The Screen Behind the Mirror

Enigma

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 18, 2000)
• Original Release Date: January 18, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B00003XB8K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (277 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,792 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Dance & Electronic > World Dance

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

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 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

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!

36 of 38 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

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

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!