Watermark

I bought the tape several years ago, which has different titles than the CD by the same name. I liked it even more than the CD version.

For months I used to listen to the title track each night as I went to sleep. Simply amazing! It would often bring tears to my eyes.

Although it was the song that brought me to her music, I have finally tired of Orinoco Flow (Sail Away.) It is the only song that I've tired of, and I listen to her CD's constantly.

I hesitate to say that Watermark is her best album because in Enya's case, each one is a masterpiece. Five stars? How about five galaxies!

As I read other people's comments and the beautiful expereinces that they have while listening, it reminds me a bit of the many miracles Jesus performed. His ability was to give to each person what they needed. Enya's music does much the same. Although she'd never say it, Enya is a living master, one of the all time gifts from God.


Sail away, sail away, sail away!   October 14, 2002
Daniel J. Hamlow (Chikusei City, Japan)
55 out of 58 found this review helpful

Simply lovely piano instrumentals such as the title track and "Miss Clare Remembers" glide with a calm majesty. They are emotional paintings in an audial museum, tugging at the listener with a sense of wonder.

The haunting Latin "Cursum Perficio" was inspired by an inscription written on the portico of the Brentwood house Marilyn Monroe died in. Loosely translated, it means "my journey ends here." The frenzied part of the song and chorus reflects the whirlwind way in which Marilyn's life ended. "Eternum" is sung four times, and then comes that final chord, signalling her last breath.

The lush instrumentation in "On Your Shore," "Exile," and "Evening Falls" really highlight Enya's vocals. A flute breaks the silence in the second song as a deep contrast from the strings. It really does paint a stark portrait of an exile, especially with the lyrics: "I'll wait the signs to come/I'll find a way/I will wait the time to come/I'll find a way home." Somehow, the exile will come home to his (her) family and friends. These three songs alone is reason enough to get this album.

The lush "Orinoco Flow," which became a #1 single in the UK stands out with its plucked pizzicato strings and vibrant sound. It evokes waterfalls, springs, and sailing into a wondrous fantasy-land. Sail away, sail away, sail away!

"River" is a gentle melodic keyboard instrumental that highlights Enya's talents in other ways. She provides all instrumentation on this album.

The Celtic-sung "The Longships" does evoke the image of the said ships sailing across the Irish Sea, with the pounding drum serving as the beater's drum, which sets the stroke of the oars striking the water.

"Na Laetha Geal M'oige," also sung in Celtic, is a forlorn song, with pipes lending the melancholy atmosphere.

"Storms In Africa II" begins with a clap of thunder and is also sung in English. There's a lot more drumming in this version, and also a part where she sings, accompanied only by the rhythmic pounding of African drums. This is also the version on her Moonshadows video collection. It's better than the first version on the album. Both have that exotic "na-na-na, ne-ne-ne" sound.

A giant leap from the understated Enya album (now called The Celts), Watermark is a watershed and benchmark for the former Clannad vocalist. Enya probably has THE best female vocal ever, even surpassing Sarah Brightman at her best. Watermark only hinted at better things to come.


Watermark is one of those perpetually playable albums   March 17, 2004
Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA)
40 out of 42 found this review helpful

There are only a few albums that last year after year after year and "Watermark" is one of them. While there are plenty of subsequent albums from Enya that are great, "Watermark" has some of her best work, from the Latin "Cursum Perficio" to "Orinoco Flow." There isn't one bad cut on this album and the Celtic singing and Latin are hypnotic and mysterious. It's no wonder many of the tunes were used in advertisements--you just have to stop to listen. I love this one.


A Fresh Look at an Age Long Past   February 21, 2006
Moonshine69 (Arizona)
26 out of 26 found this review helpful

There is a theme of sadness from a time lost to memory within much of this collection. Many of the songs embrace those sad dreams of lost ages and from them emerge a refreshed magic of the new age, a mystery that encourages us to explore new directions with our imaginations, dreams, and hopes.

Enya's haunting voice is clear,crisp, and penetrating, even when spoken in French or Gaelic. She is one of the most talented musicians of our time, playing the instruments and composing all her own words. The celtic music she produces remains forever passionate and soothing and laced with an otherworld spirituality.

Even though I've listened to this music a thousand times, its timeless quality never fails to transport me to a better place and transcend the hate in the real world that surrounds us.



Watermark: Enya's artistic pinnacle.   December 16, 2001
Distant Voyageur (Io)
23 out of 25 found this review helpful

I am literally flying away when listening to this magical album. This album is like nothing that Enya has done before or since even though all of her albums are great, even her most recent A Day Without Rain. Unlike the cheerful, sunny romps of that album, Watermark is a rather stormy album. It's the dark, moody, stormy music that makes me love New Age and makes Watermark, in my opinion, Enyas strongest outing to date. Nothing of her latter albums could topple this album even though they are great albums in their own way.

The title track is a stunning piano instrumental with a hounting melody. Things get stormy with the turbulent Cursum Perficio with a stormy grey melody, Gothic chants, and a very medievel sound. The song speeds up at the second half of the song. This is more like two songs in one. Things calm down with the somber On Your Shore with ambient organs, beautiful singing, and relaxing horns that make an upset person feel good again. Storms In Africa is a breathtaking musical journey with a very stormy atmosphere, thundering drums, haunting Gaelic lyrics, a mournful melody, and probably some of Enyas best vocals ever. Exile is one of the best songs Enya has ever recorded. It's kind of like Storms but darker, more mournful, and more calm. This song is like bringing up images of a storm coming and seeing the sun at the edge of the clouds as they roll in. It also has very haunting flutes at the bridge. I enjoy how the song reverts between minor and major notes. If only Enya could produce songs like this again. I hope Enyas follow-up to A Day Without Rain would have a sound like Exile, it could rival this album as my favorite. Miss Clare Remembers is very much like the title track to this album but with just pianos and no electronic synths. A beautiful piece. Orinoco Flow is the popular song that we,ve all heard so I,m not going to explain it in detail but I can say that it is a great song. The part I do love though is the quiet bridge in the middle from 1:50 to 2:10. Evening Falls is a very dark haunting track with ambient synths and some almost church sounding organs. This song is one of the darkest songs Enya has ever recorded. This song alone makes Watermark a five star. This song makes me imagine walking and watching the twilight sunset as nighttime falls. River is absolutely radiant. It's a slightly Orinoco Flow-esque song mainly just with a similar rhythm. It has some of the most amazing synthesizers I,ve ever heard. This is a must hear. The Long Ships is a gem beyond words. It's a very beautiful, intense song with thundering beats, and intense chanting. In contast to saying that Enyas music is soothing this song is an exeption. It's one of Enyas more intense sounding pieces and actually gets me going with it's strong melody, haunting voices, and thundering beats. This is another must hear. Na Leatha Geal M'oige is the winner and probably the most amazing song Enya has ever written. It's a very meloncholy, ambient song with one of the most haunting melodies I,ve ever heard from Enya. Fans of this kind of Enya music should try to find the Japanese version of A Day Without Rain with Isobella on it because it is a very beautiful and could please those who were dissapointed by the more cheerful material on that album. Na Leatha Geal M'Oige has Celtic bagpipes at the middle of the bridge to add a more touching edge to this song. I feel more emotion from the first 30 seconds of this song that I do from The entire A Day Without Rain album. Fabulous work Enya! If only you could return to this kind of sound again I would be pleased. The closing track is a reprise of Storms In Africa. This version is more intense, has a louder drum and is sung in English. This version probably could surpass the original. This version appears only in the U.S. version of Watermark.

This is the best Enya CD ever and could rank as one of my all time favorite New Age albums ever. I can sense more talent coming out of the first 30 seconds of Evening Fall, or Exile than from Janet Jacksons entire All For You album.

A very cool idea I thought up of is maybe someday Enya could collaborate with my other favorite new age musician Patrick O'Hearn and create an album with a sound very much like Watermark but with the electronic keyboards of O'Hearns sound similar to his first three albums. It would be a best-seller and could shatter new grounds for both artists. I can smell it.

Anyway this is Enyas strongest collection of songs to date. I highly recommend this CD to all music fans. This is very intellegent music that only ignorant people could pass up.

Well that's all I can say now.

Good Bye!