Customer Reviews
Best Enya compilation
My only complaint is that "Epona" from _The Celts_ was left out of the compilation, but it is really a minor complaint. I think that the way in which the songs were separated into 3 CDs was an excellent idea: first the up-tempo songs, then the instrumentals (which include some of the most beautiful pieces Enya has ever recorded, "River", "Lothlorien" and "Oriel Window" being my favorites) and then the slowest cuts. This is without a doubt the best Enya compilation out there.
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Forget all about the Only Time collection, this is it.
From the midnight-blue box with silver print, the delicate booklet featuring semitransparent pages as just one of many artistic details, to the beautiful cover artwork - the visuals of this set is outstanding. This collection might possibly be one of the best box-sets ever made. There's no little detail here that hasn't been considered. Notice how beautifully this matches the artwork of the Best Of CD 'Paint The Sky With Stars', but how this set takes it one step further (the owners of the single-CD collection probably never grasped the significance of the three buckets of "paint" on the back cover - on with Clouds, on with Oceans and one with Stars - this is in fact the three themes of the CDs in this set). But that's only the artwork.
The music has been considered at least as much in this set. The separation of the songs in three different themes are brilliant! Disc 1 -Oceans - contains the more upbeat songs, and thus most of her radio hits like Orinoco Flow, Book Of Days, Caribean Blue, Anywhere Is, China Roses, On My Way Home and the recemt Only If . . . However, a plenty of less familiar songs are included as well - personal highlights are the magnificent Storms In Africa and The Longships (imo. two of her best pieces ever), the enchanting I Want Tomorrow and the dark and menacing Cursum Perficio, Pax Deorum and The Celts.
Disc 2 - Clouds - contains instrumental pieces (or songs without any true lyrics, the exception to this being Afer Ventus) - in fact a quite varied selection including piano-pieces (Watermark, Miss Claire Remembers, Portrait (Out Of The Blue)), piano-and-vocal pieces (Shepherd Moons, Morning Glory), multi-instrumental pieces (Tea House Moon, Lothlórien, River) and vocal-and-instrumental pieces (Afer Ventus, The Memory Of Trees, March Of The Celts). There is beauty in such plenty that it can make you cry on this CD - Morning Glory might well be the most beautiful tune ever written - never was a song so aptly named as this one; it actually catches the exact sensation of the sun rising on a clear summer morning. Afer Ventus is so lovely and enchanting, and I cannot imagine anybody not feeling cheered by the wonderful Tea-House Moon.
Disc 3 - Stars - contain a selection of her more hymn-like songs. This was always the CD that I liked the least, but these songs are certainly beautiful. Evening Falls is a favorite, and Marble Halls is quite irresistable in it's charm. Smaointe . . . is one of the most heartfelt songs ever written, it moves me to tears every time I listen to it, and is the perfect way to and this collection. '
The thematic separation of the songs is ingeneous, because it in reality gives you three very different CDs, that each matches a different mood. The song arrangement is brilliant, each CD flows naturally from beginning to end in a natural manner.
One could make a comment on the song selection - this set includes nearly - NEARLY - all her songs from her 3 most recent albums (The Memory Of Trees, Shepherd Moon and Watermark). One might wonder why the excluded How Can I Keep From Singing (from Shepherd Moons) and Once You Had Gold (from The Memory Of Trees) - neither song was below standard (in fact Once You Had Gold was a personal favorite from that album) - and there's room for more songs on the CDs. Furthermore, her first album - The Celts - is quite poorly represented, which is even more curious (again, this is in fact my favorite Enya album) - I can accept some exclusions, but some glaring omisions are Epona, the Triad, Bard Dance and To Go Beyond, which are all excelent tracks. Also, I should have prefered the full-length version of On My Way Home to the radio edit included here, and the very rare english version of Storms In Africa would have been a treat for the fans, but that's a detail. A pity, however, that they missed this opportunity to make it perfect.
Still, this box-set is way beyond what's good, this is masterfull. The more recent 4-CD collection 'Only Time' pales when compared to this. Even though it did contaion a couple of excellent songs from her most recent work (A Day Without Rain, Wild Child, The First Of Autumn, Lazy Days and May It Be from The Lord Of The Rings as the only essential pieces) - that set was poorly arranged and much more incomplete. Therefore, stick to this set if you find it at an reasonable price somewhere (try ebay) - 100 $ might be a little over the limit.
Overall rating: 10 / 10.
Enchanting Blend of Enya's Works
This music is timeless and inspiring. This boxed compilation makes a great addition to anyone's music collection who's fond of the new age genre or heard of Enya before. I've been listening to these 3 cd's almost religiously for months now, and I cease to tire of them. From songs like "Aldebaran" who's notes work their way soothingly up and down my spine, to the thundering drums present in songs such as "Storms in Africa", this music will take you away to somewhere you've always dreamed of. Listening to these masterpieces is literally more of an emotional experience for me than anything else, and I'm sure if you take the plunge and buy this compilation, you'll understand why. The three cd's are cased inside an attractive navy-blue box with silver lettering on it, which contains a neat flipbook with interesting poetry, lyrics, and what appear to be almost journal-like entries finely handwritten on the pages inside it. It adds a nice touch to this very classy boxed trio of cd's. Overall, this is a really special item and it'd make for an excellent gift - if you could part with it yourself! The only quibble I have is the price it's selling for most places (I was lucky to find it for $35 over the 'net), and the fact that after playing through all 46 songs, I found that several other works are missing from this compilation such as music from Enya's first album The Celts and other various cd's/singles. As a side note, it does include *most* of the music she's done, with additional singles such as "Only If", "Paint The Sky With Stars", and the very moving "Morning Glory", etc.
. You can see a complete list of all Enya discography, or go back to the Enya tabs
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