Enya - A Day Without Rain - Album Review

Release Date: November 21, 2000

Warner Elektra Atlantic Corp.

Genre: New Age Pop

Enya definitely has a very different yet beautiful style that I have found I enjoy especially on rainy days. There are some songs that are beautiful and uplifting, some that make you feel grounded and close to the earth and some that almost make you want to cry. Although sometimes I find it difficult to understand all the lyrics, her music does speak to a certain part of my soul that still dreams of flying among the birds, getting to touch a soft white cloud or walk through a mystical forest.

1. A Day Without Rain
This beautiful instrumental opening is really a lovely way to start an album I found this song to be like taking long deep breaths in and out and it just makes me feel so peaceful and relaxed. With no lyrics it is hard to know what Enya might be trying to convey with this song but just going by how it makes me feel I would say this song is just peace, tranquility, calm, and a little bit of magic.

2. Wild Child
I really feel like this song is about living in the moment, being grateful for the day and all you have, time is passing, and you can't do anything about the past or future in this moment so you should enjoy it - what a day to be alive!

3. Only Time
This is one of Enya's more well-known songs that she released, and one of my favourites. However, I feel like this song has a deeper meaning than what I have ever been able to comprehend. What I get from it is that time is always passing, I think the song is about love and loss and I think it is really beautiful.

4. Tempus Vernum
In all honesty, this song use to scare me as a child. It reminded me of Lord Frolo's solo song from the Hunchback of Notredame (Disney version). It is just so dark sounding and it's all in what sounds like Latin (not that I really know what Latin sounds like). Not one of my favourites. Thank goodness that on the CD it has a great transition into the next song which is much nicer.

5. Deora Ar Mo Chroi
Again this song is in a different language but nonetheless it is so beautiful and harmonic, to me this sounds what I would imagine singing in heaven sounds like, peaceful and uplifting.

6. Flora's Secret
Although this song is in English, I still have no idea what she is talking about - I feel like I am listening to poetry that is using imagery that I need the aid of my 12th grade English teacher to comprehend. That being said, I still find the words beautiful and the music speaks to a part of me that seems to understand better than my silly brain.

7. Fallen Embers
I remember being home alone and singing this (being one of the songs I could mostly understand the lyrics) and being all dramatic looking out the window. It is just so tragically beautiful - a woman singing to someone she loves but isn't with anymore for some reason.

8. Silver Inches
It's funny to me that it's called 'inches' because the beginning sounds to me like a ballerina tip toeing quickly inch by inch. This sounds uplifting and fun...and I could also imagine one of those old-fashion ball scenes with the people doing the gentle hand-touch dance to this song.

9. Pilgrim
To me, this song is about self discovery; learning who we are through the choices we make.

10. One by One
This is kind of a fun-ish story about people who thought they wanted to be on their own but realised in the end that they were really meant to be together. Don't say goodbye to someone you love.

11. Lazy Days
I used to lay on the carpeted floor of my living room or outside in the grass while I listened to this song and imagine being in a field of sunflowers, with the wind blowing through my hair and the sun shining on my face, warming me.

Clearly this whole album holds a lot of memories for me and it is one of my favourite throwback albums when I want to revisit my child hood. So I may be slightly bias, but here is my review:

Emotion: I am going to give A Day Without Rain a 3/5 because it mostly makes me feel calm and uplifted, but nothing much more than that.

BMR: There's never much of a beat or what I would call rhythm, but it is very melodious and flows like water, which is the type of music that it is, so I will give 4/5.

Enjoyable?: Absolutely, there have been many afternoons for me spent just listening to this album and I think that because its so different and ethereal, it definitely takes me away to a different place that doesn't call for any other entertainment. 5/5

Creativity Another 5/5 because I have listened to many different kinds of music and I have never heard another that sounds quite like Enya.

Message: 3/5 I believe a lot of what she was trying to say had to do with the passage of time - but I wasn't really sure most of the time, and it made it more difficult with some of her songs being in different languages.

Total: 20/25

All in all I do love this album, I recommend it to anyone who wants something beautiful, calming, and easy to listen to with your morning hot beverage of choice. If you guys didn't notice before, you can click on the titles of each song to listen to it on youtube - let me know what you think!

Have a great day!
~Oriona














Sources and Picture Credits:

www.amazon.com/A-Day-Without-Rain-Enya/dp/B000050XEI

www.allmusic.com/album/a-day-without-rain-mw0000105750/releases

Within Temptation - The Heart of Everything - Album Review

So I have revised my simple 'song review' to a whole album review. Getting this blog started as well as everything else going on this week has somewhat set me back from the schedule I want to maintain once I have everything up and running. I think this week I am starting with a Dark, Powerful, Female theme although I don't know why. I do however want the book, album, and movie I review each week to fit into a similar category. For future reference, I want it to be Sunday Book, Monday Movie, and Tuesday Tunes - all reviews and discussion and then a follow up video discussion all three in even more detail which I am hoping to post on Fridays or Saturdays. This week I have decided to review and discuss the album The Heart of Everything by Within Temptation.

Release Date: March 12, 2007

GUN Records

Genre: Gothic/ Alternative/ Symphonic Metal

The lead singer, Sharon, has a beautiful, feminine, and strong voice that is also haunting and really captures your attention within seconds of hitting play. Each piece evokes a lot of emotion, from the amazing rise and fall of the guitar and drums and the dramatic lulls in music that are brought back up so intensely - it really is art to my ears.

1. "The Howling"  
There are so many interpretations I can think of when I hear the lyrics, but the main thing I hear is that there is a battle being fought. That can be interpreted as a physical battle between two sides or an internal battle between two sides of a person. I have this visual of someone suffering from his or her own hubris and through the mistakes they have made they are dragging other people into the struggle and through it all he or she just wants it to end.

2. "What Have You Done" (featuring Mina Caputo)
This is definitely a song about two people who love each other but circumstances beyond their control are causing them to do things that pull them apart. Despite everything, there is a kind of hope that maybe they can get through it together.

3. "Frozen"
So this song is about someone who had to give up someone they loved or do something that hurt both of them but was ultimately better for the person they are singing about. At least that is the hope or whatever it was, the pain it caused would have been pointless. I think the "frozen" part is because the person singing had to be cold to the other in order to 'sacrifice' to save the other person.

4. "Our Solemn Hour"
This song right off sounds a lot (to me) of that song that Lord Frolo sang in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. The chanting of "Sanctus Espiritus" throughout the whole song and basically asking for deliverance - to me it sounds like a prayer to God asking for guidance for humanity to show us a better way and lead us out of the dark place where we have put ourselves (supposedly).

5. "The Heart of Everything"
To me, this song is about freeing ourselves from the oppression from what society thinks we 'should' be and holding on to who we are. I think there is also a darker side to the song where someone who feels that they can't be who they are decides to just let it go. The most important thing is making sure you always hang on to who you are because without that you are lost.


6. "Hand of Sorrow"
This song reminds me of those Bard songs from Skyrim - it definitely tells the story of a man who is, as the lyrics say, "torn between his honor and the true love of his life" - now that could mean anything, but in my imagination he has to choose between the woman he loves and the oath he took to serve his king - and if I want to elaborate, maybe he isn't allowed to have a wife, or maybe has been ordered to kill her - intrigue. Anyway, in the end I think he decides to obey his "honor" but he still watches over his true love in secret.

7. "The Cross"
Okay, I really think that if this isn't a song comparing a relationship to Jesus, it is a song about Jesus talking to any person who hasn't converted to that faith. I mean, the chorus says, "Why have you waited to embrace me my dear/Cold is your silence, denying what is real/I'm still wondering why I'm still calling your name/and I wonder, oh I wonder ...    /In my heart I still hope you will open the door/You can purify it all, answer my call" - Christians say that 'giving your heart to Jesus and taking him as your saviour will cleanse your sins.' I think that is kind of what I feel it is about. And the song is called 'The Cross' - come on.

8. "Final Destination"
I really feel like this song is inspired by the movie of the same title. If I remember, it is about the main character finding out that Death is coming for him and he or she keeps trying to escape it, but you can't escape fate or death. Eventually they will both find you.

9. "All I Need"
Simply put, I think this song is about falling in love. Someone who has trust issues finally finds someone they want to open themselves up to and all they can say is 'don't tear me down for all I need'  Don't hurt me because I need you to love me like you say you do, and I am trusting you.

10. "The Truth Beneath the Rose"
Oh now this one is interesting, I never realized before reviewing this album more in depth but Within Temptation seems to make a lot of religious references in their music. Here I believe they are referencing the Knights Templar and anyone who has read the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown (or seen the movie) should know the reference to the Rose Line - which at the end of the book lead to the final resting place of the Holy Grail. The lyrics are pretty deep but I believe it is about seperating what is actually holy and what is just a greedy conquest of men for power.

11. "Forgiven"
It sounds a lot like someone singing to a loved one who has passed away. Such a beautiful, but sad melody - kind of reminds me of My Immortal by Evanescence. My advice is to not listen to this if you are already sad - this will make it worse.


Review:

The above song interpretations are just what I think they are about, I didn't do any research to see what the band said or what other people thought, I just listened to the lyrics and this is what I came up with. I think music is like any kind of art that has different meanings for different people.

Overall I give this album 8.5/10 Stars. I think they have a really good command of the genre and that their music is really what I need it to be while I am in the mood for it - edgy but almost with a spiritual element to it - maybe that's not the right word, but it is different. I like the different. Plus I have this part of me that really would like to have a great rock star moment on stage one day. I mean, all out with the awesome outfit, lights, smoke, the crowd going insane and me belting out a super bad ass song - These songs could make that happen. Sadly, as much as I enjoy heavy metal, I don't think I could pull off the vocals found in more mainstream Heavy Metal or Rock.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it and if you want to check out the band a little more, here is their website:
http://www.within-temptation.com/

Got any suggestions for Artists/Albums I should review in the future? Let me know!

~Oriona

PS

As I try to catch up and get on track, there wont be any posts this week, although I will try to upload the follow up video to go with this and my previous two posts. Next time I am looking to go into a completely new direction of genre so stay tuned!


Picture Credits:

http://wallpaper.metalship.org/en/wallpaper/The_Heart_of_Everything-34.html

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/within-temptation/images/15412488/title/wt-wallpaper