Collecting Enya: The Frog Prince

‘The Frog Prince’ album contains music that Enya composed for the 1984 romantic comedy of the same name. The soundtrack released the following year includes 9 instrumentals composed by Enya, 2 songs composed and performed by her and a couple of jazz standards performed by Jazz Club. Contrary to popular belief, the cd is very easy to buy (used copies start at $2) and not rare at all. The question is more whether you should give it a try and include it in your Enya collection or not.

If you are a big fan and a completist, the soundtrack is definitely interesting. It was the first ever release consisting primarily of Enya material and a stepping stone to ‘The Celts’. However, most of the music credited to Enya was only composed by her and then arranged and performed by other people. Judging from the interviews that Enya and Nicky gave later, they were not very pleased with the end product. Also, the instrumental pieces do not contain any multivocals that became associated with the trademark Enya sound.

On the other hand, even though not very exciting, the music stays sweet. There are three main themes that repeat throughout the album: the movie theme, the Jenny’s theme and the Jean-Philippe’s theme. The latter two are fully developped in ‘The Frog Prince’ and ‘Dreams’ performed by Enya. These songs are the definite highlight of the album and the best reason to buy it. It is in here that you get to hear Enya’s younger voice and a hint of layered multivocals. They are both dreamy romantic ballads, the arrangements are not entirely unlike ‘I Want Tomorrow’. While I never listen to the rest of the album, I keep these two in my mp3 player.

To sum things up, this is an interesting little cd if you have everything else and want to explore Enya’s early work. But do not expects the polished sound and breathtaking multivocals of the latter albums because you will not get them here.

Release details

01 The Train To Paris
02 The First Day
03 Mack The Knife (Jazz Club)
04 Let It Be Me (Jazz Club)
05 With Jean-Phillippe
06 Jenny
07 Reflections
08 The Frog Prince
09 Dreams
10 The Kiss
11 Sweet Georgia Brown (Jazz Club)
12 Georgia On My Mind (Jazz Club)
13 A Kiss By The Fountain
14 Jenny And Roz
15 Les Flon-Flons Du Bal (Edith Piaf)
16 Epilogue

Australia 1995 Spectrum Music 551099-2
Germany 1995 Spectrum Music 551099-2
UK 1999 Spectrum Music 551099-2
UK 1985 Island Visual Arts ISTA 10 (cassette)
UK 1985 Island Visual Arts ISTA 10 (12″ vinyl)

Enya’s bio from the booklet

When she was eighteen Enya (Eithne Ni Bhraonain) joined the group Clannad, her immediate family, with whom she recorded two albums and toured Europe extensively for two years, after which she decided to devote her time to her own music. This album sees her first incursion into the world of film music. It is a great source of pride for Enya that David Puttman chose her music for this project.

Complete credits

Mixed By: Nicky Ryan.
Mixing Engineer: Andrew Boland.
Engineered By: Steve Allan, Phillip Begley and Nicky Ryan.
Recorded At: Snache Ranch Studios, London and Aigle Studios, Dublin.
The Frog Prince Sleeve Design by: Jackie Bigwood.
Album Co-ordinated by: Richard Manners for Island Visual Arts.
Mastered for CD by: Gary Moore, PolyGram, London.
Enya and Aigle Music wish to thank: John Connolly of Andromeda Sound System, Mona Ryan, Terry Cromer of Audio Engineering, John Kennedy, Dominic Fullford, Ernest Forbes, Noel Bridgeman, Declan Kellt, Errol Forbes and Michele Forbes, Fachenta O’Kelly, Brenda and Neil Buckley, Michael O’Driscoll of Accent Plus and Steve Norris of Enigma.