Enya creates another magical world for just you.

Enya's music has always been uniquely Enya, not just Celtic or Classical or New Age, but just simply Enya. Though some consider her to be repititve or predictable, to me, she is just simply revisting old themes, a practice very notable in the Brennan family, as Clannad and Moya Brennan have also frequently revisted themes and sounds in their music. Roma Ryan's lyrics are very imaginative and invoke the power of creativty. There is a strong Celtic quality with songs like "Less than a Pearl", "The River Sings", and "Long Long Journey". "Long Long Journey" creates the image of the Irish imigrating to America with it's hymnal/folk song quality. There's even a Celtic ballad quality with "If I could be where you are" and "A Moment Lost". Songs like "It's In the Rain" and "Someone Said Goodbye" even have a bit of a pop quality. Roma's lyrics once again ask life questions like in "Amarantine". The beauty of "Amarantine" really floats in the air witht he innocence of Enya's voice and the smoothness of the strings. Roma's words tell great stories and use symbolism, creating what the listener can emotionally relate to. "Sumiregusa" is a world of enchantment on its own, creating a beautiful image of nature through the Japanese prose. Perhaps the most amazing song of all is "Water Shows the Hidden Heart" when it comes down to Enya's vocal variety, style, melody and harmony, and the power of the story in the lyrics. Once again, her multi-vocal methods create beautiful choral sounds. The sci-fi story behind Roma's Loxian lyrics certainly transports the listener into one's own magical world. "Drifting" provides a nice peaceful interlude. My only criticism would be that I think the album doesn't have the same high quality as her albums from pre-Paint the Sky with Stars, which I also felt with A Day Without Rain, but nonetheless, a lot of the same power remains. Just as with her previous albums, the songs on Amarantine sound like music that you've heard before on a dream, another power that I am convinced runs in the great Brennan family. Amarantine is still a five-star-ranking quality album, which I am convinced Enya will always be.

Oh well...

I've been been an Enya fan since I bought her self-titled debut back in junior high school (later re-released as "The Celts"). I own every major album that's come out, her greatest hits album (Paint the Sky With Stars), and even several foreign imports. So, naturally, I bought Amarantine right after it came out.

Don't Over Analyze just ENJOY!

I am not a music purist nor do I try to over-analyze every aspect of every piece of music in my collection. What I can boil it down to is "Do I enjoy this CD?", "Does It Make Me Feel Good?" "Would I recommend this to a friend?". It may seem simple, but I spend less time complaining about a particular CD's faults and more time listening to its strengths.