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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0094636999425 Label: Virgin Records Us Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Virgin Records Us Release Date: September 26, 2006 Sales Rank: 2639 Studio: Virgin Records Us
Amazon.com: There are no black holes in Enigma's musical universe. Nothing ever just vanishes here. It's been 16 years since October 1st 1990, when Enigma's debut, "Sadeness Part 1," rocked the earthly airwaves and hit the top of the charts with sounds the planet had never heard. All of a sudden Enigma was no longer a UFO but the most famous spaceship of world music - and the music world. On September 22nd, 2006 A Posteriori, the sixth album of Michael Cretu's Enigma project was released.
You can get an idea of where A Posteriori is heading from song titles such as "Dreaming Of Andromeda," "Message From Io" and "Goodbye Milky Way." It takes you on a voyage through a multilayered soundscape, to the limits of your sonic experience, but always stays true to the essence of Enigma. The album will carry any hitch-hiker along to explore extraordinary new galaxies aboard the sound-ship Enigma. There is also the overture that, as on the five predecessors, welcomes the listener to Enigma's latest album, before creating the first tonal Fata Morgana 30 seconds later. Wafting through a soft carpet of sound come mysterious voices suggestive of power, shouting something Latin into this new sound-sphere—a sphere where A Posteriori will linger. Enigma once again create associative sound-signals that embed themselves in your head forever like a mental tattoo.
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Amazon.com: Sixth in a series of never-quite-the-same recordings from Michael Cretu, the Bucharest-born electronic musician/studio wiz known as Enigma, A Posteriori has the capacity to delight one camp of Enigma devotees while it perplexes another. Less overtly sensual than earlier recordings and devoid of female singers in lead-vocalist roles (no Ruth-Ann, no Sandra), A Posteriori nevertheless stands as a worthwhile recording that at its best moments handsomely displays Cretu's talents for effective songcraft and imaginative sound design. The 54-minute disc--an ode to science and discovery rather than brainy erotica--launches with two impressive instrumentals, "Eppur Si Muove" ("and yet it does move," a phrase attributed to Galileo following his heresy conviction for asserting that the earth rotates around the sun) and "Feel Me Heaven," gorgeous tracks that are part audio space probes, part pulsing Euro electronica. Momentum wanes (or chills) until Cretu strings together a series of tracks that use a heady amalgam of ambient, techno, dance, and rock textures: "Hello and Welcome," "20,000 Miles Over the Sea," "Sitting on the Moon," and the dense, edgy "The Alchemist," which evokes notions of a 21st-century version of Ultravox. "Moon" stands out in particular, guided by a subtle pop melody that exudes the gentle irresistibility of Dido's best work. Cretu wisely limits (or eliminates) the use of Gregorian chants and ethnic voices, once-fresh ideas now demoted to gimmickry. He lets his own voice, a raspy take on Peter Gabriel, carry this disc's three vocal-driven tracks to mixed effect. While not everything glitters here, enough does that A Posteriori warrants investigation by earnestly inquisitive Enigma followers. --Terry Wood
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Uno de los mejores de Enigma
El mejor disco del "segundo capítulo de Enigma", como llamó Michael Cretu al cambio que hizo empezando por "Voyageur" y que ha seguido hasta el más reciente "Seven lives, many faces". Esto sí es evolución. Ni trata de imitar viejos estilos como en E7, ni trata de volver el proyecto a su lado más pop como en E4, y tiene una línea como en sus primeros cuatro discos, o sea, que tiene una temática que se "discute", por así decirlo, a lo largo del disco, y son los descubrimientos y confesiones de la ciencia, además de metáforas con el cosmos y la vía láctea. Muy espacial, muy electrónico, ... Read More
Rating: - Easily The Best Enigma Album Ever... EVER!
I have been a fan Enigma since I was 9 and have followed them religiously for the past 18 years. This album has won a great recommendation from me which is why I'm writing this review.
Even after listening to the latest album, 7 LIves many faces, I must say that A Posteriori is easily the best album they have produced so far. The songs are intricate, dynamic, and sensual. My favorite songs are "Feel Me Heaven" and "20.000 miles over the Sea" which give you the feeling that you've just left earth and the confinements of gravity.
Overall the CD has a very Nocturnal, Spacey ... Read More
Rating: - Inter-Planetary Moods
This is a GREAT album and if you're an Enigma fan you will already know that almost ALL of their CDs have ONE main 'tune' or melody that Cretu arranges/mixes in many different ways. I find myself humming one arrangement and skipping to parts of another track on the same CD. They blend together naturally. That's also the reason why most of the tracks continue on right into each other-without pauses in between.
There is definitely a 'Cosmos' feel....i.e. futuristic/other-worldly feel to this CD.
Rating: - Enigma continues to grow
I love Enigma. I waited a long time for this album. No, it's not like the others, but it is, unmistakebly Enigma. A good sound system reveals the characteristic layer upon layer that is Enigma. Cretu continues to add a touch of sound at the exact right moment it is needed in each piece. Sounds that and notes that are a marvel to me. Kind of like an artist knowing just where to add a highlight or color. It is a departure from the earlier stuff, but most of us are too. I even liked Voyageur, though I think it was considerably less subtle and more pop-sounding. It has less layers, but it is still good. ... Read More
Rating: - Return to Ambience
As a long time critical listener of Cretu, I rate 'A Posteriori' a success. I enjoyed the return of ambience, airy synth pads, the soothing layered harmonies and familiar leitmotifs from Cretu's repetoire. All taken together to give us another enriching chapter of Enigma.
As always, the vocals are a mixed bag, personally I find Cretu's singing and juevenile "I don't get it" lyrics off-putting, but you may be able to ignore the preaching or you may find it intolerable.
As in MCM (#1) and Le Roi (#3), the album as a whole can be thought of as an entire set-piece of rock-opera. This ... Read More
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