Girish Mahajan (Editor)

The Cross of Changes

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Released
  
6 December 1993

Artist
  
Enigma

Producer
  
Michael Cretu

Length
  
44:12

Release date
  
6 December 1993

The Cross of Changes httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen882Eni

Recorded
  
1993 at A.R.T. Studios, Ibiza, Spain

Label
  
Virgin (Internationally) Charisma (United States)

The Cross of Changes (1993)
  
Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! (1996)

Genres
  
New-age music, Ambient music, Worldbeat

Awards
  
Echo Award for Best National Artist in Foreign Countries

Similar
  
Enigma albums, New-age music albums

The Cross of Changes is the second studio album by the German musical project Enigma, headed by Romanian-German musician and producer Michael Cretu, released on 6 December 1993 by Virgin Records internationally and Charisma Records in the United States. Following the unexpected worldwide commercial success of the first Enigma album, MCMXC a.D. (1990), Cretu began to write and record music for a new album at A.R.T. Studios, his home studio in Ibiza, Spain. Cretu samples songs from several artists, including Vangelis and U2.

Contents

The Cross of Changes was a commercial success. It became Enigma's second consecutive number one album in the United Kingdom and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 in the United States, where it sold over two million copies. In 1994, four singles were released: "Return to Innocence", "The Eyes of Truth", "Age of Loneliness (Carly's Song)", originally written especially for the film Sliver, and "Out from the Deep". A special limited edition was released in 1994.

1994 special limited edition

Released on 21 November 1994 on a 24-carat gold-plated disc with three additional remixes.

All tracks written by Curly M.C..

Singles

  • 1993 – "Return to Innocence" (Virgin Schallplatten GmbH)
  • 1994 – "The Eyes of Truth" (Virgin Records)
  • 1994 – "Age of Loneliness" (Virgin Records)
  • 1994 – "Out from the Deep" (Virgin Records)

    • Samples

    The discogs website lists the following samples used on the album:

  • "The Eyes of Truth" contains samples of "Habebe" and "A Survivor's Tale" by Anne Dudley and Jaz Coleman from the album Songs from the Victorious City. Vocal sample (Mongolian chant) taken from "Alsyn Gazryn Zereglee" as performed by Adilbish Nergui. Chorus taken from "Götterdämmerung" (The Twilight of the Gods) composed by Richard Wagner. NASA retransmissions sampled from "Mare Tranquillitatis", performed by Vangelis. Also contains a sample of "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)" performed by U2.
  • "Return to Innocence" contains samples of "Jubilant Drinking Song" performed by Kuo Ying-nan and Kuo Hsiu-chu. Also contains samples of "Pinta. Nina Santa Maria (Into Eternity)" performed by Vangelis.
  • "Silent Warrior" contains samples of "The Ghost Dance", a Native American war chant.
  • "Age of Loneliness" contains a sample of "Habebe" by Anne Dudley and Jaz Coleman from the album Songs from the Victorious City. Vocal sample (Mongolian chant) taken from "Tosonguyn Oroygoor", performed by Dechinzundui Nadmid.
  • "Out from the Deep" contains samples of "The Calling" performed by A Positive Life and from the album Songs from the Victorious City by Anne Dudley and Jaz Coleman.

    • Personnel

    Music

  • Michael Cretu (credited as "Curly M.C.") – music, lyrics, vocals, production, instruments, programming, arrangements, engineering
  • Sandra Cretu – vocals, voices
  • Peter Cornelius – guitar
  • Jens Gad – guitar
  • Andreas Harde (credited as "Angel X") – vocals
  • Louisa Stanley – voices
  • David Fairstein – lyrics

    • Production

  • Produced and engineered by Michael Cretu
  • Recorded at A.R.T. Studios, Ibiza/Spain
  • All songs published by Enigma Songs, except track 4 (Enigma Songs-Wanho Music) and track 7 (Ensign Music/Data Alpha-Wanho)

    • Singles

    Billboard (North America)

    Songs

    1Second Chapter2:15
    2The Eyes of Truth7:15
    3Return to Innocence4:15

    References

    The Cross of Changes Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA