Enigma
Country of origin:
Germany
Type of music generally:
Ambient techno-dance pop
Status:
Most recent release, The Fall of a Rebel Angel (2016)
See also:
Enigma's site
Comparisons:
Somewhat similar to Dead Can Dance, Delerium, Deep Forest. Perhaps also Enya and Adiemus (though they're more classically oriented and use real instruments while Enigma is electronic).
Covers/own material:
Creates new sounds using sampled material
General comments:
Enigma are definitely on the commercial, radio-friendly and poppy end of things. Largely electronic music. (Marion)After listening to Enigma again, I can't help thinking that they are the '90s answer to the late '70s, early '80s Alan Parsons Project sans Sandra Cretu. (kcd@cray.com)
Recommended first album:
MCMXC A.D.
Recordings:
- MCMXC A.D. (1991)
- The Cross of Changes (1993)
- Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi (compilation, 1996)
- Love Sensuality Devotion: The Greatest Hits (2001)
- Love Sensuality Devotion: The Remix Collection
- The Screen Behind The Mirror (2000)
- Voyageur (2003)
- A Posteriori (2006)
- Seven Lives, Many Faces (video album, 2008)
- The Platinum Collection (compilation, 2009)
- Best Of (3-CD compilation, 2012)
- The Fall of a Rebel Angel (2016)
MCMXC A.D.
Release info:
1991—Virgin (Europe)—262029 (Germany)/CDVIR10 (UK) (this is for "The Limited edition" which includes 4 extra versions of songs of the album)
Availability:
Wide in Europe
Ecto priority:
Recommended for techno pop fans
Produced by:
Enigma
Comments:
i think is *wonderful* to drive to, not too sleepy nor too speedy. i can't really describe it too well, mystical Euro techno dance pop something or other. hmm. (winona@mildh.pair.com)This is quite enjoyable—Gregorian and other samples, soft spoken words and singing (male and female voices) over a soft beat, that just flows one song into the other. Nice music to relax to, and I quite like it. (Marion)
The cross of changes
Release info:
1993—Virgin (Europe)—8392362 (Germany)/CDVIR20 (UK)
Availability:
Wide in Europe
Ecto priority:
Recommended for techno pop fans
Group members:
Curly M.C.—voices, other instruments and programming
Guest artists:
Angel—additional voices
Sandra—additional voices
Louisa Stanley—additional voices
Jens Gad—guitars
Peter Cornelius—guitars
Produced by:
"Curly" Michael Cretu
Comments:
I lost interest in Cross of Changes. (kcd@cray.com)
Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi
Release info:
1996—Virgin Schallplatten GmbH (The Netherlands)—7243 8 42065 2 9
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Recommended for techno pop fans
Comments:
like it OK after a couple of listens. To me, it's better than Cross of Changes, but perhaps not quite as good as MCMXC A.D. Perhaps that's because I have become accustomed to Enigma's sound. Their first album was a bit of a revelation to me when I first bought it some 3 years ago. It still stands as a favorite of mine.
Le Roi Est Mort tends to get stronger from about mid-way thru to the end. I hope I don't lose interest in it like I did Cross of Changes. (kcd@cray.com)I like Le Roi Est Mort better than Cross of Changes but not as well as MCMXC A.D.. It's a nice, slow, beat-filled album, and perfectly suited to the kind of music I'm currently looking for—music I can listen to at work which does not interfere with my work and which can be interrupted.
And finally, Michael Cretu's voice doesn't seem to bother me as much as it does some people—for me, it's just part of the music.
A thumbs up from me, and it's probably a disc I will listen to for a while to come. (cinnamon@one.net)I kind of like it. It's my first Enigma album and I only bought it because it was on sale. It's good background music in my opinion but a bit boring if you listen to it intensively. The sound is too blurred and reverberated and I'm tired of the monk choirs. And finally I don't like Michael Cretu's voice (who doesn't sing too often on the album). Le Roi Est Mort is a nice album for dark and rainy weather. (Dirk.Kastens@rz.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE)
Thanks to Dirk Kastens and Marion Kippers for work on this entry.
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