Discography
In 1986 Enya worked under preparing music for the BBC for an important television documentary series on the history of the Celtic civilisation throughout its 2700 years. The series was called 'The Celts'. The composition took ten months work. The music was liked so much that the BBC decided to release a selection as an independent record, before the series was broadcast and entitled simply
Enya, with barely a mention in the liner notes that it was a soundtrack. She played nearly all the instruments on the album, sometimes doubling up as many as eighty voices to create her characteristic sound, of dense textures, and ethereal voices, dreamlike and enchanting. It was to paint by means of synthesizers a modern sonic landscape that could evoke different atmospheres, from the mournful lament of 'Deireadh An Tuath' to the striking 'Boadicea', with its astounding dynamic of overdubbed voices. Nicky Ryan acted as producer and co-author of the arrangements and his wife Roma wrote nearly all the lyrics, for the most part nearly inaudible or impenetrable, giving an evanescent character to the music by being sung in Latin, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic.
Recorded in 1986, the album was not released until 1987. In 1992 the album was remastered and reissued as The Celts.
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01. The Celts
02. Aldebaran
03. I Want Tomorrow
04. March Of The Celts
05. Deireadh An Tuath
06. The Sun In The Stream
07. To Go Beyond (I)
08. Fairytale
09. Epona
10. Triad (St Patrick, Cu Chulainn, Oisin)
11. Portrait
12. Boadicea
13. Bard Dance
14. Dan Y Dwr
15. To Go Beyond (II)
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In 1988 Enya released the second album Watermark. Enya's instrumental songs are simple and pleasant musical ideas but are overshadowed by the strength of her more fully realized vocalworks. Her singing is so strong that it is painfully obvious when she isn't singing. Enya s breezy voice flows around subtle synthesizers, bridged by a mournful Irish piper. All songs are sung with such conviction and warmth that translations aren't necessary. This Album has passed 10 million sales worldwide, and has gone platinum in 14 different countries, helped by the single 'Orinoco Flow', a No 1 hit in Britain.
Originally released with eleven tracks, the 1989 issues added 'Storms In Africa (Part II)'.
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01. Watermark
02. Cursum Perficio
03. On Your Shore
04. Storms In Africa
05. Exile
06. Miss Clare Remembers
07. Orinoco Flow
08. Evening Falls...
09. River
10. The Long ships
11. Na Laetha Geal M'Oige
12. Storms In Africa II
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Three years and many vocal overdubs later, in 1991, Enya returns with
Shepherd Moons. It's again produced by Nicky Ryan with Roma Ryan providing the lyrics and, to all intents and purposes, is
Watermark II. From the title track, the familiar trademarks are there - the careful rolling piano, the insistent plucked synth melody over the top and the thousands of ghostly voices. 'Caribbean Blue' is this year's 'Orinoco Flow' and if the hook isn't as instant, the melody is strong enough to carry it off. The effect of
Shepherd Moons is cumulative, and by the time you reach the second part, the songs are beginning to merge into each other - as with
Watermark, it's as if she were speaking the same beautiful sentence over and over again.
Shepherd Moons spent an amazing 199 weeks on the Billboard charts in the USA and has sold over 11 million copies. In 1992 the original 'Book Of Days' song was re-recorded with English lyrics (originally it was in Gaelic) because of the using the English version in the film Far And Away.
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01. Shepherd Moons
02. Caribbean Blue
03. How Can I Keep From Singing?
04. Ebudae
05. Angeles
06. No Holly For Miss Quinn
07. Book Of Days
07. Book Of Days (Far and Away)
08. Evacuee
09. Lothlórien
10. Marble Halls
11. Afer Ventus
12. Smaointe... |
The Celts is a re-release of Enya, containing a selection of material composed and performed by Enya for the BBC-TV documentary series 'The Celts'. It has been remastered and 'Portrait' replaced by an expanded version of itself under the title 'Portrait (Out Of The Blue)', previously released on various singles as 'Out Of The Blue'.
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01. The Celts
02. Aldebaran
03. I Want Tomorrow
04. March Of The Celts
05. Deireadh An Tuath
06. The Sun In The Stream
07. To Go Beyond (I)
08. Fairytale
09. Epona
10. Triad (St Patrick, Cu Chulainn, Oisin)
11. Portrait
12. Boadicea
13. Bard Dance
14. Dan Y Dwr
15. To Go Beyond (II)
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In 1995 after two years work Enya has released
The Memory of Trees, her eagerly awaited album of new material. An imposing talent with a repertoire filled with gentle nuances and subtle turns, Enya is unrivaled. The album's theme reflects the ancient Druid reverence for the woodlands, their source of continuity and earthly knowledge. That's the kind of deep spirituality we're dealing with here. Following that theme, even the impossibly perky 'Anywhere Is' discusses 'the echo of their story.'
As the Shepherd Moons album in 1992 The Memory of Trees has won the Grammy Awards as "Best New Age Album" in 1997.
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01. The Memory Of Trees
02. Anywhere Is
03. Pax Deorum
04. Athair Ar Neamh
05. From Where I Am
06. China Roses
07. Hope Has A Place
08. Tea-House Moon
09. Once You Had Gold
10. La Sonadora
11. O
n My Way Home
12. Oriel Window
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Paint The Sky With Stars (1997) is a compilation album featuring a selection of Enya's best known material plus two new tracks: 'Paint The Sky With Stars' and 'Only If...' Some tracks appear to have been remastered, exhibiting better low level detail, and there is also some evidence of remixing, notably on 'Ebudae'.
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01. Orinoco Flow
02. Caribbean Blue
03. Book Of Days (Far and Away)
04. Anywhere Is(Edit)
05. Only If...
06. The Celts
07. China Roses
08. Shepherd Moons
09. Ebudae
10. Storms In Africa
11. Watermark
12. Paint The Sky With Stars
13. Marble Halls
14. On My Way Home(Remix)
15. The Memory Of Trees
16. Boadicea
17. Oíche Chiún (Japan)
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The artist spent the remainder of the decade contributing soundtrack material to various projects, before returning to the studio to record
A Day Without Rain, her first new studio album in five years. In today's world of teen pop frothiness, rock-rap angst, metal aggression and rap grittiness, Enya soothing music interludes seem like some sort of otherworldly concoction.
Of this album Enya says, "The title refers to the mood on a particularly peaceful day on which there was no rain. We do get a lot of rain in Ireland in all seasons. We had a run of days where it had done nothing but rain. Then one day the sun came out. It was then that I wrote the title track, so what else could I call it?"
The album shot up the US and several European charts almost a year after its release, thanks to the use of the track 'Only Time' in news coverage of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.
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01. A Day without Rain
02. Wild Child
03. Only Time
04. Tempus Vernum
05. Deora Ar Mo Chroí
06. Flora's Secret
07. Fallen Embers
08. Silver Inches
09. Pilgrim
10. One by One
11. The First of Autumn
11. Isobella (Japan)
12. Lazy Days
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