Search - Enya :: Box of Dreams

Forget all about the Only Time collection, this is it.

Kasper Michelsen | Copenhagen, Denmark. | 03/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection might possibly be one of the best box-sets ever made. From the midnight-blue box with silver print, the delicate booklet featuring semitransparent pages as just one of many artistic details, to the beautiful cover artwork - the visuals of this set is outstanding. There's no little detail here that hasn't been considered. Notice how beautifully this matches the artwork of the Best Of CD 'Paint The Sky With Stars', but how this set takes it one step further (the owners of the single-CD collection probably never grasped the significance of the three buckets of "paint" on the back cover - on with Clouds, on with Oceans and one with Stars - this is in fact the three themes of the CDs in this set). But that's only the artwork.



The music has been considered at least as much in this set. The separation of the songs in three different themes are brilliant! Disc 1 -Oceans - contains the more upbeat songs, and thus most of her radio hits like Orinoco Flow, Book Of Days, Caribean Blue, Anywhere Is, China Roses, On My Way Home and the recemt Only If ... However, a plenty of less familiar songs are included as well - personal highlights are the magnificent Storms In Africa and The Longships (imo. two of her best pieces ever), the enchanting I Want Tomorrow and the dark and menacing Cursum Perficio, Pax Deorum and The Celts.



Disc 2 - Clouds - contains instrumental pieces (or songs without any true lyrics, the exception to this being Afer Ventus) - in fact a quite varied selection including piano-pieces (Watermark, Miss Claire Remembers, Portrait (Out Of The Blue)), piano-and-vocal pieces (Shepherd Moons, Morning Glory), multi-instrumental pieces (Tea House Moon, Lothlórien, River) and vocal-and-instrumental pieces (Afer Ventus, The Memory Of Trees, March Of The Celts). There is beauty in such plenty that it can make you cry on this CD - Morning Glory might well be the most beautiful tune ever written - never was a song so aptly named as this one; it actually catches the exact sensation of the sun rising on a clear summer morning. Afer Ventus is so lovely and enchanting, and I cannot imagine anybody not feeling cheered by the wonderful Tea-House Moon.



Disc 3 - Stars - contain a selection of her more hymn-like songs. This was always the CD that I liked the least, but these songs are certainly beautiful. Evening Falls is a favorite, and Marble Halls is quite irresistable in it's charm. Smaointe ... is one of the most heartfelt songs ever written, it moves me to tears every time I listen to it, and is the perfect way to and this collection.'



The thematic separation of the songs is ingeneous, because it in reality gives you three very different CDs, that each matches a different mood. The song arrangement is brilliant, each CD flows naturally from beginning to end in a natural manner.



One could make a comment on the song selection - this set includes nearly - NEARLY - all her songs from her 3 most recent albums (The Memory Of Trees, Shepherd Moon and Watermark). One might wonder why the excluded How Can I Keep From Singing (from Shepherd Moons) and Once You Had Gold (from The Memory Of Trees) - neither song was below standard (in fact Once You Had Gold was a personal favorite from that album) - and there's room for more songs on the CDs. Furthermore, her first album - The Celts - is quite poorly represented, which is even more curious (again, this is in fact my favorite Enya album) - I can accept some exclusions, but some glaring omisions are Epona, the Triad, Bard Dance and To Go Beyond, which are all excelent tracks. Also, I should have prefered the full-length version of On My Way Home to the radio edit included here, and the very rare english version of Storms In Africa would have been a treat for the fans, but that's a detail. A pity, however, that they missed this opportunity to make it perfect.



Still, this box-set is way beyond what's good, this is masterfull. The more recent 4-CD collection 'Only Time' pales when compared to this. Even though it did contaion a couple of excellent songs from her most recent work (A Day Without Rain, Wild Child, The First Of Autumn, Lazy Days and May It Be from The Lord Of The Rings as the only essential pieces) - that set was poorly arranged and much more incomplete. Therefore, stick to this set if you find it at an reasonable price somewhere (try ebay) - 100 $ might be a little over the limit.



Overall rating: 10 / 10"

If You Love Enya as much as I do -----

Linda Petersen | Temecula, CA | 01/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Purchase this boxed set. It may cost a little more in the end, but it is worth it! I don't like to buy cd's and then have music repeated on other albums by the same artist. It aggravates me. So here it is folks. This boxed set has all the songs from "Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya"! It contains all the songs on "The Memory of Trees" except for one song, "Once You Had Gold". It has all the songs on it from "Shepherd Moons" except for the song, "How Can I Keep from Singing" and it has all but two songs from the album, "Watermark". They are "The Long Ships" and "Storms in Africa II". The one album that seemed to be poorly represented is "The Celts". So my recommendation is to purchase this boxed set and then buy the album, "The Celts". I regret that I didn't do this. When you love a musician as much as I love Enya, it would have made sense to buy her collection of music."

Enya at her Best!

M. E. Newell | Georgia, United States | 10/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Box of Dreams" by Enya is one the best box set that I have ever seen. Besides the great music by the artist, this box set includes a lovely book to go with it. A MUST for any fan of Enya!"