Paint the Sky With Stars Tracklist
Paint the Sky With Stars, subtitled “The Best of Enya”, is the first greatest hits album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya. Released in November 1997 internationally by Warner Music and in the United States by Reprise Records it celebrates 10 years since the release of Enya’s eponymous debut.
Comprised of singles and album-only tracks from her albums Watermark, Shepherd Moons, The Celts and The Memory of Trees, the compilation also included 2 new tracks in the form of “Only If…” and the title track. The former was released as a single to support the album.
Like all most compilation albums, it sold well and garnered a total of around 12 million sales and became the first non-Japanese album on the Warner Music label to win a Japanese Gold Disc Award.
Unlike the rest of Enya’s catalogue, the album has yet to receive any release on vinyl, nor was it part of the 2009 remastering campaign to promote Enya’s second greatest hits album, The Very Best of Enya. However, it was released on CD and cassette before becoming available digitally and on streaming services.
The slightly later released A Box of Dreams is often considered to be a deluxe version of the album.
“Paint the Sky With Stars” Q&A
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What have the artists said about the album?
According to [Enya.sk], Enya said in an interview for the Boston Globe:
I thought it would be fun to relive those moments of writing all those melodies. It was kind of like a musical diary and I really enjoyed it. I started in February, trying to select the obvious ones, the hits, and others. There was a lot of trial and error. It was a little bit difficult to pick selections that would cross over for everyone and to have some of my favorites on as well.
She also said to the New York Times:
I must say I enjoyed the experience. I relived the songs completely: the beginning, the middle, the end, the writing of the melody, the parts that worked wonderfully and the parts that didn’t work. It’s like a diary of what I did each day. Musically I was quite happy because though sometimes it’s very subtle, I know there’s a progression on each album and my voice has been maturing.
