The Good: Nice sound, Good music, Generally wholesome
The Bad: Very repetitive in sound, Simple lyrics
The Basics: With her unique sound, Enya dazzles instantly, but upon multiple listening experiences, Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best Of Enya begins to drag.
When I was in college, I worked at a mall and I recall seeing the promotional poster for Enya's album The Memory Of Trees, which I somehow always transposed as In Memory Of Trees. The art had a photograph of Enya sitting on a stump in a field of stumps. I remember seeing it and thinking the image was quite striking, brilliant even. I didn't buy the album, though. In fact, my exposure to Enya had been fairly limited until I heard Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best Of Enya.
For those looking to hear Enya's recognizable 9/11-remastered track (her titles are seldom what one might expect), you'll have to look elsewhere; Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best Of Enya was released in 1997. With 16 tracks, this album is representative of the works of Enya, a harpist and singer who makes pop music with a unique sound that pretty much rules in Classical and adult contemporary circles. "Orinoco Flow" and "Anywhere Is" managed to chart well on the pop charts, but after that, the album is largely packed with unknown tracks to those who are into mainstream Top 40 music. Though, for some reason, I am convinced I heard "Only If" in an acapella version in my past. Go figure.
The strength of Enya, clearly evident on Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best Of Enya is her unique sound. Enya has a new age, harp playing sound that competently mixes a classical instrument with a fairly standard pop-rock arrangement. In short, Enya is a logical candidate for crossover appeal as she is playing music others have proven for decades (i.e. pop-rock), but making it her own by using the instrument she is most familiar with, the harp.
Enya's voice is the secondary instrument and she has an amazing pitch that is the definition, on many of her tracks, of feminine. The title track, for example, sounds absolutely beautiful. Enya has an amazing voice. She is high and soft, alto and forceful, with the ability to sing sad and sweet or articulate verbal riddles. I was rather surprised to find that even the best of Enya was merely the presentation of Enya; the lyrics on the album are written by Roma Ryan, not Enya (unless they are the same person and I do not know that). This surprised me some by how soulfully Enya presents some of the lines, it seemed like they came from her heart or at least her. I supposed this reinforces the idea of singers being akin to acting. The exception to Ryan's writing is a traditional piece called "Marble Halls." Regardless, Enya is responsible for the music, but not the lyrics on Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best Of Enya.
The problem with this, then, actually takes some pressure off Enya. Enya's music is fairly pop, with a softer classical edge to it given the use of the harp as opposed to, say, the electric guitar or bass. The sound gets repetitive, more than distinct, over the course of the album. Sure, she goes fast on "Orinoco Flow" and "Anywhere Is," and slow on "Shepherd Moons" and “Paint The Sky With Stars,” but the overwhelming sound of the album is . . . slow. The harp is not the most diverse instrument for playing pop music. Or even classical. It can be plucked (great for up-tempo works), it can be strummed (great for slow works) or . . . well, that's about it; I've not heard of any artist using a bow on the harp.
My point is that the harp has a beautiful sound, but it does not lend itself well to creating a sound that is diverse and anything other than repetitive over the course of a decent-length album. Or a career. As a result, Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best Of Enya (the album) becomes somewhat narcoleptic to listen to over and over again, especially the slower tracks. This is a weakness for Enya.
The other weakness in the album is something of a miracle I've finally been able to recognize. I'm listening to Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best Of Enya on a decent sound system, unlike anything I ever had in high school. As a result, I can actually decipher the lyrics Enya is singing. I finally understand all the lyrics to "Anywhere Is," when before all I could catch was "begin a new beginning" near the middle of the song.
One of the problems here is that lines like "begin a new beginning" are indicative of much of Enya's music. There's a singsong quality to many of the songs that is rather simplistic and disturbing to listen to over and over again. One might be able to hear Grover squaking out the lyrics for all their complexity. "Orinoco Flow," easy to understand, has a droning singsong refrain of "sail away sail away sail away." Lyrically, the music of Enya is not terribly complicated or sophisticated, at least not on this album.
The lyrics, which are intriguing when one has to work to decipher to hear them become repetitive upon multiple listens. I heard Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best Of Enya three times in a row and during my second listen, I felt like I was not enjoying the disc as much as I felt I ought to. I attribute that to the lyrics. While some discs grow on the listener, this disc has the opposite effect. It is tiring and further listens tend to grate with the repetitive sound and the quality of the lyrics.
Who will enjoy Paint The Sky With Stars? As always, fans of the artist, in this case the adept composer Enya. But those looking for something enduring or truly different will likely end up disappointed. At least it's less disappointing than being surrounded by stumps.
The best track is "Only If," the weakest link is "Watermark."
For works by other, similar, artists, be sure to check out my reviews of:
21 - Adele
Jackie’s Strength (single) – Tori Amos
Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple
7/10
For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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