... Amarantine, Enya's first full-length album in five years and coincidentally was released just after a similarly eagerly awaited comeback form Kate Bush, an artist held in similar regard by many. Their last release, A Day Without Rain, spent two years on the Billboard charts and as such a new ... Read review
Amarantine - Enya
From the first blanket of choral voices awash in reverb, Amarantine is instantly ... more
recognizable as a product of Enya, the Irish chanteuse who has created a genre unto herself. Although it's been five years since her last CD, on Amarantine it's as if time...
Amarantine - Enya
From the first blanket of choral voices awash in reverb,Amarantineis instantly ... more
recognizable as a product of Enya, the Irish chanteuse who has created a genre unto herself. Although it's been five years since her last CD, onAmarantineit's as if time sto...
Amarantine - Enya
From the first blanket of choral voices awash in reverb,Amarantineis instantly ... more
recognizable as a product of Enya, the Irish chanteuse who has created a genre unto herself. Although it's been five years since her last CD, onAmarantineit's as if time sto...
Amarantine - Enya
From the first blanket of choral voices awash in reverb, Amarantine is instantly ... more
recognizable as a product of Enya, the Irish chanteuse who has created a genre unto herself. Although it's been five years since her last CD, on Amarantine it's as if time...
Amarantine - Enya
From the first blanket of choral voices awash in reverb, Amarantine is instantly ... more
recognizable as a product of Enya, the Irish chanteuse who has created a genre unto herself. The triumvirate of Enya, lyricist Roma Ryan and producer Nicky Ryan work the f...
Amarantine - Enya
From the first blanket of choral voices awash in reverb,Amarantineis instantly ... more
recognizable as a product of Enya, the Irish chanteuse who has created a genre unto herself. The triumvirate of Enya, lyricist Roma Ryan and producer Nicky Ryan work the for...
A review by steerpyke on Amarantine - Enya August 5th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Originality
Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics
Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks
A couple of weak links
Value for Money
Good
Advantages:
hauntingly beautiful music
Disadvantages:
none
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Enya, which the singer herself describes as a collective, rather than the vocalist herself, is that most rare of things, a musical act that is not only immensely original but also very successful. Sitting in second place only to U2 as Ireland most successful recording artists of all time, Enya have built an empire out of combining beautiful multi-layered vocals with keyboard washes of an almost classical nature. The nature of the music has not changed in any major way in the last twenty years since the singer jumped ship from her siblings in Clannad and went solo, but its enough to realise that when you are the best in the world at a certain style, particularly as its one that you have more or less created yourself, then why deviate from your chosen path. That's not to say there isn't any variation in her work, the combinations of classical choral vocalisation, pop melody and synthesised keyboard sounds provide a wide variety possibilities but by and large when you buy an Enya CD you pretty much know what you are going to get. But then you buy music for a whole range of reasons, some bands you want to push the boundaries and others are all about familiarity, and here we are definitely in the second camp. Amarantine, Enya's first full-length album in five years and coincidentally was released just after a similarly eagerly awaited comeback form Kate Bush, an artist held in similar regard by many. Their last release, A Day Without Rain, spent two years on the Billboard charts and as such a new collection of songs was awaited with baited breath. Finally the day has come and the five years without rain has come to an end.
As the first track "Less Than A Pearl" opens, you are grabbed by the voice, or should I say voices as multi-tracked banks of vocal feature highly in this work. Its hard not to use the word ethereal in conjunction with what you are hearing, part ecclesiastical, part otherworldly and not a million miles away from the New World Baroque combinations that Karl Jenkins has been dabbling with recently. The singer, Enya, has become synonymous with the band Enya and really what you hear is the woman herself, but it mustn't be forgotten that there is a backroom team of producer and lyricist that help create this magical sound. What you also realise is that the words themselves are not important her. I am a big fan of the voice being used to deliver a feeling, as an instrument would be used, words are not its main building blocks, emotions and feelings are. Those familiar with Enya will be aware that on many songs in the past Gaelic, Latin and Spanish have been used and even though they are not your first language, that detracts not one bit from the enjoyment. Taking that one step further Nicky and Roma Ryan have created a whole imaginary language that they call Loxian and "Less Than A Pearl" is the first of three songs to be sung in this way. Its almost as if they want to reinforce the idea of the vocals being as important for the way they are presented to the listener as to what they actually say.
The title track follows and with it comes my first minor gripe. As if to go from one extreme to the other, from the new age and almost surreal territory of the opening song, lyrically speaking, here the lyrics are decidedly lack lustre and almost soppy in their sentiment. Instead of the hauntingly beautiful and obscure mesh of vocals that most of the other tracks offer up here we revert to teenage poetry and sickly sweet sentiment. Musically the music does all that is required of it but considering the high standards this and previous albums have set and considering that this is the track that titles the album then I find this a bit lacking. Maybe I need to not think too much about the words, after all my opening statements say as much, but this is a bit distracting. Much better and of a similar nature is "Its In The Rain", cellos drive the song on amid the typical swirl of keyboards and backing vocals and whilst it's typical of a lot of Enya's work has that breathy and ghostly quality that the very name promises. There is a sparseness and folk sensibility that Enya has not produced since the singers days as part of Clannad..
"If I Could Be Where You Are", is a much cleaner song, the instrumental backing is at its barest and the vocals are a simple single high register affair showing that away from all of the multi track affects Enya proves that she is clearly a vocalist if no small talent. Less is defiantly more and here the stripping away of the clever studio tricks leaves us with one of the most glorious and emotive tracks of the album. "The River Sings" has a tribal rhythm built mainly from repetitive backing voices and simple drum beats and immediately evokes an Amazonian village in celebration. And again shouts of Karl Jenkins "Adiemus" work and explains why the doors into the classical music world have recently been opened to Enya's work. The contemporary classical element to the work is looming larger than it ever has and on the back of the singers work with Howard Shore for The Lord of The Rings film score this album is finding an appreciative audience amongst those who would not normally venture into such poppy new age territory.
If "Long Long Journey" feels like a filler of a track compared to the majesty that surrounds it, it should be remembered that this is the sort of album that will be played as background music, its music to wash off the stress of a hard day as you sprawl on the sofa, glass of shiraz in hand, dreaming of distant places and unrealised ambition. Oh, that's just me then, but you know what I'm getting at. Its not music to be analysed too closely, unless of course you are writing a review of it that is. "Sumiregusa" is interesting, not least because it is based on a haiku poem by Basho and translates as Wild Violet. Again it is the minimal approach that pays dividends, the clean vocal sound contrasts with the more distant layered backing. It is a complex tapestry of sounds with a rising and falling dynamic that makes the song unpredictable. The album seems to lose its way a bit at this point falling into very standard formats. "Somebody Said Goodbye" and " Moment Lost" whilst being lovely songs make you feel as if the artists are not trying too hard and have rehashed some old sounds and reworked them, but like I said at the outset, this is not an act that charges off into unbroken territory, so maybe better that than trying something new. The instrumental song "Drifting" reminds us that the singer is not just a fantastic voice but a more than competent piano player and multi instrumentalist and the song is a haunting nocturne, Chopin for the new age. Piano also features highly on "Amid The Falling Snow" and again we are treated to the sumptuous vocals that have become the trademark of an Enya album. We end as we began with the dulcet Loxian tones of "Water Shows The Hidden Heart" and as I haven't used the word ethereal in a while, it is exactly the word you need to hear at this point.
As I said, this is a journey that you are already half familiar with, you know what sort of music you are going to be faced with and by the time you come to the end, you will not be disappointed. Its shares many similarities with all of the preceding albums but has lost a lot of the overtly poppy tones of earlier work such as "Anywhere Is" and leans more in a contemporary classic cum new age category and if there isn't such a genre already existing then its time to make one. Whilst this album seems to have been created in a cloistered solitude uninfluenced by the world around it, it does however, have the confidence in itself to be able to pay homage to the artists past work, thus blending the new with the old, the unfamiliar with the already experienced. A gorgeous album that evokes far away places, past times and dreamscapes, did I mention the word ethereal?
Advantages: Absolutely beautiful music; emotional; powerful Disadvantages: I wish it was longer
Enya is an irish singer, best known for singing the theme tune for the premier film 'Gladiator'. She has an amazingly soft yet powerful voice that makes me feel sleepy when listening to her. This is a such a beautiful piece of music. The music in unconsciously consistent the enitre waythrough the song which makes you feel really relaxed and drowsy. The music sort of echo's and I liken it to raindrops. The beat is four beats, the inital beat is slightly ... ...da; da; da' 'DA; da; da; da'
The lyrics are heart warming and I said that this was a song I sing to my mum when she is feeling low following an argument with my step-dad. The song is all about the enternity of love, 'Amarantine' being roughly translated as 'Eternity'. A part from the chorous, every verse is the same consistent rhymthm and beat ,again, to make you feel relaxed. It's a two syllable beat each sentence, the stress on the last syllable. ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Soft, gentle ambient music, can listen to anywhere Disadvantages: Quite similar to every previous Enya album
---Introduction---
First off, I have to say that unlike most of Enya's other, previous, albums, I did not purchase this one myself and was in fact given it as a gift. After seeing it trailered extensively both in Australia and the UK, I decided not to buy it as I thought it would probably be too similar to Enya's previous work, most of which I already own. However, after I received it as a Christmas present and started listening to it I began to ... ...---Artist---
Enya is basically a combination of 3 people, Eithnne herself ("Enya" is an approximate pronounciation of this Gaelic name) and two others (Nick and Roma Ryan) who assist with vocals, writing and production. Eithnne is perhaps best known as a former member of Clannad along with her various siblings and since the 1980s has been a solo artist, making a name for herself writing and singing Celtic-influenced ambient music. Often, she sings ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...has improved with age and Amarantine represents something of a tour de force.
The tracks swing wildly from the soaring, majestic sound of the first song (Less than a pearl) to the more sedate, ethereal pleasantry of the eleventh (Amid the falling snow). Some of the tracks are encouraging, urging you to feel better about things and get on with life (Track 6 - Long, Long Journey) while others simply instill within you the firm belief that everything ... ...In fact, the music drags you through such a range of emotions and themes that, by the time the CD ends, you have utterly forgotten who you are, what you were doing, where you were going and why. The wonderful thing about it is, that you don't really care any more.
It is hard to say when you should listen to Enya; she lacks the upbeat tempo of 'getting ready' music, is not suicidal enough for 'just split-up' music and doesn't swear enough for 'I'm ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
I admire Enya. She never tours, does very little Tv work etc yet she sells albums in their millions. As much as I am a fan, I was slightly disappointed with this album. Metronome seemed to be stuck at andante and lento.
Please let the next album be a bit more upbeat and let's move away from well trodden path of songs about wind, rain, the sea, the moon etc.
Sorry to all enya fans but my copy of this cd is lying gathering dust. Gone back to S/Moons.
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: classic dark rock music Disadvantages: -
...drops back from whence it came. Candia's vocals never sounded more wonderful (I would have used the word Ethereal but I used up all of this months quota on my review of Enya's Amarantine album) and the keyboard breaks never more otherworldly and this song more than any other featured here clearly show the bands understanding of musical dynamic A different twist begins "Catherine" as a brooding, booming bassline is given centre stage with a single guitar filling the background space, subdued lyrics and simple drumming falling behind it, but its not until the repetitive chorus that the song begins to come alive. It remains very sombre, even when the pace has been picked up and the alternate use of mass male vocal and single female voice makes for an interesting contrast. It is an effective but simple idea; a song that works but doesn't need to...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Album Notes: The multi-million selling queen of Celtic new age ends the five-year hiatus since 2000's 'A Day Without Rain' with this, her sixth studio album. Feverishly anticipated by her devoted fanbase, it does little to mess with her tried and tested formula of haunting, multi-overdubbed vocals and trancelike, Celtic-influenced synthesizer melodies, except that on this album she sings in more languages than before. Produced by her long-term collaborator Nicky Ryan, it includes the title-track single.
![Amarantine [CD 1] - Enya](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78196922.jpg)
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
12.08.2006
