosphere she has here, all of her dreamlike CDs have been different, and TC is not an exception. This kind of dream i can only say that it combines Depth and surrealism in a very very good way, with mostly simple and unelaborate (well, in comparison to how elaborate she will get on other CDs) songs (like I want Tomorrow, Epona, etc), when she still wasn't reaching out and experimenting with the full possibilities of overlayering. I can't really say that Reality is a factor here, and it surprises me that people critique TMOT, when the Celts is more surrealistic :). Combining different states of surreality and atmosphere... just compare Boadicea to, for example, To Go Beyond, and then Portrait [which sounds JUST a tad like Shepherd moons... just the piano beggining], and you'll be able to appreciate the rich atmosphere changes she implements here. Throughout the entire CD, she keeps a dynamic atmosphere... although never entering the reality realm, she provides us with many "dreams", to put it like that.
Looking back, from TMOT to TC, we can see how much she has changed, on TC she explores a world which is her own, in just a way [the way roots work]. The myths of it, and the fantasies going on there. On WM she may be showing us a part of (or journeying into) herself, on SM... well, she may be showing us another part of herself, or her dreams at that, or something completely different, and on TMOT, i get the impression she wants to show us the world... from another point of view... could be a child's, or hers for all we know about her [which is zero]. So why have i gone through this? well, it is like this... like in painting, you must know what the artist is tryign to tell you with his picture to fully appreciate it, that is the case with Enya. You have to examine her CDs as a whole and not song by song, see the atmosphere, the world in which she takes us to in every CD, and then you will be able to appreciate each CD as it should be appreciated, not compare which one is better, because they are all so different it is impossible to do so. I think all her CDs are great, and they all appeal to me at one time or another, depending how i am :) So... i hope these 4 reviews have helped a bit... even if only to let ya know the way i see music and especially Enya's :)
Date: Mon, 05 Aug 1996
From: david ausloos (gd31967@glo.be)
I agree without any hesitation. As a painter I look at it this way : Watermark is a painting from the French romanticism-school. Very melodramic, sometimes introspectif and heavy on atmosphere. SM is more a work of the impressionists. Here the esthetical dreamy quality of the image is important. You can travel in a world of paintstrokes and vivid yet subtile colors. TMOT is more of a pointilistic work. If you look close you have this amazing variety in atmospheres, colors and moods. The first time you play it you tend to look at the songs on itself. But when you take distance (as with a pointilist-painting) everything merges into a whole and the overall image is formed. I must say I'm a big admirer of the French school of impressionists. It doesn't take wild gussing to figure out that I prefer SM over TMOT. Yet Watermark, in it's perfect balance between drama and more lighthearted escapism (Orinoco flow, Storms in Africa part two) stays my absolute favorite.