The triangle and voices from the first track reappears and repeats itself. The same beat from "Sadeness" enters for the start of "Hallelujah" as the strong sounds of violins accompany the beat. The second three-part movement in the album, "Back to the Rivers of Belief", begins slowly with John Williams' five-toned notes from Steven Spielberg's movie, " Close Encounters of the Third Kind", which leads to mellow Gregorian chants in the first part of the movement, "Way to Eternity". A guitar enters and slips aside quietly for more Gregorian chants, this time a part of " Salve Regina", and fading into the following track. The drums beats in the song made to resemble the sound of a door being knocked, before it progresses into a faster beat. It fades into the experimental track, "The Voice and the Snake", which is based on "Seven Bowls", a song from Aphrodite's Child where a group of people describe the end of the world in an eerie and haunting manner, as mentioned in the Book of Revelation.Ī bowl falls to the ground and breaks, leading it to "Knocking on Forbidden Doors". In " Mea Culpa", the plainsong chant " Kyrie Eleison" (from Mass XI, "Orbis Factor", in the Liber usualis) appears predominantly, alongside Sandra's vocals and the same flute. Chirps from electronic birds at the beginning, mixed with a slow beat and sounds of a piano leads to Sandra's whispers and ends with some samples of Callas singing the aria "Ces lettres, ces lettres" from the opera " Werther" by Massenet. The next song, "Callas Went Away" is a tribute to the opera singer, Maria Callas. The flute returns as chants of " Hosanna" gradually bring an end to the movement. Reversed chants signal the start of "Sadeness (reprise)" and continues with a short piano piece, based on the same tunes as the shakuhachi flute earlier. The song fades into " Find Love", in which Sandra instructs the listeners to follow their lust. Triangles and synthesized shakuhachi flutes add to the French vocals and breathy sounds of Michael's wife, Sandra. The first part, "Sadeness", received the most attention through its unique and previously unheard mix of Gregorian chants and dance beat. "MCMXC a.D." starts with the mellow sounds of a foghorn, later on to be known as the "Enigma horn" and the voice of Louisa Stanley, who at the time was an executive at Virgin Records speaking in "The Voice of Enigma".The Gregorian chant " Procedamus in pace!" then segues into the first three-part movement of the album even before it starts, "Principles of Lust". Other themes that appear on the album were based on Christian beliefs, and the end of the world from the Book of Revelation. The main song of the album ("Sadeness (Part I)") questions the personal beliefs of the Marquis de Sade, who had an affection towards torture as pleasure. The main theme in "MCMXC a.D." could be interpreted as the struggle that one faces in life, between religion and sexuality. market "Sadeness (Part I)" reached fifth place on the Billboard Hot 100 and "MCMXC a.D." made sixth place on the Billboard 200 and remained in the charts for a total of 282 weeks.
1 on the UK singles and albums charts respectively on its UK debut in January 1991. "Sadeness" and "MCMXC a.D." itself hit No. įour singles were excerpted from this album: " Sadeness (Part I)", " Principles of Lust", " Mea Culpa (Part II)" and " The Rivers of Belief". The project's popularity soon soared beyond Cretu's expectations after the album's launch, as it reached number 1 position in charts of 41 countries.
It was Enigma's debut album and one of the most influential albums ever produced in the New Age genre. "MCMXC a.D." ("1990" in Roman numerals followed by a seemingly incorrect abbreviation of " Anno Domini") is a concept album created by the musical project Enigma, spearheaded by Michael Cretu.
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