Customer Reviews

The Very Best Of Enya

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

"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.

These are four editions of music and videos with the very best collections of music from Enya. It is excellent that finally we can have videos of Enya, as "Enya-The Video Collection" in 2001 was nearly impossible to obtain, except some rare copies of region 2 that were available here in Amazon.

I love the music of Enya, and I know that each of the songs in these collections are very valuable. Unfortunately, if you want to have all the songs, you should buy all four editions: The Very Best Of Enya (CD/DVD), The Very Best Of Enya (Deluxe - Amazon Exclusive),The Very Best Of Enya CD and The Very Best Of Enya (CD/DVD plus 12 inch vinyl picture disc) because each of these editions has songs you can not find in the other editions.

So, I'm posting a table of each song and its counterpart in each of the editions. You notice that there are songs you can find in any of the editions such as: "Amarantine", "Anywhere Is", "Caribbean Blue", "Only Time", "Orinoco Flow", "Trains and Winter Rains" and "Wild Child". This is very valuable because in the CD/DVD edition, in addition to the track, you can enjoy the videos as well. This is really fascinating!

You'll also find that some songs are only in one of the three editions, for example, "Evening Falls" you can only watch the video in the CD/DVD edition; "Water shows the hidden heart" that you find only in the CD edition, and "Only Time (Remix)" only available in the exclusive MP3 Deluxe edition from Amazon. Furthermore, there are other exclusive tracks in the vinyl edition.

So, if you're a true fan of Enya, I think you should buy all editions, however, I think the most valuable is the edition CD/DVD by the rarity of the videos, and the vinyl edition for collectors.

The table is a little bit messy, but I hope this helps you choose the perfect edition.

------------------SONG------------CD/DVD-----MP3DELUXE-----CDONLY-----
Amarantine______________________[I]/[I]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Anywhere Is_____________________[I]/[I]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Caribbean Blue___________________[I]/[I]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Only Time_______________________[I]/[I]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Orinoco Flow__________________ __[I]/[I]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Trains And Winter Rains_________ __[I]/[I]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Wild Child___________________ _ __[I]/[I]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Aniron__________________________[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Boadicea___________________ ____[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[I]_______
May It Be_______________________[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Watermark______________________[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[I]_______
Athair Ar Neamh_______ __________[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
Drifting_________________________[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
Fallen Embers_________________ __[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
Flora's Secret_________________ __[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
If I Could Be Where You Are_____ __[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
My! My! Time Flies!_______________[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
Oíche Chiúin_____________________[ ]/[ ]_________[I]__________[I]_______
One By one___________________ __[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
Pax Deorum____________________ _[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
Stars And Midnight Blue________ ___[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
Storms In Africa__________________[ ]/[I]_________[ ]__________[I]_______
Sumiregusa______________________[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
The Celts_____________________ __[ ]/[I]_________[ ]__________[I]_______
The River Sings_____________ __ _ _[I]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
A Day Without Rain_____ __________[ ]/[ ]_________[ ]__________[I]_______
Aldebaran____________ ___________[ ]/[ ]_________[ ]__________[I]_______
Book Of Days__________________ __[ ]/[ ]_________[ ]__________[I]_______
Cursum Perficio___________________[ ]/[ ]_________[ ]__________[I]_______
Evening Falls_____________________[ ]/[I]_________[ ]__________[ ]_______
It's In The Rain___________________[ ]/[I]_________[ ]__________[ ]_______
On My Way Home_________________[ ]/[I]_________[ ]__________[ ]_______
Only If___________________ __ ____[ ]/[I]_________[ ]__________[ ]_______
Only Time (Remix)__________ _ ___ _[ ]/[ ]_________[I]__________[ ]_______
Water Shows The Hidden Heart__ ___[ ]/[ ]_________[ ]__________[I]_______

This is an unbelievable collection of Enya's best of the best, 22 of them, which I hear she hand picked! Plus there's a DVD with 13 videos and documentaries. That's a whole lot of material for a very reasonable price. Are you aware that Enya is one of the best selling female artists in the US? She has sold over 70 million CDs!! Amazing! This album comes in a standard CD, also at a very reasonable price. The Very Best Of Enya It just doesn't get any better than this! And wait until you see the cover! It is so gorgeous, like a Georgia O'Keefe flower, with Enya as the center! Stunningly beautiful! If you're an Enya fan, you've GOT to own this! And if you're new to Enya, what better way to hear and see all of her very best! A great introduction to a world renowned artist.

I'm not sure that Enya can be defined by "Greatest Hits", though she's had a few hit singles. Certainly, the hits are here on the CD, along with some more obscure tracks. Her music is best experienced via the original albums.

As for the DVD, disregard what one other reviewer said about the "Enya:A Life in Music" documentary not being included. It IS included. On the main DVD menu, go to "Extras", then click on "documentary". Having never seen an Enya interview, I was pleased, because she comes across as a very charming, down to earth, genuine person. The DVD stops 2 or 3 songs short of being a complete collection of Enya videos, which is regrettable. However, my main criticism is that there was some sloppiness during mastering which results in a half second of audio being lopped off at the end of 4 of the 13 videos, as if someone had prematurely pushed the "stop" button. I wonder if foreign releases of the DVD also have this defect. After the many years that fans on this side of the world have waited for an Enya DVD, for the mastering of this DVD to have any flaws is inexcusable. The audio is presented with a choice of stereo, Dolby surround or DTS surround. Whether this is a genuine surround mix or merely an upmix from the original stereo mixes, it is spacious sounding, and enhances the enjoyment of the videos.

This CD/DVD collection is flat out awesome. Hearing Enya in 5.1 format is mind blowing. (You have a choice of DD or DTS 5.1 formats) I really wish all of her previous recordings were produced in DVD-A or SACD format, however, since there's slim chance of that ever happening, this is the next best thing, and it doesn't disappoint at all. Her music is the perfect fit for multi-channel audio. Thanks Enya for giving us this highly anticipated release! Excellent production....A+++!

This is my first experience with Enya, although I had heard the track "Only Time" before and loved it but didn't know who it was. I am entranced by the music, the lyrics, the vocals, all of it. My favorite track is "Water Shows the Hidden Heart".

I am very happy to have made acquaintance with this beautiful music.

This is an excellent addition to any fan of Enya. Twenty-two wonderful selections along with 13 videos. There are a few songs I would have liked to see included with the others, but it's a tremendous package. Enjoy!

Listening to these gems hand-picked by Enya in DTS 5.1 sound adds a completely new richness absent in their original releases. Already penultimate recordings for their sound, lyricism, feeling, and healing powers, they all deserve a completely new listening experience (just like the first time). The goose-bumps are there, the grandeur, the elegance, the shimmering beauty, have all been raised to incredible levels.

Now, the rest of her amazing catalog truly needs upgrading to take the rest of us on fresh new journeys to lands we remember and cherish. It would be more than worth the effort (and expense) to remaster the lot. I'd buy them all again as would a great many of her worldwide audience.