Enigma - Love Sensuality Devotion: The Greatest Hits

Enigma

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 23, 2001)
• Original Release Date: October 23, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B00005OMTT
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,374 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Music > Dance & Electronic > World Dance
  #35 in	Music > New Age

Track Listings

1. Landing

2. Turn Around

3. Gravity of Love

4. T.N.T. for the Brain

5. Modern Crusaders

6. Shadows in Silence

7. Return to Innocence - Enigma, ,

8. I Love You, I'll Kill You

9. Principles of Lust

10. Sadeness, Pt. 1

11. Silence Must Be Heard

12. Smell of Desire

13. Mea Culpa

14. Push the Limits

15. Beyond the Invisible

16. Age of Loneliness

17. Morphing Thru Time

18. Cross of Changes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A greatest-hits package sampling four Enigma discs released between 1990 and 2000, LSD splendidly documents the influential output of Michael Cretu, a techno-bohemian who successfully creates cinematic, otherworldly New Age-like musical suites. Now, more than a decade removed from the arrival of Sadeness (Part 1) and its eyebrow-raising mix of sacred and sensual subplots, people can debate whether Cretu's music represents savvy commercial calculation or satisfying art. LSD suggests a split decision, though tracks with intriguing blends of atmosphere and rhythm, such as "Gravity of Love," "T.N.T. for the Brain" and "Morphing Thru Time," reveal an inventiveness that demonstrates Cretu is capable of more than sophisticated novelty tunes. Two new songs, neither especially noteworthy, open this package. Meanwhile, remastered older tracks segue beautifully to exude a satisfying, seamless unity. Big bonus: run time exceeds 76 minutes. --Terry Wood

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

173 of 180 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love - Sensuality - Devotion, October 28, 2001

By	Beeble Bop (Whitby, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

Look back at the history of Enigma. It did something no one else did. It was something nothing else could be. It changed the way we looked at pop music.

With Enigma's first album, MCMXC a.D., Enigma took hip-hop / dance floor beats, and melded them with Gregorian chants, which resulted in such #1 hits as Sadeness and Mea Culpa. The reason for the success of the album is that these songs were different. They were original. They took chances. Enigma had been born.

With Enigma's 2nd album, The Cross of Changes, Michael Cretu (Engima's mastermind) took a much poppier sound than the previous album, and infused it with ethnic chants from around the world, which resulted in hits such as Return to Innocence and I Love You, I'll Kill You.

Enigma's third album, Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi, marked the 'end of a chapter' to Cretu. Enigma took the elements that made the first two albums so successful, and combined them, while adding in the voice of Cretu himself. This resulted in a more laid back, relxaing, yet captivating 'look at life', says the German composer.

Enigma's latest album, The Screen Behind the Mirror, used samples of Carl Orff's famous opera Carmina Burana, namely O Fortuna, perhaps the most well known work of Orff's. Enigma blended this with slow and fast electronic beats, and gave the songs a bit more of a 'rock edge', to create what is perhaps the best Enigma work to date.

Now, along with the release of a brand new single, Turn Around, Michael Cretu has released Love - Sensuality - Devotion (LSD), a compilation that reflects his 'memory of the future'. Taking from the first four Enigma works 15 tracks, and adding in a new introduction and Turn Around, LSD is a must have for anyone who likes music in general. There is such a wide variety of music in this compilation, yet many people have not heard Enigma before.

This compilation marks the end of the 1st world of Enigma. But Cretu assures as that there will be another world - he won't be out of ideas for a long, long while.

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An almost perfect retrospective of Enigmas catalog, May 23, 2002

By	Distant Voyageur "Nicholas Computer" (Io) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Enigma has never failed to amaze me with their mix of New age, Club, and rock. They are probably the only group who have not put out one bad song in my opinion.

MCMXC had a very dark, Gothic feel. MCMXC to me is probably their best album even to this day after all these years. Sadeness mixed the use of Gregorian Chants, club beat and New Age to create one of the best New Age songs I,ve ever heard.

The follow-up CROSS OF CHANGES was almost completely different with a much brighter sound and less of the Gregorian Chants and instead incorporated some Native American and Maori chants. Return To Innocence is almost totally opposite to Sadeness because Innocence is very sunny where Sadeness was very dark.

LE MOR EST MORT VIVE LE ROI! was like the child of the two previous albums with the brightness of CROSS mixed in with the Gregorian sounds of MCMXC and with some new sounds that resulted in an album with a sort of aquatic sound. Child In Us is the best song on the CD. I almost call it the daytime version of Sadeness.

SCREEN BEHIND THE MIRROR is completely different from CROSS or LE ROI EST MORT. It had a much more sultry industrial medieval sound. I almost compare it more to MCMXC. The title track borrowed the drum loop from Sadeness.

This collection of songs from each of those albums showcases among some of the best works Cretu has ever come up with plus the songs still blend well even though they are from different albums. I never thought Mea Culpa could blend well into Push The Limits.

The big bonus to this CD that makes it stand out so well from other Greatest Hits CDs is the remixing of some of the tracks to give them a totally different feel. TNT for the Brain on it's parent album has a relatively poppish sound. The version on here, The Midnight Man Mix has a much darker, more ambient, sound and sounds far superior to the original. The same goes for Principles of Lust. It's the remixing of some of the hits or singles that makes some greatest hits so wonderful(Madonnas Immaculate Collection is an example).

There are two new tracks, The Landing and Turn Around neither of which catch you immediately like their older stuff.

[This] is a worthy collection. Believe me it's worth owning just for the remix of TNT for the Brain and the whole disc runs at over 76 minutes.

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars T.N.T. For The Brain, March 31, 2002

By	Clarissa "MoonGoddess" (Ontario, California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

(The path of excess leads to the tower of wisdom. - W. Blake)

I always knew that Enigma was an incredible band I just never knew how much until now. All I owned before this was their latest full-length release "The Screen Behind The Mirror". Almost two years went by before I considered buying something else by them and that's when (to my good fortune) "LSD: Love Sensuality Devotion" came out which contains all of their biggest hits such as "Sadness" and "Return To Innocence", along with new favorites (to me, that is) "T.N.T. For The Brain", "I Love You, I'll Kill You" ... (love the title!) ..., "Principles Of Lust", "Mea Culpa", and "Age Of Loneliness" which has Egyptian sound styling with Middle Eastern singing. (I think...) Other highlights include their brand new song "Turn Around", which has an edgier sound compared to its usual norm, "Gravity Of Love" and "Silence Must Be Heard" which both feature the lush female vocals of Ruth-Ann (which sings in the band Olive), and "Beyond The Invisible" which bares a striking resemblance to the closing song they play in the end of my favorite fantasy movie "Legend". (Watch the movie and then listen to this to understand what I mean...) So if you enjoy gregorian style singing with heavy breathing and words of passion and inspiration amidst subtle, sometimes pounding grooves than Enigma's Greatest Hits compilation is for you. Die-hard fans are recommended to buy this simply for "The Landing" and "Turn Around" while newcomers are recommended to buy this simply because it's the perfect place to start.

Another good thing about this album is how all of the songs blend in seamlessly together, just like they do in their other records. It also ends with a beautifully ethereal song called "The Cross Of Changes" which reminds me of the type of music you'd find on a Elevation (various artists) cd, which I also recommend...

(The soul belongs to GOD but the body belongs to us. - Rasputin)