Watermark专辑介绍
恩雅1988年的大碟《水印》取得了划时代的成功，打响了恩雅的国际知名度。小心翼翼的创造说明了她利用层层叠加的方式来创造她的音乐，融合了新纪元和凯尔特族的主题。虽然恩雅质朴的的声音在歌中不是特别强烈，但是歌词的含义和“恩雅式的唱腔”却给人带来了美妙的感觉。凭一首“orinoco flow”得以扬名四海的恩雅，也是凭着这张大碟打响她的国际知名度的。专辑里的“storm in africa” “exile”，“river”等曲选录在 '91年电影 《l.a. story》 (洛杉矶故事)[green card] (绿卡) 中频频播。
《watermark》共收录11首单曲，其中包括三首演奏曲；而其余8首演唱曲中，又有4首是以爱尔兰语写就的。 这些歌曲的特色，是气氛与意象的传达，重于文词的描述。"watermark"的文字风格具有诗意，却也因而显得有些含糊暧昧，只能由不断出现的「水」的意象，隐约感受到她对生命无常的伤感，和对童年时光的眷恋。 《watermark》最成功之处，在於气氛的营造与渲染。利用混声合成效果，将各种乐器与人声重复交迭灌录，使简单的旋律，充满音质变化，凡其在节奏变幻，声音强调与馀音收尾上，更掌握得离淋漓精确，达到穠纤适度的完美境界。这应归功於她早年古典音乐与幕后配乐的多年训练。专辑中另一特色为赞美诗式宗教曲风的应用。也许这不应视为enya音乐的特色，只是在"watermark"中，以她纯美的嗓音，采用赞美诗式的吟咏唱法，够能烘托对生命的无限感怀。
「水」是这张专辑中重要的意象，由同名单曲 《watermark》引出专辑主题。在宁静有致的钢琴声中，一波波人声袭来，彷佛平静的水面，泛起一波波涟漪，袭袭的微风，吹拂过一望无际的水面。这是生命的起源，是思念的所在，也是一切忧伤的洗涤处。在另一首演奏曲"river"潺潺的逝水中，一切哀愁消失殆尽，只觉眼前清朗开阔。
Watermark is an album by the Irish musician Enya, released on 19 September 1988. Featuring her first major hit, "Orinoco Flow", Watermark was Enya's breakthrough album release, and is considered a seminal example of New Age music, although Enya herself does not consider her work to be of that genre.
Two versions of the album were released. In 1989, an extended version of Watermark included "Storms in Africa (Part II)" (as sung in English), which had been released as a single. Some later reissues of Watermark once again omit this track. (wiki)
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by Ned Raggett
Thanks to its distinct, downright catchy single "Orinoco Flow," which amusingly referenced both her record-company boss Rob Dickins and co-producer Ross Cullum in the lyrics, Enya's second album Watermark established her as the unexpected queen of gentle, Celtic-tinged new age music. To be sure, her success was as much due to marketing a niche audience in later years equally in love with Yanni and Michael Flatley's Irish dancing, but Enya's rarely given a sense of pandering in her work. She does what she does, just as she did before her fame. (Admittedly, avoiding overblown concerts run constantly on PBS hasn't hurt.) Indeed, the subtlety that characterizes her work at her best dominates Watermark, with the lovely title track, her multi-tracked voice gently swooping among the lead piano, and strings like a softly haunting ghost, as fine an example as any. "Orinoco Flow" itself, for all its implicit dramatics, gently charges instead of piling things on, while the organ-led "On Your Shore" feels like a hushed church piece. Elsewhere, meanwhile, Enya lets in a darkness not overly present on The Celts, resulting in work even more appropriate for a moody soundtrack than that album. "Cursum Perficio," with her steady chanting-via-overdub of the title phrase, gets more sweeping and passionate as the song progresses, matched in slightly calmer results with the equally compelling "The Longships." "Storms in Africa," meanwhile, uses drums from Chris Hughes to add to the understated, evocative fire of the song, which certainly lives up to its name. Watermark ends with a fascinating piece, "Na Laetha Geal M'Oige," where fellow Irish modern/traditional fusion artist Davy Spillane adds a gripping, heartbreaking uilleann pipe solo to the otherwise calm synth-based performance. It's a perfect combination of timelessness and technology, an appropriate end to this fine album.