The Screen Behind the Mirror [Limited Edition][Import]

Enigma

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 2000)
• Original Release Date: January 18, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition, Import
• Label: Virgin Schallplatten GmbH
• ASIN: B00003W7ZM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (276 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #329,163 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Gate

2. Push the Limits

3. Gravity of Love

4. Smell of Desire

5. Modern Crusaders

6. Traces (Light and Weight)

7. Screen Behind the Mirror

8. Endless Quest

9. Camera Obscura

10. Between Mind & Heart

11. Silence Must Be Heard

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Michael Cretu, the man behind Enigma, formulates an intriguing symbiosis between New Age musicality, classical and world-music influences, and dance-club rhythms. Gregorian chants, Native American meditations, and the breathy musings of a French chanteuse have been incorporated into legendary dance-floor hits from his previous three albums. The leitmotif of his fourth album, The Screen Behind the Mirror, is the grandly ominous "O Fortuna" from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. "O Fortuna" opens the set and appears repeatedly throughout the tracks, sometimes lurking in the background, sometimes storming into the forefront. This album marks Enigma's continued foray into the ambient New Age realm, as Cretu's efforts focus more and more on melding compatible styles of world music, while the tracks are mixed into a single continuum. There's a lot to chew on; bits and pieces of church bells, Middle Eastern singing, and native instrumentation from you-name-it fold into each other on a steady current of shuffling hip-hop rhythms and velvety synthesized melodies. Cretu lends vocals to several songs, and his voice stands somewhere between Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins (though it's not as good as either), tending to distract from the album's flow and mood, lending it more of a prog-rock feel at times that he probably intended. Albums like this continue to invoke the same question: Is this a beautiful, transcendent union of artificial and indigenous sounds or is it just a bunch of self-indulgent schlock? It can be answered either way with equal conviction. --Beth Massa --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Product Description

Enigma Photos

More from Enigma

Love Sensuality Devotion: The Greatest Hits	MCMXC A.D.	The Cross of Changes
Voyageur	Enigma 3: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!	MCMXC a. D. - The Complete Album DVD

--This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not 5 stars! Five Billion Stars!, January 24, 2000

By	"philippio" (Middletown, Connecticut United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Screen Behind the Mirror (Audio CD)

I just got it in the mail today and I'm contemplating whether I should superglue it into my cd player so that it's always there! I can't even count how long I've been waiting for the fourth Enigma album! I have all of them and I have to say that I like this one the most. It is the moodiest and by far the most powerful of all! Gravity of Love just sends a shivering wave down my back! Endless Quest is probably the trademark soundscape of Enigma incorporating the amazing panflute sounds that have become synonymous with Enigma. The cd opens like the other 3 which gives a very satisfying unity. You can see this if you listen to all four of them in sequence. Smell of Desire is probably the most mellow track which borrows the female vocals from the first album's Mea Culpa. This is one of those ambient, afterhours songs that is definitely destined to become an Ibiza favourite! After all, the Enigma cd's were all recorded on the island. This is definitely the music to live life with! Don't even dare to hesitate bying it!

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enigma begins 2000 with a bang, January 21, 2000

By	james zaman (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Screen Behind the Mirror (Audio CD)

After 3 years of waiting, Enigma 4 finally starts a new story. With the last album Le Roi Est Mort ending a Trilogy, The Screen begins a new journey into what Enigma is about: being mystical and beautiful. Although this album requires some getting used to, once one is in the zone,each tune sounds like a ticket to a strange and mysterious world. "Push The Limits" starts the album off with a bang and the haunting "Gravity Of love" with vocals from Olive set the stage for a classic album. The "Smell Of Desire" works as a combination of elements from all 3 albums so far and "Modern Crusader" lifts the energies. The album is by far the most instrumental so to date and also the most different, which is good to see. Enigma have never been boring, they are bad at it. The strong theme of the album is made powerful by Carl Orffs Carmina Burana sampled several times. The theme of the album: listen, feel, learn and understand, the album is meant to be felt rather than spelled out. SO what if a song is called "Silence Must Be Heard" or Traces(Light & Weight), look a little deeper, maybe you'll know what Enigma mean!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Continuing Intrigue, January 25, 2000

By	Robert T Johnson (Concord, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Screen Behind the Mirror (Audio CD)

What a fun recording! If you already enjoy Enigma, then you won't be disappointed. If you're not sure, this may sway you. Along the lines of their earlier eclectic albums, Screen Behind the Mirror offers more of the same flavor and strong moving pulse. Overtones of Orff's Carmina Burana float and sometimes break through the recognizable Enigma fare in an unusual haunt. Overall it's a great CD-I've listened to it five times within 24 hours of receiving it and it still leaves me wanting more. Good job!