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MCMXC a.D.

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Untitled

MCMXC a.D. (the year 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. It was Enigma's debut album and one of the most influential albums ever produced in the New Age genre. The project's popularity soon soared beyond Cretu's expectations after the album's launch.

Four singles were excerpted from this album: "Sadeness (Part I)", "Principles of Lust", "Mea Culpa (Part II)" and "The Rivers of Belief". "Sadeness" and MCMXC a.D. itself hit No. 1 on the UK singles and albums charts respectively on its UK debut in January 1991. On the US 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.

Theme

The main theme in MCMXC a.D. could be interpreted as the struggle that one faces in life, between religion and sexuality. 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. Other themes that appear on the album were based on Christian beliefs, and the end of the world from the Book of Revelation.

Overview

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 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". The first part, "Sadeness", received the most attention through its unique and previously unheard mix of Gregorian chants and dance beat. Triangles and synthesized shakuhachi flutes add to the French vocals and breathy sounds of Michael's wife, Sandra. The song fades into "Find Love", in which Sandra instructs the listeners to follow their lust. 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 flute returns as chants of "Hosanna" gradually bring an end to the movement.

The next song, "Callas Went Away" is a tribute to the opera singer, Maria Callas. 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.

In "Mea Culpa", the chant "Kyrie Eleison" appears predominantly in this song, alongside Sandra's vocals and the same flute. 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.

A bowl falls to the ground and breaks, leading it to "Knocking on Forbidden Doors". The drums beats in the song made to resemble the sound of a door being knocked, before it progresses into a faster beat. A guitar enters and slips aside quietly for more Gregorian chants, and fading into the following track.

The second three-part movement in the album, "Back to the Rivers of Belief", begins slowly with John Williams' five-toned notes from Stephen 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". The same beat from "Sadeness" enters for the start of "Hallelujah" as the strong sounds of violins accompany the beat. The triangle and voices from the first track reappears and repeats itself. A noticeable Arabian style is apparent in this part and segues into the next part, "The Rivers of Belief", the only track where Michael Cretu sings in the album. After Cretu sings the chorus, the music stops completely and an unfamiliar male voice intones Revelation 8:1: "When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, silence covered the sky". As a matter of fact it is the voice of Vangelis Papathanasiou, sampled from Aphrodite's Child album 666. The music resumes with the shakuhachi flute and Cretu's vocals. The album ends with the falling star effect and the "Enigma horn".

Impact of MCMXC a.D.

Controversy surrounded the music in the album for both its religious and sexual overtones, particularly the first three singles. The video clip for "Principles of Lust" was banned from MTV and most TV stations, who were also unwilling to play the music videos for "Sadeness (Part I)". The album itself was banned in several countries because of that same reason,[citation needed] while critics have slammed the songs in the album as blasphemous. Nevertheless, the popularity of the album shot up to number one in at least 24 different countries in where it was released, reaching gold and platinum status.

The success of MCMXC a.D. influenced the works of B-Tribe (Fiesta Fatal!), Delerium (Semantic Spaces) and even Sarah Brightman ("Eden"). The album was also a stepping stone for the creation of other groups who mainly include Gregorian chants in their music, such as Era and Gregorian, which was founded by Frank Peterson prior to his falling out with Michael Cretu.

In addition, Cretu received a total of 1.4 million pre-orders of their next album, The Cross of Changes which was launched even before MCMXC a.D. fell out of the charts after four years.

In 1994, Polydor Germany sued Cretu and Virgin Germany for infringing on its "right of personality" in the samples used in "Sadeness (Part I)" and "Mea Culpa". The lawsuit was settled out of court after Cretu agreed to pay compensation to the original creator of the samples.

Sleeve

The artwork on the sleeve of MCMXC a.D. was designed by Johann Zambryski, who also continued to design the sleeves of the next four albums after MCMXC a.D. and its compilation and DVD covers. It depicted a thick, black frame surrounding a silhouette of a figure being enshrouded in a bright light, and a Christian cross in the lower centre of the album for emphasis towards the themes of the album.

Track listing

Original album

(Most releases contain these seven tracks; some ulterior releases gave a track to each part.)

  1. "The Voice of Enigma" (Curly M.C.) – 2:21
  2. "Principles of Lust" – 11:43
    A. "Sadeness" (Curly, F. Gregorian, David Fairstein)
    B. "Find Love" (Curly)
    C. "Sadeness (reprise)" (Curly, Gregorian, Fairstein)
  3. "Callas Went Away" (Curly) – 4:27
  4. "Mea Culpa" (Curly, Fairstein) – 5:03
  5. "The Voice & The Snake" (Curly, Gregorian) – 1:39
  6. "Knocking on Forbidden Doors" (Curly) – 4:31
  7. "Back to the Rivers of Belief" – 10:32
    A. "Way to Eternity" (Curly)
    B. "Hallelujah" (Curly)
    C. "The Rivers of Belief" (Curly, Fairstein)
File:MCMXC aD Limited Edition.jpg
Fallen

MCMXC a.D. - The Limited Edition

(Released in November 1991, included the songs from the original album and 4 additional remixes.)

8. "Sadeness (Meditation)" (Curly, Gregorian, Fairstein) – 2:43
9. "Mea Culpa (Fading Shades)" (Curly, Fairstein) – 6:04
10. "Principles of Lust (Everlasting Lust)" (Curly) – 4:50
11. "The Rivers of Belief (The Returning Silence)" (Curly, Fairstein) – 7:04

MCMXC a.D. with bonus disc

(Released in November 1999, included re-release of the original album and 6 remixes of 2 songs from the album on a separate disc.)

  1. "Sadeness - Part I (Meditation Mix)" (Curly, Fairstein) – 3:00
  2. "Sadeness - Part I (Extended Trance Mix)" (Curly, Fairstein) – 5:01
  3. "Sadeness - Part I (Violent US Remix)" (Curly, Fairstein) – 5:03
  4. "Mea Culpa - Part II (Fading Shades Mix)" (Curly, Fairstein) – 6:13
  5. "Mea Culpa - Part II (Orthodox Version)" (Curly, Fairstein) – 4:00
  6. "Mea Culpa - Part II (Catholic Version)" (Curly, Fairstein) – 3:55

Singles

Personnel

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

282 weeks (over 5 years) in Billboard Top 200 Albums

Year Chart Position
1991 The Billboard 200 6

Album - UK Album Charts

184 weeks in UK top 200 Album Charts

U.K. Top 75 Albums [1]
Week 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Position
10
3
1
3
2
7
10
21
19
28
30
30
30
34
37
36
39
44
44
48
56
58
71
61
70
73
62
65
57
week 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58
position
71
61
69
70
73
62
65
57
45
37
50
60
60
59
70
75
64
64
67
75
71
68
53
42
44
45
45
49
62
week 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
Position
65
75
74
75
47
45
38
56
51
47
39
48
48
51
71
72
71
74
74
74
70
71
47
47
66
46
63
73
72


Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1991 "Sadeness (Part I)" The Billboard Hot 100 5
1991 "Sadeness (Part I)" Modern Rock Tracks 6
1991 "Sadeness (Part I)" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 67
1991 "Sadeness (Part I)" Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1 (3 weeks)
1991 "Sadeness (Part I)" Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 1 (? weeks)

Miscellanea

  • MCMXC a.D. was one of the first albums to be recorded on a hard disk after Cretu's upgrade to the A.R.T. Studio.
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind is one of Michael Cretu's favourite movies.
  • In the last (seventh) track of the album, the sentence about the Seventh Seal enters at the 7th minute and 7th second, although in some pressings, it appears at the 7th minute and 17th second.
  • Cretu only describes the male voice speaking in French in "Sadeness (Part I)" as a good friend of his.

References

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