the 1st two tracks alone are worth it! (Paint Sky With Stars: Best Of - Enya)

Member Name: popscycho

Product:	Paint Sky With Stars: Best Of - Enya
Date:	21/10/03 (198 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Shows most of enya's best work, captures a variety of moods, It's fantastic!!!!!

Disadvantages: better songs could have made it on the album

It was this collection of songs that led to my discovery of enya,at christmas 2000,when I bought it after hearing a song on an advert.I didn't know what song it was,but it was amazing,beautiful and unmistakable enya,so I thought 'surely the greatest hits album is going to have it?'

I knew of the first track 'Orinoco Flow' quite well.Unless you live on mars it would have been impossible not to hear 'sail away,sail away,sail away..',the song that that took enya to #1 in the autumn of 1988 for a 3 week stay.so I skipped it in search of the song I 'd heard.And then it appeared.The second song on 'Paint the sky with stars',and I turned off the lights and went into another world.

Indeed the rest of the album shows enya's musical capability of taking the listener to a land of dreams.

Whether it's the strident,hypnotic wonderment of 'Orinoco Flow' or the wonderfully relaxing calm of 'watermark',this collection shows that enya's music,contrary to popular belief,is not all about being jiggly puff from pokemon and sending everybody to sleep with her voice.

The album,as I said,begins with 'Orinoco Flow'.I've grown to love this song so much it has become my favourite song of all time.I love it so much infact I have it tattood on my back in the same writing used in the album sleeve.Dedication or what?

The song begins with a dramatic beat,striking out while after a few seconds a wonderful piano trickles through it,then enya begins to sing.

A most distinctive voice that seems to be just another instrument in the song,it blends perfectly with the music.It is in the first verse where the irish songstress mentions 'letting the orinoco flow'.by the bridge it has completely incapsulated the listener with it's wondering sound and enya faintly singing 'da da'.Then the pinacle of the song arrives,it's chorus.Few pieces of music are as


recognisable as that of the chorus of this song,anywhere in the world you can sing it and people know it,though not the singer who sings it!

The song pretty much alternates on the same basis after that(chorus,verse,chorus etc).the lyrics are somewhat curious,obviously about somesort of round the world trip with enya stating several different locations across the globe,some made up such as the 'isles of ebony'.She even credits her record company owner rob dickens by saying he can steer the wheel of the ship!

'Orinoco Flow' is a fantastic song and a great way to begin the album.the mood then changes from travels of enwonderment to jumping of the ship at night to the sound of 'carribean blue',the second track on 'paint the sky with stars'.

It begins with a synth,then collapses into a mix of a wonderful flute like sounds to end with enya piping 'ah'.the song then begins properly.with it's writhing vocals,mystical sound and dark mood it's a truly beautiful and enchanting song.Enya then sings her bit,then the music again sends shivers down your spine with it's jumping loops.the structure of thes song is quite boring,unlike the dramatic musical differences heard in it's predocessor,with 'Carribean blue's' musical basis being more simple,yet still producing a most amazing sound.how it only managed to reach number 13 in the charts is beyond me...

I'ts follow up,'book of days',faired better at #10,yet it is nowhere near as good as the previous two tracks.It is typical enya,although slightly more dramatic.It starts with a piano,which carries on throughout the song,and it isn't until after the second chorus that the best part of the song arrives.It all slows down,with just enya's floaty voice being accompanied by wind chimes,before thumping triumphantly into the meaty piano and the rest.The song ends on a spanishy note with a flash of clastenett
es be
fore
finishing.

synths then begin,while a traveling,catchy melody leads you into 'anywhere is',enya's second biggest hit.It is slightly more commercial sounding than her other songs.yet it is still a stand out track,with it's unbelievably catchy sound that makes circuits around your brain for hours.it's lyrical content again is mysterious but has references to finding your way around a maze which is perfectly suited to the song's sudden switches of music.the highlight of this song is like 'book of days',a strident smash into the chorus from the dreamy ,floaty bridge.

'Only if' is another typical enya track with a catchy chorus of 'only if you want to...'worth a listen,making way for the less vocal 'the celts'with it jingly,traveling melody.
both these songs are quite upbeat and dramatic,so what better way to relax your ears than with 'china roses'?the seventh track on the album.

by far the most beautiful song on the album,although not the best,it has a truly heavenly feel.You can just imagine entering the pearly gates while walking on soft clouds with a rosy hue all around and feeling no pain or sadness.amazing.

it truly shows this during the last third of the song,where it is just enya singing 'i see the sun,i see the stars'.an amazing piece of music which lets you drift off to a better place.

if only it lasted longer,oh well then just listen to 'sheperd moons',the next track.it's a piano piece with hints of enya's vocals.it's pretty good but not that outstanding.yet it is soon forgotten about with 'ebudae'and it's beating drums and gaelic lyrics(enya's first language) chanting their way to the song's abrupt end.it's short,but sweet.

'storms in africa'as the name suggests has an african theme to it,with drums smashing to the sound of children singing 'na-na-na,na na&#
39;.


'w
atermark' is the only piano solo,and what a good one it is.it's the most relaxing song on the album with a certain story behind it which anyone can conjure up in their mind.

It's follow up is again very relaxing but quite bland and doesn't suit the title 'paint the sky with stars'as the song itself is titled.she should of called the album 'sail away!'

If you haven't fallen asleep from listening to these two tracks(as I did)you will hear the humming of 'marble walls'(which for anyone sleeping should be a wake up call since enya's voice pierces your ears with it's purity).It's a simple song,very nice,letting the listener listen to her vocals more.

'on my way home' goes back to the territory of 'book of days'and 'only if',unmistakable upbeat enya yet not anything exceptional.and then 'the memory of trees',another beautiful song with it's typical multi-vocal choir like voices.This effect is more evident on this song than most,but it is what distingiushes enya from most other singers since this 'multi-vocal' effect gives her an unmistakable identity which she uses almost eveywhere in her music when singing.

the album ends on a dark note with 'boudicea'.with it's moody humming and volatile music it suits the image of the icelandic battle axe perfectly.and of course the fact that it was sampled by the fugees in 'ready or not'has to be mentioned,for their number 1 hit wouldn't have got anywhere without 'boudicea' as the backing track.

Although enya is a wonderful artist I know her music very well and have to say she could have included other songs on the album as a'best of'collection.songs such as 'oriel window','evening falls','the longships' and 'lothlorien' which deserve more recognition as they are as superb as 'orinoco flo
w','carribean blue'&'ch
ina roses'.


also worth a look is the art work on the album sleeve,charactarised by brody neauschander's calligraphy.but of course,no one is going to buy a CD for it's art work,but for anyone wanting to get into enya there is no better place to start than with 'paint the sky with stars',giving one a scope of a highly underrated musical talent.

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