Shepherd Moons | ||||
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Studio album by Enya | ||||
Released | 4 November 1991 | |||
Recorded | 1989–1991 | |||
Studio | Aigle Studios (Artane, Dublin, Ireland) SARM West Studios (London, England) |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 43:09 | |||
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Producer | Nicky Ryan | |||
Enya chronology | ||||
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Singles from Shepherd Moons | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Chicago Tribune | |
Entertainment Weekly | B (1992) A− (1993) |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide |
Shepherd Moons is the third studio album by Irish singer, songwriter and musician Enya, released on 4 November 1991 by Warner Music internationally and 19 November 1991 by Reprise Records in the United States. After the unexpected critical and commercial success of her previous album Watermark in 1988, Enya embarked on a worldwide promotional tour to support it. At its conclusion, she proceeded to write and rehearse new material for her next album with her long time recording partners, manager, arranger and producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan. The album was recorded in Ireland and London and continued to display Enya's sound of multi-tracked vocals with keyboards and elements of Celtic and New age music, though Enya believes her music does not belong in the latter genre.
Shepherd Moons received generally positive reviews from critics and became a greater commercial success than Watermark. It went to number one on the UK Albums Chart and peaked at number seventeen on the Billboard 200 in the United States. The album was certified multi-platinum by the British Phonographic Industry and Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 1.2 million and five million copies, respectively. Between 1991 and 1994, Enya released four singles from Shepherd Moons: "Caribbean Blue", "How Can I Keep from Singing?", "Book of Days", which charted at number ten in the United Kingdom, and "Marble Halls". As with Watermark, Enya supported the album with a worldwide promotional tour which included several interviews and televised performances. In 1993, the album won Enya a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album, the first of four she has won in her career. It was reissued in 1992 and 2009; the latter for Japan with several bonus tracks.