Enya (album)

Enya
Soundtrack album by Enya
Released	March 1987 November 1992 (Reissue)
Recorded	1986
Studio	Aigle Studios (Artane, Dublin, Ireland) BBC Enterprises Studio Woodlands (Wood Lane, London, England)
Genre	New age Celtic
Length	39:06 41:04 (1992)
Label	BBC Atlantic Warner Music (1992)
Producer	Nicky Ryan
Enya chronology
Enya (1987) Watermark (1988)
Singles from Enya
"I Want Tomorrow" Released: 1987
Enya chronology
Shepherd Moons (1991) The Celts (1992) The Memory of Trees (1995)
The Celts cover
Cover for the 1992 reissue of the album, titled The Celts
Singles from The Celts
"The Celts" Released: 1992

Enya is the debut studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released in March 1987 by BBC Records in the United Kingdom and by Atlantic Records in the United States. It was renamed as The Celts for the 1992 international re-release of the album by Warner Music. The album is a selection of music she recorded for the soundtrack to the BBC television series The Celts, aired in 1987. Four years into her largely unnoticed solo career, Enya landed her first major project in 1985 when producer Tony McAuley asked her to contribute a song to the soundtrack. After its director David Richardson liked her demo, Enya accepted his offer to compose the entire score. with her long time recording partners, producer and arranger Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan.

Enya received mostly mixed reviews from critics when it was released in 1987. It was a mild commercial success, peaking at number eight in Ireland and number sixty-nine on the UK Albums Chart. The album continued to sell; it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies. Despite its commercial performance, the album helped Enya secure a recording contract with Warner after chairman Rob Dickins became a fan of its music. After the commercial success of Enya's next two albums, the album was reissued as The Celts which outperformed its original sales. It reached a new peak of number ten on the UK Albums Chart and sold a further one million copies in the United States.

Background and production

Following her work on the soundtrack to the romantic comedy film The Frog Prince (1984), Enya's first major project as a solo artist followed when, in 1985, she was invited by producer Tony McAuley to compose a track for his BBC television documentary series The Celts. As a coincidence, Enya had recorded a track named "March of the Celts" before she was asked to be involved, and decided to submit it to the project. Initially, each episode of the series was to feature a different composer, but series director David Richardson liked Enya's track so much, he commissioned her to compose the entire score.^[1][2][3] Enya worked with her long time recording partners, arranger and producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. The album was recorded in two locations; at Aigle Studios, a studio installed in the Ryan's home, then located in Artane, a northern suburb of Dublin, Ireland, and the sound studio at the former site of BBC Enterprises at Wood Lane, London.

A total of 72 minutes of music was recorded for the series. Roma recalled that Enya was given "various pastiches" that Richardson wished to incorporate into the episodes which Enya then used as a guide for to write music to complement them.^[3] Enya includes a portion of the music composed for the series.

Music and lyrics

Several of the album's track titles are titled or based on various historical figures and stories. In writing about the song in 2002, Roma pointed out that "Aldebaran" is named after the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus. In the Arabic language, the title translates to "the follower" as it follows the Pleiades cluster of stars, and the song is based on future Celtic people "passing Aldebaran on their journey to new territories, continuing their migratory pattern which was so predominant in their early history."^[3] "The Celts" was used as the main title theme for the television series.^[3] "Boadicea", which means "victorious", is a reference to the queen Boudica of the British-Celtic Iceni tribe in East Anglia who led a resistance against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire in 60 A.D., but was defeated and subsequently poisoned herself.^[3] As a song about her was already written, Richardson wished for a new track that depicted the idea of "being spellbound" by Boudica, which turned into "I Want Tomorrow".^[3] In the liner notes of the album's 1992 reissue, "I Want Tomorrow" is described, simply, as "thoughts of the present" and "March of the Celts" "echoes from the past".^[4] "Deireadh an Tuath", which translates from Irish as "End of the Tribe", refers to past spirits and the fertile soil that helps ensure the future of the Celtic people, which is celebrated in the annual Gaelic festival Samhain, held on 31 October.^[4] "The Sun in the Stream" was inspired by the legend of the Salmon of Knowledge, a creature written about in various texts in Irish mythology who "possessed all the truth in the world".^[3] "Fairytale" is a track based on a story of early Irish literature about "about love, jealousy, secrets and endurance" between Midir, a fairy king, and his love for a princess, Étaín. In the story, Etain is banished and transformed into a pool of water and emerges from it as a butterfly.^[4] "Epona" is the name of the horse goddess Epona of the Gallo-Roman religion.^[4] "Triad" is a track formed of three sections; "St. Patrick" is a traditional song that refers to St. Patrick who spent six years in captivity after he was captured by the Celtic people. The second part, "Cú Chulainn", Irish for "hound of Cullan", is named after the culture hero Cú Chulainn. "Oisin", the final section, meaning "little fawn", is based on the mythological character Oisín.^[4] "Bard Dance" refers to the bard, a man of ancient Celtic times who entertained the king.^[4] "Dan y Dŵr", which translates to "Under the Water" in the Welsh language, is based on the intentional flooding of the village of Capel Celyn in Wales in order to accommodate a reservoir.^[4]

The album's front cover depicts Enya posing with stuffed wolves.^[5]

Release

Enya was first released in the UK in May 1987 through BBC Records, and later issued in North America by Atlantic Records. It reached No. 69 in the UK Albums Chart in June 1987.^[6] In 1992, Warner Music reissued a remastered version of the album as The Celts.

Filmmaker David Bickley reused music from the soundtrack in The Memory of Earth,^[7] an instalment in his documentary trilogy Mythological Lands. "Boadicea" was also used in the soundtrack of the 1992 American film Sleepwalkers. "Epona" appears in the 1991 Steve Martin romantic comedy L.A. Story.

A previously unreleased track from the sessions, "Eclipse", was released as a B-side on the 1992 single release of "The Celts". Another unreleased track, "Spaghetti Western Theme from The Celts", was released in 2005 as a B-side for the single of "Amarantine", in memory of McAuley following his death in 2003.

1992 reissue

In November 1992, following Enya's rise in popularity, the album reissued as The Celts with remastering by Arun Chakraverty and cover art by Sooky Choi and photography by David Scheinmann. The tracks have slightly different running times than the original release. "Portrait (Out of the Blue)", however, is an extended version previously released as "Out of the Blue", the B-side to Enya's 1988 single "Orinoco Flow".

In 2009, a remastered version of The Celts exclusive to Japan was released as a Limited Edition on SHM-CD with "Eclipse" as a bonus track.^[8]

Sampling of "Boadicea"

"Boadicea" has been sampled by numerous artists. The Fugees sampled it for their song "Ready or Not" on The Score (1996). A lawsuit against the group for copyright infringement was prepared as they had not asked for permission and did not give her credit. However, after Enya found the group were not gangsta rappers, Enya she decided not to follow through with the suit. As a compromise, later pressings of The Score included stickers placed on the cover giving Enya credit.^[9]

In 2003, Mario Winans sampled "Boadicea" for his song "I Don't Wanna Know". Producer P. Diddy personally contacted Enya for permission and gave her 60 percent of the royalties,^[10] and included her name on the song's subtitle as "Mario Winans featuring Enya and P. Diddy". It went on to reach No. 2 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart in 2004. "Boadicea" was sampled on the single "You Should Really Know" by The Pirates featuring Shola Ama, Naila Boss and Ishani which peaked at No. 8 in the UK. "Boadicea" with "Ready or Not" was sampled by Nina Sky on their single "Time to Go" featuring Angie Martinez, from the mixtape presented by Cipha Sounds. In 2008, Italian DJ Francesco Zeta sampled "Boadicea" for his song "Fairyland". In 2011, a small sample of "Boadicea" was used on "Der erste Winter" by German singer Cassandra Steen for the album Mir so nah. She made another version the following year, subtitled "ReAmp", that also used the sample. In 2012, hip hop artist Meek Mill sampled "Boadicea" on his mixtape Dreamchasers 2 on a song named after the Fugees' song, "Ready or Not". In 2016, Salvatore's song "Dive" sampled "Boadicea", and Enya was credited as a featured artist.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Los Angeles Times	[12]
AllMusic	[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]

Enya/The Celts received mixed reviews from music critics.

Track listing

All music composed by Enya; all music arranged by Enya and Nicky Ryan; all lyrics by Roma Ryan, except where noted below.

1987 release

1992 reissue

Personnel

Musicians

• Enya – vocals, piano, Juno 60, Yamaha DX7, Emulator II, Kurzweil
• Arty McGlynn – electric guitar
• Liam O'Flynn – Uilleann pipes
• Patrick Halling – violin
• Roma Ryan – vocals
• Per Sundberg – saxophone

Production

• Enya – arranger
• Nicky Ryan – arranger, producer, engineer on "Aldebaran" and "March of the Celts"
• Nigel Read – engineer (all other tracks)
• Mario Moscardini – sleeve design, art direction
• Martyn J. Adleman – photography
• David Scheinmann – photography (1992 reissue)
• Sooky Choi – designer (1992 reissue)
• Bruce Talbot – executive producer
• Sam Feldman – remastering at Atlantic Studios, New York City

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

• Enya at Discogs (list of releases)