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47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dreamy unearthly magic continues with Eire's one and only!, July 30, 2003
Who knows why I initially considered this to be a duff album by the woman with the most beautiful voice in the world. Maybe I was expecting Shepherd's Moon Part II and saw Memory Of Trees as Shepherd's Eclipse. The songs didn't leap out to me? Well, listening to it for this review, it finally did, and I've embraced it like I have her other albums. The four years inbetween albums was worth it.Of the opening instrumental title tracks, "The Memory Of Trees" is the most potent, sporting the usual instrumentals, pianos, haunting wall-of-sound choir-like vocals, pounding drums recalling "The Longships" from Watermark. The brisk "Anywhere Is", whose dominant tempo reminds me of a horse having a gentle canter down a park, is backed by strings and backing vocals. There's an interesting motif in the first line of her reaching a horizon but finding another, where something that looks like an end is actually a new beginning. Bit like life, isn't it? "Pax Deorum" is a Latin track begins with a cold dark wind, which sets the grim bass pulsing keyboard permeating throughout the song, as well as an ominous sound that sounds a bit like a foghorn, though not as loud or brash. This part sounds a bit like an incantation. Her voice alternates between a soft but lower register and her full vocals. The piano (and later some other instrument) ballad "Athair Ar Neamh" is a sad but beautiful sung tune, full of yearning. Makes me want to learn Gaelic. My favourite song here, and Enya sounds her best singing like this. The wistful, reflective piano only instrumental "From Where I Am" is a variation of "Miss Clare Remembers" from Watermark, with some shades of "Epona" from the Enya album. "China Roses" is one of her visual and visionary poetic songs and it's an enchanting delight to hear. I see melodic strains of what would later become "Only Time." That wall of sound really enhances her vocals, and the following lyrics really create the image of a dreamland: "A new moon leads me to/woods of dreams and I follow/a new world waits for me/my dream, my way" and "Rain and river, a world of wonder/may be paradise to me". Gosh, how I love this woman! OK, all you romantics. "Hope Has A Place" is the song for you. Enya's vocal echoes hauntingly here and that dreamy wall of sound is in full bloom. And how's this for some sagely advice: "Look to love/you may dream/and if it should leave/then give it wings/But if such a love is meant to be/Hope is home, and the heart is free." I can't decide whether I like this better than "Athair Ar Neamh." The third instrumental, "Tea-House Moon", has some Oriental strains, with some otherworldly synths and conjures the image of one looking up at the stars. As for the title, a nod to Teahouse Of The August Moon, set in post-WW2 Japan and starring Machiko Kyo? "Once You Had Gold" is a proverbial seasons come, seasons go type, and has a mystical sense of why things go wrong: "No-one can promise a dream for you/Time gave both darkness and dreams to you." and "What is the dark, shadows around you/why not take heart in the new day?" "La Sonadora" is her first Spanish song and it's more an interlude. The backing wall of music rise to a crescendo in the song's midsection. A reminiscing night traveller's thoughts comprise "On My Way Home", where "I remember all the best days/I'm on my way home/I can remember every new day" is surrounded by the dreamy wall of sound. Compared to her first three albums, Enya's voice is more mesmerizingly beautiful than I've ever heard. She seems to be a one-woman band here, as it's "all instruments and vocals by Enya" per the credits. There's more a wall of dreamy sound here--check out how many times I've mentioned this. Repeated listenings will tell whether it'll dislodge Shepherd's Moon as my favourite Enya album.
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