Published on Jan 8, 1998
Enya’s singles are very misleading. Only one or two singles are
released because on the rest of the album, her voice rarely
appears. When it does it’s simply another background texture. Enya
uses her voice as an instrument; that is her critically acclaimed
style. Her music isn’t in the head but in the heart. This greatest
hits album is not an introduction to Enya. It’s a collection of
misleading songs.
Though lately, this particular instrument has been getting more
than its fair share. “Orinoco Flow” was extremely conspicuous in
Watermark for its excessive words but it feels right at home
here. Single-released “Marble Halls,””Anywhere Is” and “Only If”
depend heavily on their lyrics. “Paint the Sky With Stars” is so
blatantly lyric-based I fear her record company’s power is
interferring with her work. How can a song with no distinct lyrics
get to the top ten? It’s that trick of maintaining balance between
originality and marketability.
Not that they aren’t good songs. “Book of Days” has the grand
honor of achieving “AlwaysJB’s Favorite Song Ever.” The theme of
travelling in a determined quest for enlightment can’t be lost on
many people; sort of a wider-reaching “Is There Life Out There” by
Reba McEntire. “China Roses” is as antique and nostalgic as ever,
capturing a memory through rose-colored glass.
“On My Way Home” actually samples from “Orinoco Flow” but its
chorus is too conspicuous and tries too much to be another “Book Of
Days”. “Marble Halls” shows off the intimacy of her vocal technique
but its music box quality is too fluffed up to measure up to the
rest of the album. “Ebudae” and “Boadicea” (the latter being an
ominous way of ending the album) both ring of fillers, also weigh
heavily on lyrics.
Some “instrumentals” managed to get into the mix.
Watermark‘s contemplative piano phrasing carries over from
the voice-meshed “Storms in Africa” which, to be honest, sounds
better (they’re the other way ’round in the original album).
The Celts and
Shepherd Moons were disappointing (I expected something more
grand) but they lend variety into the overall mix.
All in all, it’s not a bad album. But it doesn’t capture the
personality of Enya’s work. Each album has its own cohesion and
theme; she wouldn’t sound quite the way she sounds on a greatest
hits as she would on an album. By all means get it, but don’t make
any presumptions about the original works.