Shepherd Moons

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This article is about the album by Enya. For the astronomical bodies, see planetary ring.
Shepherd Moons
Enya3.jpg
Studio album by Enya
Released 4 November 1991
Recorded 1989–1991 at Aigle Studios, Dublin, Ireland and SARM West Studios, London, England[1]
Genre New age, celtic
Length 43:09
Label WEA Records
Producer Nicky Ryan
Enya chronology
Watermark
(1988)Watermark1988		 Shepherd Moons
(1991)		 The Celts
(1992)The Celts1992
Singles from Shepherd Moons
  1. "Caribbean Blue"
    Released: November 1991
  2. "How Can I Keep from Singing?"
    Released: 1991
  3. "Book of Days"
    Released: July 1992
  4. "Marble Halls"
    Released: 1994

Shepherd Moons is the third studio album from the Irish musician Enya, released in November 1991 on WEA Records. Following the worldwide commercial success of her previous album, Watermark (1988), Enya proceeded to record a follow up in 1989 with lyricist Roma Ryan and producer Nicky Ryan. Shepherd Moons continued to display Enya's sound of layered vocals and synthesized sounds with influences of Celtic music.

Shepherd Moons was a commercial success upon release, reaching No. 1 in the UK and No. 17 in the US where it stayed on the chart for 199 consecutive weeks[2] and sold over 4 million copies. Four singles from the album were released between 1991 and 1994; the most successful was "Caribbean Blue" which peaked at No. 13 in the UK. The album won Enya a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in 1993. A limited edition remaster was released on Super High Material CD in Japan in 2009 with bonus tracks.[3]

Production

Background

Following the unexpected worldwide success of her previous album Watermark (1988) and its lead single "Orinoco Flow", Enya began work on a follow up in 1989 with her lyricist Roma Ryan and producer Nicky Ryan. She described her change in herself since Watermark: "The difference between that album and 'Shepherd Moons' is that I've mellowed".[4] As with Watermark, Enya sings in English, Gaelic, her first language, and Latin.[5]

Recording

Shepherd Moons was recorded in two locations, Nicky Ryan's home studio in Dublin named Aigle Studios and SARM West Studios in London,[1] with new equipment purchased from the profits from Watermark.[6] The success of Watermark put "a lot of pressure" on Enya when it came to writing new material for the album. She added, "I kept thinking 'Would this have gone on Watermark? Is it as good?' Eventually I had to forget about this and start on a blank canvas and just really go with what felt right in the studio."[7] In some parts on the album, Enya recorded 500 layered voices without sampling or replication. When the melody to a song was completed, Roma Ryan would write lyrics to it.[7]

Release

Shepherd Moons was released in the UK in November 1991; it was released in North America under Reprise Records. It was a commercial success, reaching No. 1 in the UK for one week and No. 17 in the US. In the US, the album sold over 250,000 copies in its first week[7] and went on to sell 5 million copies.

Four tracks were released as singles; "Caribbean Blue" was the most successful and peaked at No. 13 in the UK singles chart. The others were "How Can I Keep from Singing?", "Book of Days", and "Marble Halls", released in 1994 after it appeared in the 1993 film The Age of Innocence.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[8]
Chicago Tribune 2.5/4 stars[9]
Entertainment Weekly B (1992)[10]
A− (1993)[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 2.5/5 stars[12]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Ned Raggett rated the album four-and-a-half stars out of five.[8]

Awards

In 1993, Enya was awarded a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album for Shepherd Moons. She also won a IFPI Platinum European Award, a Billboard Music Award, and a National Association of Recording Merchandisers Award for Best Selling Album.[13]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Roma Ryan, all music composed by Enya and all songs produced by Nicky Ryan.

No. Title Length
1. "Shepherd Moons"   3:42
2. "Caribbean Blue"   3:58
3. "How Can I Keep from Singing?"   4:23
4. "Ebudæ"   1:54
5. "Angeles"   3:57
6. "No Holly for Miss Quinn"   2:40
7. "Book of Days[lower-alpha 1]"   2:32
8. "Evacuee"   3:50
9. "Lothlórien"   2:08
10. "Marble Halls"   3:53
11. "Afer Ventus"   4:05
12. "Smaointe..."   6:07

Chart performance

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Argentina (CAPIF)[33] 3× Platinum 180,000
Australia (ARIA)[34] 3× Platinum 210,000
Belgium (BEA)[35] 2× Platinum 100,000
Brazil (ABPD)[36] Platinum 250,000
Canada (Music Canada)[37] 3× Platinum 300,000
France (SNEP)[38] Gold 100,000
Germany (BVMI)[39] Gold 250,000
Ireland (IRMA)[40] Platinum 15,000
Japan (RIAJ)[41] Gold 100,000
Netherlands (NVPI)[42] 2× Platinum 200,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[43] Platinum 15,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[44] 5× Platinum 500,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[45] Gold 25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[46] 4× Platinum 1,200,000
United States (RIAA)[47] 5× Platinum 5,000,000
Summaries
Worldwide 12,000,000[48]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Personnel

Musicians
Production
  • Nicky Ryan – producer, engineer, mixer, arranger
  • Rob Dickins – executive producer
  • Gregg Jackman – engineer, mixing
  • Robin Barclay – assistant engineer
  • David Scheinmann – photography
  • The New Renaissance – wardrobe

Footnotes

Notes
  1. ↑ Early editions of Shepherd Moons included a version of "Book of Days" with Gaelic lyrics. Later editions feature a version in English that was originally recorded for the soundtrack to Far and Away (1992).
Citations
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=2&storyCode=1035793
  3. ↑ http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=459819
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 AllMusic review
  9. ↑ Chicago Tribune review
  10. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review 1
  11. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review 2
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://www.enya.com/about_albumsingle.php
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ NO certyear WAS PROVIDED for AUSTRALIAN CERTIFICATION.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select ENYA and click OK
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select 1992年5月 on the drop-down menu
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select the "Chart", enter ' in the field "Year". Select ' in the field "Semana". Click on "Search Charts"
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Shepherd Moons in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Preceded by UK number one album
16 November 1991 – 22 November 1991		 Succeeded by
We Can't Dance by Genesis
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