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Post by Moe on Jun 10, 2008 14:32:19 GMT -5
I'd say that TMOT stands out, for me at least, because of the overall strength of the "package" - that is, each track seems to add to a greater whole. The tracks being, of course: 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 Soñadora 11 On My Way Home The CD begins with the magic of the title track, a kind of "lead in" to the whole album. Then comes Anywhere Is, which takes the listener into a fantasy world where time seems to fold in upon itself; it's just a fun, whimsical song. Tracks 3 and 4 belong togather - a change from the lightness of Anywhere Is to the serious and powerful questions of human existence. I love the way the Latin track just merges into the Gaelic track. From Where I Am provides a welcome, meditative break, and then the wonderful waltz that is China Roses - one of my all-time favs. I suspect it's a favourite of others as well, with what I think are some of Roma's very best lyrics. Then Hope Has A Place builds on the mood of CR. Tea-House Moon is another "break" - a time to pause, but also bringing an oriental flavour to the album, something that Enya clearly likes, given her fondness for Japan. OYHG, well, I'm biased here: for personal reasons this song has a great impact on me, and anchors the final tracks. And it's a fine Enya vocal. Track 10, with its enigmatic Spanish lyrics, seems sombre, but the final track, OMWH, ends the album on an optimistic note, also a note of nostalgia for days gone by. The allusion to Orinoco Flow towards the end almost seems to signal an end to an Enya trilogy: Watermark, SM and TMOT (with ADWR marking the start of a new "trilogy" maybe). Just my thoughts - pick away at them all you like
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Post by skyscape on Jun 11, 2008 6:45:10 GMT -5
Very, very interesting point about the 'trilogy' of albums!
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Post by riene on Jun 11, 2008 8:31:07 GMT -5
Hmmm. I've always put them in this mental order:
Celts--Introductory album, unrelated to others due to its relationship with the show.
Watermark, Shepherd Moons--Gaelic, darker, traditional "Celtic Fairy" covers and videos, slower songs
TMoT, ADWR--artistic/themed covers, fun videos, lighter/popular music. These are the two I play most often.
Amarantine--begins a new set
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Post by Moe on Jun 11, 2008 9:58:00 GMT -5
Agreed - the Celts is a sound track album, written for what the BBC wanted.
I see your point, but I find a difference between TMOT and ADWR, with the latter being much more "pop-y" than the former.
But you offer a interesting breakdown, and I shall have to listen to each pair again. Shortly................... ;D
(PS: I have to admit I do have a tendency to see things in threes, and love the trilogy format in my own writings....)
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Post by Treecat on Jun 11, 2008 10:05:39 GMT -5
I think of ENYA/The Celts as the experimental phase of Project Enya.
WM, SM & TMOT make up a trilogy: experimentation, confidence, growth and development of themes and recording techniques and expertise. The sound is refined and made more sophisticated. The TMOT, they find themselves for the first time able to start and finish a recording in one place. The studio is brand new and full of wonderful gadgets. TMOT is Enya and Nicky going all out in this brand new studio--trying every piece of equipment and instrument they've finally been able to bring together. It's the culmination of what they started with WM.
ADWR and Amarantine are, to me, the start and middle of the second trilogy. This is why I want to see a new studio album. The contemporary/pop sound started with ADWR, matured with Amarantine. What can one expect next?
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Post by oregonwinebaby on Jun 11, 2008 11:37:41 GMT -5
I will admit that I don't give this CD as much playtime as the others. I don't really have a reason why. I really like most of the album. TMOT feels like the album inbetween for me. It has a little of the WM SM sound, and a little something new from her at that time which ended up being the beginning of the new sound which ADWR and Amarantine contained. At least, that's my take on the album. My favorite track has to be Anywhere Is. I am always a sucker for the more upbeat songs.
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Post by skyscape on Jun 11, 2008 15:02:48 GMT -5
I have often heard TMOT mooted as the most popular Enya album and I can see why. However, for me, it came at a dark period in my life and I have since associated this beautiful and subtle album with that time, which tarnishes its greatness for me.
SM and ADWR came out during happier periods in my life and I favour these albums.
What I do hear in TMOT is a little nod to the East; the little Japanese-style melody of 'Tea-House Moon', and the faintly Arabic or Moorish 'La Sonadóra'. It's not overt but suggested.
When I first heard 'Anywhere Is' I saw images of Lewis Caroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' and the nursery rhyme march seemed like a departure for Enya launching new motifs that we would see repeated up until the present day, namely the toy-soldier snare dum and the sawing cello accompaniments.
'China Roses' always struck me as a pastiche of 'Caribbean Blue', a gentle, flower-filled waltz full of colour and striking nature images. This theme has been developed further with the bubbly 'Flora's Secret'. One often wonders whether the Trio revisit some themes to take a view from a number of angles.
'Hope Has a Place' marked the beginning of the love-songs albeit folkier than the songs that were to follow. It was almost a surprise to hear Enya talk of hearts and love and all the human emotions in between.
The reason this album seems so coherent and as Kerry puts it 'a complete package' is because it successfully launches a new side to Enya whilst retaining familiar motifs embedded in the listener's ear from WM and SM: there are echoes of 'Cursum Perficio' in 'Pax Deorum', of 'Caribbean Blue' in 'China Roses', 'No Holly for Miss Quinn' in 'From Where I Am' and most notably the reference to 'Orinoco Flow' in 'On My Way Home'.....
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Post by riene on Jun 11, 2008 15:19:46 GMT -5
However, for me, it came at a dark period in my life and I have since associated this beautiful and subtle album with that time, which tarnishes its greatness for me. I know what you mean--I can't listen to Jim Croce without the same reaction.The lyrics are Spanish--the song means "The Dreamer." I've never really liked this song, and can't tell what influences are in it--it's just too slow for me.
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Post by skyscape on Jun 11, 2008 15:36:02 GMT -5
However, for me, it came at a dark period in my life and I have since associated this beautiful and subtle album with that time, which tarnishes its greatness for me. I know what you mean--I can't listen to Jim Croce without the same reaction.The lyrics are Spanish--the song means "The Dreamer." I've never really liked this song, and can't tell what influences are in it--it's just too slow for me.Yes, the song is an exploration of the Spanish-Irish connection in history. But rather than having any Spanish sound the songs sounds like something that would fit neatly into Loreena McKennit's repertoire. I definitely think there is something of the Alhambra in this song. All at once it is both Spanish and Arabian...
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Post by Moe on Jun 30, 2008 19:37:25 GMT -5
I find La Sonadora the weakest of the tracks, although I can well imagine Loreena doing it at the Alhambra. I like to hear Roma talk about this song and what it means. Does anyone know of any comments made by Roma about this one?
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Post by skyscape on Jul 1, 2008 8:18:17 GMT -5
Isn't it an adaptation from the words of the historical/mythological figure Mil when he landed on Ireland's shores? I'll try and source the text.
From "The Myth of the Black Irish" (darkfiber.com)
The former question -- the 'how' of myth -- is best described as the historical background surrounding the mythic characters which, in this instance, are the sailors of Spain and the women of Eire. These characters could (and will) be refined further, but Ireland's own mythic history speaks of just such a meeting. Gaelic legend, recorded and revised in the Lebor Gabala Erenn or Book of the Invasions of Ireland (whose earliest source is dated in the eighth century ce)(6), writes of a series of five invasions, the last, the greatest, and the most recent of which is responsible for the current population of Ireland. This was the sea invasion of the Sons of Mil Espane (aka the Milesians) who "after many wanderings in Scythia and Egypt eventually reached Spain,"(7) and subsequently conquered Ireland. Variations of the eponym's name exist, such as "Mile" and "Milesius" (the Latin form), but all agree that the source of medieval Irish kingship descended from Spain. The theory that the IXth "Spanish" Legion of the Roman Empire (which served in Scotland and disappeared from historical mention in the first century ce) is the "sole ground of the story of the colonisation of Ireland from Spain by Milesius" (8) also supports the conclusions of the Book of Invasions. The natives of Eire whom the Sons of Mil defeated were the Tuatha De Danann, 'the Peoples of the Goddess Danann,' Danann who is "Mother of the gods."(9) Although the "Peoples" of the goddess Danann referred to are always male, more paramount is the fact that the men are defined by a Woman (the goddess Danann) and that the island of Eire itself has been and always is referred to in the feminine form as "she" and "her" [people].(10) The primordial intentional Spanish invasion is uncannily similar to the modern accidental Spanish landing of 1588:
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Post by themoonsshepherd on Aug 2, 2008 18:54:25 GMT -5
Interesting way of looking at it. I agree with you on "On My Way Home", as I too feel it contains nostalgic echoes back to her older work, and seems to signal the end of a cycle, as The Memory of Trees and A Day Without Rain, while both obviously and uniquely Enya in their own rights, seem to have been taken from different fibers of the same origin.
I should note that "Pax Deorum", literally "peace of the gods", is my favorite from this album, and acts like a dark portrait that paints a tragic story, as whenever I listen to it, I get images in my mind that I only ever associate with this song.
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