Enigma

The German musical project Enigma is well known to all lovers of electronic music. Enigma was formed in 1990 by a composer Michael Cretu, who already had an experience in writing compositions. He even released several albums before Enigma, however he did not manage to get success due to them. An active part in the project was taken by Michael’ ex-wife Sandra Cretu as well. Her vocals can be heard on the project’s first five albums. Actually, the line-up of Enigma has always been diverse, because Michael enjoyed working with different musicians. By the way it is worth mentioning that Enigma is a studio project, so it is simply impossible to visit their show.

Enigma's debut album saw the light in December of 1990. There is absolutely no doubt that MCMXC a.D. took a notable place not only in the project’s discography, but also in the history of electronic music. Thus, about twenty five millions of copies of that record were sold so far. In spite of the fact that MCMXC a.D. appeared twenty years ago, it does not loose its actuality. Three years later Enigma issued the second long play titled The Cross of Changes (1993), which proved that the success of the first album was not just a lucky chance. The Eyes of Truth, Out from the Deep and other songs from The Cross of Changes deserved their right to be called the classics of world electronic music. Tried and true, they keep on pleasing connoisseurs of that musical direction all over the world. Another three years later the release of Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi! (1996) took place. And again the strong album satisfied the listeners’ expectations, while the number of project’s fans increased.

At the edge of new millennium Enigma presented their new creation Screen Behind the Mirror (2000). The experts acclaimed that work, but actually nobody really doubted that studio attempt’s quality. Enigma needed a little time to establish a reputation of extremely talented performers, who remain faithful to their style. Following the tradition to please fans with a new work every three years, Enigma issued the long play Voyageur in 2003 and A Posteriori in 2006. Voyageur became one of the project’s most unique works. However the experiments with the sound turned out to be successful, even in spite of the absence of flutes and other elements. A Posteriori is notable to be the very first long play that had been recorded at Alchemist, the studio, which had been designed by Michael Cretu himself. As the musicians noted, the studio’s comfort helped him a lot in writing new compositions.

Enigma's seventh album titled Seven Lives Many Faces saw the light in 2008. Well, that strong and rememberable record once again proved that Enigma still keeps its ground. Mysterious style of Enigma can be hardly mixed up with someone else’s – soft, ambient melodies, elaborated arrangements and delicate vocals became the very fundamentals of that project. It can be stated that for many people acquaintance with the world of electronic music started with Enigma's albums. And it is so nice to know that now, after twenty years of productive career the German band still pleases music lovers.