Enigma - The Cross Of Changes (1993) (FLAC-EAC)

Enigma: Biography Enigma are the brainchild of Michael Cretu (b. 18 May 1957 as Mihai Creţu, Bucharest, Romania). Acheived commercial success after popularising a brand of chill-out music utilising Gregorian chants and dance music rhythms. Album Review (c/o AllMusic) Cretu being no fool, he figured if it worked the first time, no need to change things much for the second. But he also knew not to simply go ahead and just rehash his debut for Cross of Changes, resulting in a just different enough effort along the same overall lines. The usual air of tasteful middle-of-the-road spirituality takes precedence, right down to the cover art and appropriately pantheistic quote from Persian mystic poet Rumi in the CD booklet. Needless to say, the music attempts to match the same throughout, and often succeeds. Things kick off with more of the synth-whale song noises and atmospherics from MCMXC, however there aren't any monks to be found this time around, but what sounds like the same whispering woman talking about "clearing the debts of many hundred years" and the like. From there, Cretu merrily takes the same plunge -- some of his sample choices this time around show he's got a decent record collection, including parts from Songs From the Victorious City, the striking fusion of Egyptian and Western musics from Anne Dudley and Jaz Coleman. His work with beats and loops noticeably shows a more developed edge -- while hardly an innovator, there's a bit more grime and loud in his rhythms, which in combination with extra electric guitar make a reasonable contrast to the smoother elements. Consider the rampaging conclusion to "I Love You...I'll Kill You," which while sharing some cheese with the title itself still works surprisingly well, right down to a clever Robert Plant vocal sample at the end. "Return to Innocence" was the big single from this one, not quite up there with "Sadeness" in the popular culture in the U.S. but almost inescapable elsewhere. There's another Led Zeppelin sample (this time John Bonham) and a haunting male vocal providing oomph under the fuzzy-headed greeting card philosophy of the main lyrics. It's an impressive effort, showing Cretu had a definite something in his own way. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Enigma - The Cross Of Changes --------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist....................................: Enigma Album.......................: The Cross Of Changes Genre..................,.................: New Age Source........................................: CD Year........................................: 1993 Ripper: Exact Audio Copy V1.0 b1 & HP DVD RW AD-7701H Codec...........: Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) Version.........: reference libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917 Quality.......: Lossless, (avg. compression: 58 %) Channels..............: Stereo / 44100 HZ / 16 Bit Tags...............................: VorbisComment Information..: Original 1993 UK & European Pressing Ripped by..............: BSW on 7/9/2011 Posted by..............: BSW on 7/9/2011 News Server..........: news.astraweb.com News Group(s).: alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.metal.full.albums Included....: NFO, SFV, M3U, LOG, CUE Covers................: Front Back CD --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tracklisting --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Second Chapter [02:15] 2. The Eyes Of Truth [07:14] 3. Return To Innocence [04:15] 4. I Love You ... I'll Kill You [08:52] 5. Silent Warrior [06:09] 6. The Dream Of The Dolphin [02:47] 7. Age Of Loneliness (Carly's Song) [05:21] 8. Out From The Deep [04:53] 9. The CROSS Of Changes [02:24] Playing Time.................: 44:14 Total Size...............: 271.22 MB NFO generated on.....: 7/9/2011 6:09:42 PM --------------------------------------------------------------------- Cat No: CDVIR 20 Catalog# info on spine, on booklet and CD: 7243 8 39236 2 5 - CDVIR 20 - PM 520 Catalog# info on back: D: 8 39236 2 | UK: CDVIR 20 | F: PM 520 --------------------------------------------------------------------- :: Generated by Music NFO Builder v1.21a - www.nfobuilder.com ::

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