Customer Reviews

Voyageur

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I have always been a devout fan of Enigma as I tend to favor music styles such as ambient, new age, world, and music of the avant-guarde. Enigma seems to be able to straddle both the edge of music while still allowing itself to be accessed by random listerners looking for something fresh and new.

So about VOYAGEUR, there are many mixed reactions so I decided to let the album grow on me for a week or so before writing anything. Here are my thoughts:

Enigma has grown and moved away from silky ambient sampled themes and is marching toward a world beat mixed with an edgier rhythm and more diverse vocals. A fantastic leap into something new for such an established project like Enigma.

The album opens up with a warm muted piano laced under soft sounds rushing suddenly with an urgent beat. "From East to West", the intro, may be the announcement that Enigma is about to move forward into the future. Then in "Voyageur" a guitar plays while a strange meloncholy baseline meaders from nowhere. Quivering sampled voices bring an eerie feel to the song.

"Incognito" comes on with a looped vocal with a steady beat and a far off male voice singing. Next is an ode to a tarot card in "The Page of Cups" with sounds of birds and perhaps a far off boombox which is drowned away by slow beats of trance music.

"Boum-Boum" is most likely to be a single. A sorta Euro-dance/outer space boogie with a female voice singing about longing so much her heart goes "boum"! Suddenly a male voice responds and the beat is carried deeper. A great track! This song is begging to be remixed!!

"Total Eclipse of the Moon" brings some synth strings and classical tones and a beautiful song. If you like Peter Gabriel, you will like this song! A muted grinding rhythm finds itself a voice "In the Shadow, In the Light". Very understated...perfect!

The muted piano returns for an ambient dance sonata in "The Piano". Then the album finds fruition with "Following the Sun" a sweet musical number with both male and female vocals taking the album from start to finish...from east to west...following the sun...following the future.

Remember listening to the first Enigma CD and thinking "this music is so on the edge and new"? Well listen to this with an open mind and you will be hearing again music that is new!

Enjoy this CD!

Since 1990 I've been a fan of Cretu's ENIGMA. I have to confess that each release surprises me in a way that only his geniality could do. "Voyageur" is everything a fan would expect from a long journey that started over a decade ago. I see "The Screen Behind the Mirror" and "Turn Around" as traces of the metamorphoses process ENIGMA was going through and it was obvious that it would arrive where it is now. Is that why the cover art of "Voyageur" is filled with moth representations? ENIGMA evoluted, but the old elements are still there after all. This is definately one of ENIGMA's 5 best albums. (could you pick one to be the worst?) Once again I was touched by the beautiful sound, perfect arrangements, powerfull drumbeats, sexy rythims, even distorced voices which I have always been sceptic about are unquestionably used with great mastery in this work. I love the gregorian and ethnic chants but there is no space for them here. "Look of Today", "Incognito", "From East to West", "Boum-Boum", "Following the Sun" are my favorite. Very modern, far from cheap New Age sound, and completely ENIGMA. Thanks Cretu. I can't wait for the next one!!

I am an insatiable Enigma fan. This is my favorite group of all time. I bought MXC before it ever hit it big, and I marked on my calendar with excitement for the every three years Enigma puts out a record. I own every album, every remix and every DVD. This album is good, but it is missing all the brilliant layering of the earlier albums. "The Screen Behind the Mirror" keeps getting degraded on these reviews but it is a far better album than Voyageur. At least the signature Enigma sound is intact on that album. Cretu has become FAR too in love with his voice on this album and it actually ruins some otherwise good songs. Also, the lyrics are unbelievably cheesy at times. The album will grow on you, but it is still an overall disappointment.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GO BACK TO YOUR OLD SOUND ENIGMA! You can still "explore" the boundaries of music with your old sound intact.

During the first few listens, it was difficult for me to suppress the question, "This is what I waited three years for?" And indeed, Michael Cretu, the self-proclaimed perfectionist-genius, certainly took his time nursing this project along for the past few years.

However, it misses where some of his previous CD's scored big, particularly in the category of phonic revelation. For those well-versed in Enigma music, I won't need to explain where this CD excels (it's part of the Enigma formula). But here's why it's only worth my four stars.

"Voyageur" doesn't make any real acheivements towards Cretu's famed electronic porgression, but rather appears to enjoy some degree of complacency in the sound of 2000's "The Screen Behind the Mirror." Because of Enigma's previous milestones, "Voyageur" comes off as remarkably intelligent, yet unexpectedly anticlimactic. After reading some of Cretu's pre-release interviews, I was convinced this latest CD would be spilling over with foreign sounds and an intriguing, new direction. Not so.

The sound is strongly reminiscent of "The Screen..." with sparse, obscure hints of 1996's devastatingly genius "Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi." This is not to say that I was expecting a duplication of Cretu's past accomplishments. To be sure, there will never be another "The Child In Us." But I was hoping for more embellishment and expansion of that same vein which was expertly tapped on Enigma's previous two albums. Perhaps the only clear standout on "Voyageur" is the radio-ready "Following The Sun" with its creative marriage of Sandra's and Michael's vocals.

And speaking of vocals. By the end of this brief CD (an insatiable 47 minutes long), Michael's digitally-encoded vox had seemed to dominate many of the tracks, and the rare exclusivity they enjoyed on earlier records was waning. The instrumentation is another component that, to me, wasn't explored in typical Enigma fashion. For example, the programmed beats were disappointingly contemporary. Though this aspect was modified from prior recordings, it provided a surprisingly commercialized sound that I wasn't prepared for (and am still trying to accept while listening to the new CD).

This CD, for its few predictabilities, is still leaps and bounds ahead of at least 80 percent of the other leading brands of electronica out there today. Michael Cretu remains a musical player (if not an icon) to be reckoned with, and to a large extent he will always possess a certain midas touch when it comes to synthetic recordings.

Bottom line: This is still a landmark in musical evolution, and "Voyageur," though not entirely different from other Enigma CD's, should still be required listening for those interested in electronic composition.

Well now, this is different... If you're expecting the same old Enigma sound than you're bound to be sourly disappointed, and many fans seem to be. When I first heard 'Voyageur' I didn't know what to think of it because I refused to believe all the negative reviews coming from this album but as much as I hate to admit it, they're mostly true. They are, however, a bit exaggerated. This isn't nearly as bad as some make it out to be. It's definitely several steps down from their previous accomplishments but it's far from disastrous.

Either Cretu's gotten lazy (he's had several years to work on this) or he's looking to change Enigma completely, and if that's the case and if this is a taste of what's to come than I really hope he's able to improve himself because this record does hold a modicum of potential but I feel that certain key elements to making this transaction a success are missing here. 'Voyageur' to me sounds slightly rushed and low on the passion that they're known to deliver. Even the artwork looks thrown together and I miss the breathy words of Sandra, which are pretty much gone, and the inspiring quotes often found in the booklet. There are a few exceptions though that almost, but not quite, make up for the lack of Gregorian chants, ethnic sampling, and their trademark flute pipes that briefly tease us in the opening track, "From East To West"... Maybe it's his way of saying goodbye to the old and in with the new as the light electronica comes in with a steady rhythm that gradually picks up speed but never explodes into anything mind-blowing... The title track is an alright song that reminds me a little of "Turn Around", which can be found on their greatest hits compilation, 'LSD', but "Look Of Today" is a perfect example of what this band must strive for if they wish to continue down this path. It has some high energy dance beats that take full control of my body movements every time it comes on, seducing my senses, while "Boum-Boum" is a strange but highly addictive euro-pop tune featuring the voice of Michael himself (unlike some people, I personally love when he sings) and Ruth-Ann from the trip-hop group Olive (I'm not sure but they might be defunct now) who first appeared on Enigma's last full-length album, 'The Screen Behind The Mirror', which is similar to this but, in my opinion, better. What truly makes this record worth buying though is "The Piano" which has the most breathtaking piano playing amidst a lush new age beat (this track may be short but it emanates beauty and passion and that's precisely what I meant when I said this album mostly lacks those qualities) as well as "Following The Sun"; a gorgeous song to close with that graces us for the second time with the angelic female vox of Ruth-Ann whom seems to be a very vital asset to this group now, keeping them together with her hypnotic singing style. Those two songs keep hope remaining in my heart that this journey of sensual meets spiritual will once again merge as one, and if Cretu wants to experiment than fine, but I pray they don't become another ambient electronic group that's here today and gone tomorrow. Enigma is one of my favorite bands and I really wanna see them end on top because that's where they started and that's where they belong.

Enigma's Voyageur is very different from their previous projects in sound and atmosphere...This new body of work has been criticized for not having the Gregorian or dark-symphonic heavy laden sounds as before. Get over it ! Cretu,wife Sandra, Ruth Anne, and Andru Donalds are on a new and different path...Listen to the opening track and this time only a very faint hint of the usual "Enigmatic horn theme opening" is used and by the end of the cd there may or may not be any trace of it left.Could this indicate that in the next Enigma future titles to follow the opening theme has been scrapped for a new one or none at all? This my fellow listeners is part of the re-invention or change into a new direction (probably hence the title Voyageur)...What I particularly noticed in some of the tracks is a more of a techno-funk sound while other tracks such as The Piano and Total Eclipse of the Moon add a classical flavor to the mix. The category New Age may be a misnomer for this cd since it has a more sophisticated pop and uplifting feel in some of the tracks that this time around should make Enigma radio-friendly. Has Enigma sold out ? Definitely not. Though the phrase "radio-friendly" or term would shock the most devoted of fans since Enigma assumed by many is suppose to only produce real cerebral music not for the masses but for a select understanding few. In comparing the very first release which debuted in 1990 against this one, the two are worlds apart and for all the right reasons (and the reasons are too many to go over);the most obvious is that the hip-hop Gregorian sampling days are over and done with (outdated) ! In sum, listening to the new Engima title is like actually listening to them for the first time, again. Clear the mind and forget what you remember. That is the reason why so many listeners and critics have to hear this several times before they get it. I heard it once and was happily satisfied!

Having heard all of Enigma's albums prior to this, it seems to me that Michael Cretu has reached a crossroads--but not one that I'd particularly hoped for, myself. Gone, it seems, are the musings upon life and the vast, sweeping, and graceful sound I've previously associated with Enigma. What has replaced it is something that rides dangerously close to a very average, bland sort of techno. Voyageur is not a total loss; don't get me wrong. Mr. Cretu does get points for moving forward in terms of experimention with different moods than those previously heard; while other albums have had a much more optimistic feel by the end, and have also been somewhat cyclical in nature, this one has a rather darker character; the final outro was certainly a surprise to me. There's something grittier in the mixing, a heavy distortion that sometimes works--sometimes seems like ovrekill. I do give Mr. Cretu credit for the distortions on his own vocals, which have quite an interesting effect.

Gone are the samples of world music and Gregorian chant. Although there are no *directly* sampled loops, there is one intriguing "tribute" buried on the title track, to the keyboard playing of Pink Floyd's Richard Wright on the studio version of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". This is the one place where the distortion of the sound makes complete sense; if you listen to the distortions in Mr. Wright's initial playing, it's very clear that Mr. Cretu has emulated it down to the last detail.

Speaking of Pink Floyd, in bands like that, the shift towards a heavier, more brooding atmosphere often signals a move towards a more serious approach to music--but with Enigma, I'm not entirely convinced that's happening. In fact, I'm quite shocked that something with such infantile lyrics as "Boum-Boum" was released with the Enigma name--if I want something with so little substance (and I do not), I'll turn on a "Top 40" station. "My heart goes boom-boom-boom...every time I think of you!" repeated ad infinitum...come on, Britney Spears can do better! "Weightless" comes fairly close to a similar degree of emptiness, although *nothing* beats "Boum-Boum" in the vapid department.

That is not to say this album and new direction are wholly without merit: "Incognito"/"Page of Cups" is certainly an interesting foray into darker territory for Enigma. "Total Eclipse", "In the Shadow and the Light", and most particularly the ethereal and beautiful track, "The Piano", will probably be the most satisfying for fans of the classic Enigma. I admit, also, that when I hear a piece like "The Look of Today", I wonder if perhaps Mr. Cretu *has* decided to move towards serious social commentary, even satire. While "The Look of Today" wears the mask of empty techno, there's something quite biting in his delivery.

The trouble is, he needs to be careful of just how much of this vacuousness he allows into his work or he may lose his identity in the process. What is also annoying to me as a listener is the *inconsistency* of quality--something I've never heard before from Enigma, not even on the debut album as is the case with most artists. I notice that while the album begins as all Enigma albums do with that typical "signature riff", it's abandoned at the end...a clear signal of a shift towards something else. The problem is, what will that transition be to, when it's complete? Overall, Voyageur is an album that, in many ways, is hovering upon the brink--between light and dark, between satire and sellout. Does the cold feeling I get at the end indicate Enigma's success, or its failure?

I can only hope that in his next venture, Mr. Cretu will properly assess the merits and deficiencies of Voyageur, and respond accordingly...I hope he's thought out where he's headed.

I am tired of seeing people rate this album negatively for such mundane and closed-minded reasons. This album is the definition of brilliance! In case anyone noticed, Gregorian chants are a thing of the past. Electronica is where it's at nowadays and Enigma has crafted a new and unique blend of it with Voyageur. This evolution was evident with the 2001 single, "Turn Around" from the LoveSensualityDevotion album.

Looking back at Enigma's career, one can easily see that the "original" sound was getting a bit tired. The 2000 album, The Screen Behind The Mirror, while great, did nothing more than sample the 1990 album MCMXC a.D. "Smell of Desire" even used the same lyrics from "Mea Culpa" and the same chants as "Sadeness"! If Cretu had used the same technique in Voyageur, it would've meant the end of Enigma. Instead, Michael Cretu delivers a superbly crafted, original and fresh new sound that quite frankly borders on genius. Everything from the beats to the background sound effects are new. The only reminder of the olden days is a small sample from "Sadeness" deep in the background of the song, "Incognito". Check out the lush atmospheres of "From East To West", "In the Shadow, In The Light", "The Piano", and "Weightless". Marvel at the three singles from the album, "Voyageur", "Following the Sun", and "Boum-Boum"!

Lyrically, this album is in par with the rest of them. Cretu was never a lyrical mastermind. But otherwise, the album is fantastic. Not since Madonna's Ray of Light has an album affected my like this one. I imported it in early September and it has not left my CD player since. This is one of the greatest albums I've ever heard....ever! This is not only a must-have for Enigma fans, but a must-have for any fan of electronic music!

Like many of the reviewers here I, too, own all five Enigma cds and think that producer/multi-instrumentalist Michael Cretu has never lost his talent for creating solid ambient music. However, it would be nice for him to incorporate a variety of sounds, rhythms and meters because "Voyageuer" and the other four cds by Enigma sound very similiar. Cretu keeps reinventing the peanut butter sandwich (it tastes good, but so does turkey, chicken and pastrami). As with each Enigma cd, there is half an album's worth of solid material. "Voyageur's" most successful tracks are "From East To West", "Voyageur", "Incognito", "Boum-Boum", "Total Eclipse Of The Moon" (a nod to Pink Floyd perhaps?), "Look Of Today" (which completely sounds like ABC's 1982 hit "The Look Of Love") and "Following The Sun". The rest of the tracks are truly forgettable and album filler. "Voyageur" is definitely an improvement over 2000's "The Screen Behind The Mirror" and 1996's "Le Roi Est Mort--Vive Le Roi!" I just think Cretu is capable of more and he's spent 13 years attempting to give us a great cd, but they end up just being good and reliable.

Michael Cretu amazed the world when his project Enigma married dance beats with the sounds of Gregorian chants in 1990. With Enigma's successful debut it was only inevitable that the concept would be imitated with varying degrees of success. Over the course of 4 albums Crety has mixed differnt elements into the Enigma concept and each has created its own special soundscape. On "Voyaguer"- the 5th studio album Cretu wwants us all to believe that this album marks an entirely new direction for the act. Whether he believes this statement or if this a nice way of saying "I'm out of ideas" is up to the listener. Personally, I say don't believe all the pretentious reviews praising the album. If this album had been released under any other artist name it wouldnt have recieved any recognition.

The album begins with the Enigma's trademark horn opening before being drown out with thumping dance beats. Lots of strange samples follow and and the next track begins. The album continues with a mixture of sounds. Some of the tracks are surprisingly good like the "the piano" while others border on cheese (Boum-boum). The album is overall a ho-hum mix of ambient music and generic eurodance that doesnt really take you on any kind of musical journey. I've listened to this album numerous times and still havent felt moved on any level. Definetly sample this cd before you commit to buy.