The Very Best Of Enya [Original recording]

Enya | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 1, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording
• Label: Warner Bros.
• ASIN: B002RV01QI
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (188 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #310 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #2 in Music > New Age > Meditation

Editorial Reviews

Enya's elusive combination of classical inspiration, Celtic atmosphere and pop sensibility is evident throughout 'The Very Best Of' as it revisits some of the most exemplary moments from an astonishing career. From her world-conquering international breakthrough 'Orinoco Flow' to the sad serenity of 'Only Time' that was adopted as a comforting anthem of hope in the face of 9/11, 'The Very Best Of' captures Enya's most beautiful work to date.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

125 of 131 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Note: Different CD Track Listings on CD and CD/DVD Editions December 2, 2009

By Bill Anthony

Format:Audio CD

Both the jewel-box CD Edition and the hard-cover book-bound CD/DVD Editions have a previously unreleased version
of "Aniron" from "The Lord Of The Rings". The soundtrack CD had a version just over 2 minutes, and this new collection has
a recording that is about 30 seconds longer and has more of a familiar Enya studio-sound, as opposed to pure orchestral.
In the liner notes, Enya refers to it has the "previously unavailable full version". "Aniron" had never been on an
Enya album in any form.

Both editions share many of her popular hits, but there are major differences in the tracks included,
with the CD having 19 songs, and the CD on the CD/DVD edition having 22, many of them different.

Included on the regular CD, but missing from the CD portion of the CD/DVD version:
Storms In Africa, Book Of Days, The Celts, Water Shows The Hidden Heart, Cursum Perficio, Aldebaran,
A Day Without Rain, and Oiche Chiuin (Chorale).
(2 of those - The Celts and Storms In Africa - do appear in video form on the DVD)
In their place on the CD portion of the CD/DVD are 11 songs that are not on the regular CD edition,
including the beautiful Stars And Midnight Blue, Drifting, Fallen Embers, and Athair Ar Neamh.
So the 2 sets are very different in the audio portion, with the regular jewel-box CD edition
being more of a concise "greatest hits", and the CD/DVD being more in depth and featuring some less familiar
tracks along with most of the hits. The order in which the songs are presented is also completely different,
with the CD/DVD edition audio being mostly in reverse chronological order, and the CD edition being somewhat random.

The CD/DVD Edition is the very first release on DVD (in the USA) of most of Enya's videos.
The DVD also includes the documentary "Enya: A Life In Music", and "Making Of" specials about 2 of her videos,
Caribbean Blue and Only Time.

The CD/DVD packaging is excellent; a hard-cover book filled with both familiar and new photos of Enya, notes
by Enya, Roma Ryan, and Nicky Ryan, and pockets to hold the CD and DVD, housed in a glossy slipcase.

One surprising omission (from both the CD and CD/DVD versions) is the hit "Only If..."
from the CD "Paint The Sky With Stars - The Best Of Enya" (1997), which is now out-of-print in the USA.
It was also missing from the "Enya Collection" box set in 2002.
It does appear, however, in video form on the DVD.

In either edition, this is an excellent overview of Enya's incredible music to date.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, The Enya Videos Collection (Modified) Gets A USA Release December 1, 2009

By G. Reiss

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

In 2001, Warner Music released an Enya music videos collection on DVD everywhere but the USA. This DVD, titled Enya: The Video Collection, went out of print in Europe fast. At the time, fans of Enya in the States had minimal information on when the DVD would get a release in this country. One reason floated for why the plans for a release in the USA were scrubbed was that Nicky Ryan wanted the Enya DVD to have more than a LPCM audio track, he wanted Dolby 5.1. This new DVD has audio in LPCM, Dolby 5.1 and DTS, but this DVD took eight years to get here in altered form.

What this DVD doesn't have are the videos Exile and Book of Days from the 2001 DVD, nor the documentary Enya-A Life in Music. The missing Exile is no loss, it has too many close-ups of a moody Steve Martin from the movie L.A. Story, sometimes pontificating on the meaning of life. The Enya documentary is something else, a class production that should be in the DVD, even if it is a little dated.

This Very Best of DVD is mostly a quality mastering job, but there are signs of corner cutting. There are no English subtitles available, unlike the 2001 DVD. Further, on Orinoco Flow, it seems that some technician did a cheap job transcoding a PAL video master to NTSC. Playing the new DVD on my computer monitor, I see a slightly jagged border at the bottom of the frame. Playing the Orinoco Flow video I copied from my Enya laserdisc Moonshadows onto DVD, the bottom of the frame is even. That 1991 laser also came with closed captioning.

This combination CD/DVD is a real bargain, having extra song tracks compared to the CD only release and having mostly crystal clear videos. The two discs come in a mini-book instead of an Amaray case or jewel box. The overhead photo of Enya on the outside box and on the minibook cover, with Enya centered in a gigantic red puffy dress, looks sort of strange, but that is no big deal. I wish the record producers had done more than color the CD a chalky bright red and the DVD an off white color with the enya logo barely visible on the CD. There is no accounting for taste. The packaging of these discs is too minimalist for me. Petty criticism aside, it is great to have these Enya videos finally available alongside a fine collection of Enya songs.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Celebrating Enya's landmark career December 2, 2009

By Clark

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

"The Very Best of Enya" is finally issued in its physical formats. The Irish chanteuse, (whose creative work demonstrates sensitivity and imagination) celebrates her landmark career with 22 of her industry-changing classics. Although a collection of hit's, it is the strongest batch of songs and entrancing music videos assembled to date for the artist. "The Very Best of Enya" has already gone Gold!

All vocals and instrumentation performed by Enya, Arranged by Enya and Nicky Ryan, Engineered and mixed by Nicky Ryan, Lyrics by Roma Ryan, Recorded at Aigle studio. Includes 3 documentaries beginning with "Enya: A Life in Music", "The Making of Caribbean Blue", and "The Making of Only Time" in addition to 13 exquisite music videos.

Excellent design and art direction by Peacock. I love that Enya was photographed as The Poppy of Remembrance - it is perfection.