A Day Without Rain

1. "A Day without Rain" is the first and title track of the album. As a quiet and gentle piano/vocal piece, the song seems to bring to mind a silent snowfall in winter. Yet as it is titled, the song pinpoints how glorious the sunshine can be after prolonged periods of rain.

2. "Wild Child" is the second song on the album. A bit playful but still retaining an inner knowing, this song's plucking background and rhythmic singing definitely project some sort of happiness or discovery. The melody is very catchy, and you'll find yourself singing along in no time.

3. "Only Time" is the gem-like third track on _A Day without Rain_, and is featured in the film _Sweet November_. This song quiets the mind and reassures that all troubles and triumphs are handled by time. The song seems to climax halfway through, with added background vocals and melody changes. Just like a rain shower fading, "Only Time" ends as if it has given you a pearl of wisdom.

4. "Tempus Vernum" is where the theme stops, but then repeats after this song until the end of the album. Dark strings and xylophone-sound plunking give this song an edge. The chanted/sung Latin lyrics add to its eerieness, and its sound building at the end of the song leaves as quickly as it came. This is certainly a memorable piece.

5. "Deora ar Mo Chroi" is partners with "Tempus Vernum" in that the strings in "Tempus Vernum" quiet and fade into the background for this song. Serene Irish Gaelic lyrics make a very Enya-like atmosphere. If "Tempus Vernum" raised your heart rate, this song definitely slows it down.

6. "Flora's Secret" is a lovely song with a pleasing melody and rhythm about two lovers and the stories told to them by Flora. Again using strings and airy background vocals, this song will put a smile on your face.

7. "Fallen Embers" is a contrast to "Flora's Secret." Using a piano and Enya's voice as a solo, this song tells the story of losing a love, and reminiscing about how the world seemed so much better when her love was with her. What a sad but beautiful song! A real tear-jerker for anyone that has ever had to cope with loss.

8. "Silver Inches" almost seems like an attempt to brigten the mood of the sorrowful person in the last song! Using string-like (or maybe just string) instruments, this song's staccato fading to legato sound is absolutely marvelous.

9. "Pilgrim" in style and feeling seems to resemble "Only Time," but not in sound! With Enya singing solo again (other than quiet background vocals through half of the song), the swaying melody and wisdom-filled lyrics create an almost comatose piece.

10. "One by One" is another catchy melody with strings and lovely vocals, about the adventures befalling a "he" and "she" who repeatedly leave each other. The chorus, "one by one my leaves fall, one by one my tales are told" almost give the feeling that the singer is telling their life story in this song.

11. "Lazy Days," the last song (on the U.S. release) on _A Day without Rain_, is easily one of my favorites. A completely fun song about having a day or two to do "nothing." The loose lyrics and spunky melody combine to form a joyous atmosphere. The "chorus" of climaxing "da da da da da da da da da"'s make you want to dance. This is the perfect ending to a perfect album.

In short, _A Day without Rain_ may just be Enya's best album yet. Although the length is little over 30 minutes, the quality of this music is worth every penny. Absolutely amazing!


Be prepared to be amazed   November 14, 2000
Steev (san jose, ca United States)
75 out of 91 found this review helpful

I have been listening to Enya since I was 13 and I have to say she has never let me down. I am so impressed with her new recordings. Lazy Days and Wild Child and One by One, are the best in my eyes. I have listened to this CD a million times already and will be buying the CD for many of my friends this holiday. I am sure they will love it! She has retained some of her "sounds" from Memory of Trees. But that does not hinder her new songs. You will surely enjoy it. I still get goose bumps when I listen to her music.


Enya...again.   December 2, 2000
K. G. Meloy (Cincinnnati, OH USA)
75 out of 98 found this review helpful

I remember several years ago driving on an evening much like tonight, and flipping stations. Suddenly this remarkable sound filled the car..one song after another, and I found myself driving around the block another 3 times til they finished and announced music by someone named Enya from her import CD "the Celts". I was entranced and spent the next day searching out this disc. After that I bought Watermark and Shepherd Moon without hesitation...then there was the re-release of the Celts, the remixed re-release of the Celts, some weird best of stuff, then finally "Memory of Trees" which sounded like bits and pieces of the previous discs slapped together in another order. Now she repeats the cycle with "Day Without Rain." Beautiful music? Absolutely. But I've heard ALL of these before...down to the synth-pizzicato patch she seems obsessed with...and only 37 minutes long? I'm sorry, that's ridiculous. I'm convinced she's given up on trying to do anything other than land another Lexus commercial. So I remain dissappointed, and hope maybe she'll find a way to use her remarkable voice in a way that preserves her style, but gives us something we haven't heard before.


The music is great; The CD length is a joke   November 3, 2001
Distant Voyageur (Io)
47 out of 50 found this review helpful

Finally after waiting five years Enya has finally returned with all new material. While I am proud of owning this CD I kind of feel a smidgey bit cheated. First off this CD is only 34 and a half miniutes long. It seemed more like a demo tape. I have CD singles that are more than 34 minutes long. She could maybe on her next album compose songs that are an average of five or six minutes long. And a couple of songs are like unfinished demo tapes. Deora Ar Mo Chroi and Silver Inches are probably the most uninspired boring tracks Enya has ever written.

That doesn't mean that this album is less than great. It's actually one of my favorite albums of 2000. I ran out and bought it on the day it came out. While I miss the dark and stromy atmosphere of Watermark what Enya has offered is no less than amazing. This album is by far her sunniest and most cheerful album to date.

The title track is your typical piano instrumental with some vocals here and there. Wild Child is a beautiful song with plucky strings and a very sunny atmosphere and rhythm. Only Time is like Anywhere Is but much slower. This is from what I guess is her biggest hit since Orinoco Flow from 13 years ago. This another beautiful song. Tempus Vernum is the winner on ADWR. This song is totally different from the previous songs. It's a very Gothic song with lyrics sung in Latin. This is like a severe thunderstorm. The only complaint is that it's only 2 and a half minutes long. It could have been lengthened to about 5 minutes. Deora Ar Mo Chroi is like the calm after the thunderstorm has passed. Unfortunately I am not very moved by this song. It is one of my least favorites on this album. Floras Secret is a beautiful song about two lovers dancing in a garden of petals in a blue sky. Definately one of my favorites on this album. Fallen Embers is a bueatiful song that sounds a bit like China Roses but not as romantic as that one but nonetheless a nice song. Silver Inches is a short instrumental that could,ve been left off this album. It should have been replaced with Isobella. Isobella is a beautiful haunting song that is only available on the Japanese import version of this album. Silver Inches is probably the most uninspiring song Enya has ever done. Pilgrim on the other hand is a very serene song that I would play when sailing along the river on a warm cloudy evening. One By One is another good song. One of the strongest songs on this album. Lazy Days is a great closer to this album. It sounds a lot like On My Way Home but brighter and more optimistic. It's like the third companion of Orinoco Flow.

Overall while this album is flawed this is a great new offering from one of my all-time female singers. My wish though is that she would include Isobella on this album. As I said before it's a beatiful haunting song that would have beat every other song on this album. In fact Enya should stop and compile a CD full of B-Sides and rare songs. There are at least ten of them. It would show an even greater prospective of Enyas amazing talent. Another wish is that maybe her next album could be more electronic sounding like Watermark and at least 55 minutes long.

An even cooler thing that could happen is a collaboration between Enya and New Age musician Patrick O'hearn. Just imagine Enyas haunting vocals combined with O'hearns soaring ambient electronic synthesizers. It would be the best New Age album ever. I can smell it in the air.

But even though that may not happen Enya will remain one of my top five favorite divas of all time. Go and buy this album. While I mostly recommend it to veteran fans it would be a great introduction to new fans as well.

Well that's all folks.... He! He!


Lazy Days   December 18, 2000
Jason Stein (Chula Vista, CA United States)
45 out of 60 found this review helpful

Another year, another Enya cd. The one shortcoming of Enya's music is that it seldom changes. Listening to all five Enya cds drives this point home. She has an amazing voice but she isn't Peter Gabriel with her music. There are slight differences from cd to cd, but Enya mainly sticks to her formula for New Age pop. "A Day Without Rain" starts with the title song, just like 1995's "Memory of Trees", 1991's "Sheperd Moons", 1988's "Watermark" and 1986's "The Celts" started their title songs, an instrumental that does not add or subtract from the entire disc. "Wild Child" sounds similar to "Orinoco Flow", "Caribbean Blue" or "Anywhere Is" while "Only Time" sounds similar to "Wild Child". Another instrumental "Tempus Vernum" sounds like 1988's "Cursum Perficio" and is so short it could have been left off the cd. "A Day Without Rain" closes with "Pilgrim", "One By One" and "Lazy Days" which all sound great, but hasn't Enya done these songs before? I have been a fan of Enya since 1989, but with her last two cds I began to feel slightly cheated. Does Enya think her fans would abandon her if she changed with each new release? I wouldn't. She's got a great voice and makes some great songs, but her cds, as a whole, are beginning to be like eating my favorite food every day. If you are a fan, you will probably buy this, but if you are just getting into Enya, buy "Sheperd Moons" or "Watermark" or even her best of compilation. I am now waiting for Enya to surprise me with her music--what has she got to lose?