A number of groups adopted the style of Enigma with mixing chants and modern music, most notably Deep Forest, Sacred Spirit and b-tribe.Įnigma's primary female singer is Sandra, and the woman who intones all the sayings on the first three albums is British-born Louisa Stanley. (which is Roman numerals for the year 1990, in the Year of our Lord) swept the world and literally created a new genre in music, popularly known as Enigmatic music. However, this did not heed the success and popularity of Enigma. The case was dismissed though as the chants were considered to be in the public domain, but through that we were made aware of Cretu and Peterson being behind the project.
The only reason we know today, is because a court-case was levelled against the group by a German choir for using the monk chants without permission. Because Cretu and Peterson used pseudonyms, much speculation was made as to exactly who was behind the project. The song was plagued by controversy, receiving criticism especially from Churches who disapproved of religious Gregorian chants with modern music and sexual references (the title itself is a wordplay on sadness, the 'sade' referring to the Marquis de Sade where the word sadistic comes from). And from this idea came the unique single Sadeness, which announced Enigma to the world. The revolutionary idea was to mix monastic or Gregorian chants with dance beats and rhythms. Stephen Thomas Erlewine ( All Music Guide)Įnigma, was the brainchild of Frank Peterson and Michael Cretu. The fourth Enigma record, The Screen Behind the Mirror, followed in early 2000. A side project, Trance Atlantic Airwaves, issued The Energy of Sound in 1998. Enigma 3: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi followed in 1996. On their second album, 1994's Cross of Changes, some of the old-world elements remained, but the new age angle came to the forefront in a set of slick, radio-friendly dance-pop. The rest of the album followed that pattern successfully, although without quite matching the stunning success of the hit single. With their 1991 hit, "Sadeness," Enigma brought the new age fascination with Gregorian chants and old-world culture to the clubs the resulting single was both unique and irresistible.
Styles: Club/Dance, Ethnic Fusion, New Age.