Customer Reviews

Only If

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I hope I may be pardoned for saying that the preceding review of this album, and not the album (far from it!), was a bit grating. Not only does it work very well (both one track at a time and as an ensemble of tracks), it makes me wonder (again) why Reprise Records scatters so many of Enya's best tracks into such relatively inaccessible corners.

For a long time, the only version of "Willows on the Water" I had was a MIDI file I found on a Web site. (It's a good rendition, but a bit limited.) I was dismayed to learn that this track was almost unobtainable, because the "single" CD which contained it, "Only If...", was out of stock. The only other option was to buy a box set which would mostly duplicate what I already have. What a pleasure, then, to find someone selling a used copy of this CD right here on Amazon.com. Considering what I got for the price, it's the best CD purchase I've ever made.

"Only If..." is a fun song, and hardly just a rehash of Enya's "Orinoco Flow" days. (To those who think otherwise: Every composer has his or her own signature preferences in style, and Enya's are unusually idiosyncratic. Deal with it.) "Willows on the Water" for me is alone worth the price of the CD; I can hear it over and over without tiring of it. (I would love to have it played at my wedding, or at the reception, at some point.) The Gaelic version of "Silent Night" (please don't ask me to spell it from memory!) is Enya at her most ethereal: not the usual sentimental or folk-style rendition one hears. (I recognized just one word, in the second verse: the Hebrew "Halleluyah".) In short, these tracks are like three gems of different colors in the same Celtic necklace...it's Enya's distinctive musical personality that ties them together.

Not only does it have "Only If" on there, but it also has "Willows on the Water" and "Oiche Chiun", the Gaelic Silent Night. "Only if" and "Willows on the Water" are both catchy tunes. "Oiche Chiun" has a haunting beauty to it. Enya did it to the style that she did "Hope has a place". I reccomend this brilliant CD.

I've never been big on singles, but I'm glad I stumbled upon this one. The title track was only available on "Paint the Sky with Stars" (one of those 'collections plus two new tracks' that tend to irritate long-time fans) and is a nice addition. A number of people have compared it to her first hit "Orinoco Flow", and it's true they are both upbeat, lyrical songs. But I think "Only If" has a much stronger rhythmic quality to it, almost a march if that's not going too far out on a limb! "Willows on the Water" (previously unreleased) is an instrumental piece that's uplifting, but more flowing than the first track. And things slow down even further with her beautiful rendition of Silent Night (previously only found on "The Christmas EP"). Her Gaelic translation is divine and well worth the price of the entire disc.

For a long time, the only version I had of Enya's "Willows on the Water" (not released in any album set until recently) was in MIDI format. Thanks to this "single" release, I now have it, and that alone makes the CD worth the purchase. But the recording also has the wonderfully playful title track "Only If..." (originally released on "Paint the Sky With Stars"), and a Gaelic version of "Silent Night" (the Christmas song) as only Enya could do it.

Bravo, Enya. You've done it again.

This CD is good, but I could lie back and listen to Enya sing "Silent Night" in Gaelic for hours! If for no other reason, that track is reason enough to purchase this CD "single."

Enya has a unique sound, her style can only be discribed as "Enya", "Only If..." Is a wonderful song, and the other tracks "Willows on the Water" and "Oíche Chiúin" are both absolutly amazing. This CD is worth every penny and more.

For those of us who know and love the music of Enya, its fairly obvious that this single is perhaps the closest she has come to 'pop' music. It also shows us that she hasn't moved past the 'Orinoco Flow' days, which is a bit sad, considering that its well over a decade since that single came out.

While the other two songs on this CD are catchy and hummable - and rare to find, as well - it still doesn't really work. This was Enya's first single off her 'Paint the sky with stars' album, which was less of a greatest hits, and more of a clumsy collection of possible hits. Did creativity die with 'The Memory of Trees'?