finally, we are happy to start Stage II of Enigma’s “Social Song”. Over the next weeks it is all about the music! As you already know, Michael Cretu was working on 3 demo versions and now they are ready and uploaded online. So, go to www.enigmasocialsong.com and vote for the one you like the most! Your decision defines the upcoming musical style and mood of the final song.
Also, you can choose between 5 different sounds to add as your own flavor. The one that gets the most votes, will be implemented as a lead instrument in a solo part of the final mix.
Again the conversation will continue on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/enigma), Twitter (@enigmaspace), MySpace (www.myspace.com/enigmaplanet), iTunes’ Ping, and our landing page www.enigmasocialsong.com. Feel free to join!
We expect to see your wizard hat at the party! 🙂
Love you all!
Your Enigma Team
Update from Enigma
I just received the following from Enigma this morning:
it has been 20 years since Enigma’s first album was released… Up until now we have enjoyed our fans’ support, devotion and appreciation. We must say that we never expected this journey to turn so great. But life proved, yet again, that dreams become reality when you put your heart and mind into something and really “push the limits”.
Therefore we would like to thank everyone that ever acquired an Enigma album, listened to our songs, expressed appreciation of our music or enjoyed this musical experiment in any other way. You are the major success factor behind these 20 years of Enigma in the global music arena.
We love you for that!
On the eve of this anniversary, we sat down and tried to think of a way to commemorate it in a manner that will involve everyone – You (the fan), Us (the Enigma Team and in particular Michael Cretu) and everyone else that wants to be part of the celebration. How can we give back something that allowed us making music for such a long time? Well, we think that it’s time to let you be part of what made us so happy and still does:
Creating songs. And this is why we want to create a song with you!
How? We have set up a small website www.enigmasocialsong.com that will be the center of the song creation process along with our other social networks channels. Michael will take the same approach in the song production that he usually does and you will have a chance to input or voice out your preferences along the way. That’s why we call it the “Social Song”.
The whole process will involve 3 steps:
Stage 1: Your Voice – We are looking for vocal talents in the first step. Everyone that sings (or knows a friend that sings) and has an original track will have the unique chance to submit a video with his/her voice. Don’t worry: You don’t have to be an advanced composer or lyric writer. It’s more than enough, if you can jam a little bit. Consider your voice more as a sound – this is Enigma’s philosophy. So, don’t be too shy… It’s the originality that matters. Then it is up to you only to decide, which “voice sound” possesses the potential to be the
lead vocal of Enigmaʼs “Social Song”. Vote on the submissions and choose your favorite vocal track (not the singer itself) – the starting point for everything that follows. Based on your choice Michael is creating three different musical versions around the winner vocal take.
Stage 2: Your Track – Again it’s your turn: You decide, which version you like the most. The overall voting result identifies the basic demo, but we want your input on the music as well. Let us know, which lead instrument you want us to include in the track. Michael will go creative on your favorite sound and work on the final mix.
Stage 3: Our Mix – In this last stage it’s all about the final mix: Your Vocal. Your Track. Our Mix. We will be releasing Enigma’s “Social Song” that you can download and listen to any time and any place you want. This song will be accompanied by a booklet, where every vocal submitter, voter and co-creator of the song that stated his/her will is listed.
In the meantime and after we have created OUR song, you can always visit our channels at Facebook (www.facebook.com/enigma), MySpace (www.myspace.com/enigmaplanet), Twitter (www.twitter.com/enigmaspace) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/enigmaspace) – place a question, share experience and socialize with fans & friends. Let’s create a song to remember!
Your EnigmaSpace Team
www.enigmasocialsong.com
St. Valentine's Day: Share an ENIGMA Love Song!
Do you love me too? Do you… Do you… Do you love me too?
A day for LOVE!! A day for an ENIGMA love song.
Add “Je T’Aime Till My Dying Day” to your profile and pour your love like a river to the lonely DOVE!
Je T’Aime to the one you LOVE…
Je T’Aime to the day you understand you are all LOVE!
Visit the EnigmaSpace profile on YouTube. You can add the video in any other profile (for example “Facebook”), just click on the “SHARE” button.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
New ENIGMA single “The Same Parents” and “Seven Lives Many Faces” DVD now available!
The second single, “The Same Parents” from the new ENIGMA album “Seven Lives Many Faces” is digitally released on worldwide iTunes Stores aiming for radio airplay. “The Same Parents” features lead vocals of Michael Cretu’s sons Nikita and Sebastian. The following explains the origin of the song:
“There is a simple, but impressive story behind this song”, says Michael Cretu. One day, one of the Cretu sons came to his father after watching news and asked him: “I don’t understand: Why people are fighting against each other? Many million years ago there were just one mother and one father. At the end, we are all brothers and sisters.” Cretu was really impressed about the simplicity, but also naive profundity of this question, and decided to write a song about it.
Today, the brand new ENIGMA DVD ”Seven Lives Many Faces” has been released worldwide. The new DVD will feature complete videos for each of the songs. Also to be included are videos for the single tracks “Seven Lives” and “La Puerta Del Cielo”. As a bonus, audio comments will be added in German/English and a press pictures gallery package on the release.
The DVD “Seven Lives Many Faces” can be ordered through Amazon at Amazon Germany or at Amazon US.
Enigma’s Newest Release: Seven Lives Many Faces
I’ve recently had the opportunity to listen to the new Enigma CD Seven Lives Many Faces released on Sept 30, 2008. I have read many differing opinions on the new CD and am not surprised at the range of reviews from “This is the worst of Enigma…” to “This is one of the best… There seems to be many of the opinion that Cretu used too many of his past clips. However, I tend to disagree with this. There is no way I can do justice in writing about the CD, if you are an Enigma fan, you will need to listen for yourself, preferably with headphones, as you will miss much of the experience without. I will only go into a quick explanation of each track.
Cretu opens the CD with his usual great introduction track. borrows a few clips from earlier CD’s and mixes it with a new style. “Encounters” leads straight into “Seven Lives”, a rock strings piece with Andru Donalds on vocals. An interesting bit of trivia – “Seven Lives” was featured on German TV as the theme for their 2008 Olympics in Beijing coverage. The harder edge of “Seven Lives” breaks up the CD between two easygoing tracks, but fits in well between the “Encounters” intro and my second favorite track, “Touchness”.
My favorite track of the CD is “The Same Parents”. I’m not sure what it is about the track other than it having a slow, steady beat. It’s also hard not to get drawn into and actually listen to the lyrics.
The fifth track, “Fata Morguna” is also one of the best tracks. This track starts off with a very dreamy atmospheric sound, slowly introduces a deep bass, and then brings in a deeper bass that really pumps up the song. Then everything is in reverse and leaves you in a quiet, silent mood again. This is a great track and is more than likely my second favorite track.
Seven Lives Many Faces’ sixth track is “Hell’s Heaven”. This is a heavily synthesized track that blends nicely into “La Puerta Del Cielo”, which is the first single to be released from the CD.
“La Puerta Del Cielo” introduces us to the powerful voice of Margarita Roig, a 61 year old native Mongolian. Her voice adds a great tone to the song.
“Distorted Love” is probably my least favorite song on the CD probably because it seems to break the rhythm of the CD in a different way than “Seven Lives”, but on the other hand, some may state that it adds to the CD because it is different and offers a break from the routine.
“Je T’aime Till My Dying Day” is another great slow and steady track with Donalds on vocals. Again, Donalds voice really adds a great feeling to the song. It is amazing to me that Cretu is able to develop so many different sounds and feelings, with the same type beat throughout many of his songs.
“Deja Vú” is more of an instumental piece with a few blended vocals. Great Track.
The eighth track, “Between Generations”, also includes the tribal vocals from Roig.
And the final track, “The Language of Sound” is a another great track that is full of various voice samples with a female bluesy twist. This track reminds me a little of some of Moby’s earlier material.
In my opinion, this is definitely one of Cretu’s best Enigma CD’s. I can only hope that this CD will produce some great additional remixes for more listening pleasure.
Next, I’ll be reviewing the second CD from the Limited Edition set, which contains five bonus tracks AND a remix edit of “The Language of Sound” . Stay tuned…
Tracklist
- Encounters
- Seven Lives (Andru Donalds)
- Touchness
- The Same Parents(feat.Sebastian & Nikita Cretu)
- Fata Morgana
- Hell’s Heaven
- La Puerta Del Cielo (feat.Margarita Roig)
- Distorted Love (feat.Andru Donalds)
- Je T’aime Till My Dying Day (feat.Andru Donalds)
- Déjà vu
- Between Generations (feat.Margarita Roig)
- The Language of Sound