DVDfever.co.uk - Enya: And Winter Came CD reviewDVDfever.co.uk - Charts, News and Reviews of Blu-rays, DVDs, Games, CDs, Hardware, Laserdiscs, Cinema Films & more
Warm up your frosty mornings with this glowing gem.
Looking at the CD packshot, you’d think Enya was being portrayed as some kind of Ice Queen from say the Lord Of The Rings. Not so.
Sitting here in my home in north Wales, looking over to the Berwyn hill range dusted with light snow (it’s stunning in a calendar way ), this festive CD brings back warm memories of my childhood in the famous coal mining village of Rhosllannerchrugog.
Once again, reclusive and enigmatic Enya has delivered no more or less than you’d expect from her new age Celtic touchstones.
With its seasonal title, this is sure to be a strong contender as the ‘alternative choice’ instead of the ubiquitous plethora of naff compilations.
Enya on GMTV talking about this album and singing "Trains and Winter Rains"
What this album actually does, is bring back some kind of musical respectability to the Christmas period. As good as Slade’s, Wham’s , Lennon’s hits are (maybe nothing by Sir Cliff though) it’s wonderful to hear something ‘real’ for once, totally avoiding the temptation to do a catchy single, like the brilliant Orinoco Flow just to satisfy our insatiable lust for a commercial hit.
So, were left to slumber with our mulled wine around a cosy hearth and contemplate the stresses which invariably come our way.
The nearest she comes to a memorable track is the punchy White Is The Winter Night with Trains And Winter Rains coming a close second. Both are typically gushing with orchestration creating images of a magnificent winter land. Another gorgeous highlight, (this album is gorgeous in an understated way) is the swooning Last Time By Moonlight where she arguably gives her finest vocal performance.
My! My! Time Flies! is a wondrous moment indeed, with even a (yes honestly) a brilliant (brief) rock guitar solo of all things, by a one Pat Farrell. Of all the slowies, Journey Of The Angels is tops.
No Enya album would be complete without some Gaelic.
She drifts away with a cover of, and it has to be said a fabulous, Silent Night, one that, if a shrewd teacher got hold of, would be great as part of schools’ Christmas celebrations.
Just for the record, a couple of tracks are re-workings of previous songs: Oiche Chiuin appeared as a B-side of Evening Falls (1988) with And Winter Came comes from Midnight Blue.
It entered the charts at #6 on November 16, this week (commencing 1st Dec) it’s slipped back to #23. Global sales are mightily impressive.
File under: Bring on the mince pies and sherry.
Enya GMTV video
His musical journey began with neo-punksters The Frantic Elevators in the early 80s, but he found his ‘voice’ and mojo when he went back to his love of 60s soul music, in particular Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland. And so emerged a pulsating cover of Money’s Too Tight To Mention by The Valentine Brothers in 1985.
As we wave goodbye to ‘Old Red’ and his soul-jazz-reggae-pop templates, we can now sit back and admire, or not, the back-catalogue chart entries that won him legions of fans in Europe, Japan, Australia and Latin America: the States weren’t so smitten.
Like it or not (I’ve seen them 14 times since 1988 and hope to again on their farewell tour 2009) Simply Red are one of the most consistently best live acts ever, and if anything, Hucknall’s tubes are better than ever at 48 years.
We mustn’t forget, that 25 is just a celebration of charting, and not necessarily the ‘best of’.
First three albums Picture Book, Men And Women, New Flame were sensational. After Stars, it was slowly down hill. He lost his mojo, releasing unbelievably bland material, and his sharpness and bite, resulting in a move away from East West Records. He re-emerged with a solid Home (on his own label SimplyRed.com), and he was beginning to blossom once again. So, as with many greats, (Elton John suffered a similar wobbly period in the early 80s) it’s been an up and down affair, and a lot of jealousy from the media towards his success – the British way?
On 25, there’s a fair representation of his hits, the best being Stars, A New Flame, The Right Thing, Fairground (sampling The Goodmen’s Give It Up), Something Got Me Started (ah.. memories of a mad night in Fortezza Nightclub in Rhethymnon Crete 1992), Money’s Too Tight.., the biggies. When Huckers really got his teeth into something, it was nothing short of magical, but when he didn’t get it right which wasn’t often, it was a disaster.
Vocally, his finest moment ever, is the incredible Angel where he gives a performance un-matched by any blue-eyed soul pretender. Bravely, he covered jazz standard Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye and nailed it. Even better was Harold Melvin’s 70s classic If You Don’t Know Me By Now, which if truth be told, was better than the original: that took some doing. Holding Back The Years, a song usually reserved for show encores, will always be his signature tune, though his last offering (remember disasters?) the Moody Blues’ Go Now is a very very disappointing final curtain to a magnificent career.
1. And Winter Came
2. Journey Of The Angels
3. White Is In The Winter Night
4. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
5. Trains And Winter Rains
6. Dreams Are More Precious
7. Last Time By Moonlight
8. One Toy Soldier
9. Stars And Midnight Blue
10. The Spirit Of Christmas Past
11. My ! My ! Time Flies
12. Oiche Chiuin (Chorale)
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
And Winter Came: 
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
