MCMXC a.D. is the first studio album by the German music project Enigma, headed by Romanian-German musician Michael Cretu. It was released on 10 December 1990 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom, and on 28 January 1991 by Charisma Records in the…
MCMXC a.D. is the first studio album by the German music project Enigma, headed by Romanian-German musician Michael Cretu. It was released on 10 December 1990 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom, and on 28 January 1991 by Charisma Records in the United States.
Before he founded Enigma, Cretu had released several solo records, collaborated with various artists, and produced albums for his then wife, German pop singer Sandra. Following their marriage in 1988, Cretu developed an idea for a New-age music project and recorded MCMXC a.D. in eight months at A.R.T. Studios, his home studio in Ibiza, Spain. It is one of the first albums recorded onto a hard disk. Cretu makes extensive use of Gregorian chants, dance beats, and flute sounds.
MCMXC a.D. received some criticism for its sexual and religious themes and connotations, but, nonetheless, became a worldwide success, reaching the top 10 in ten countries, including the United Kingdom, and No. 6 in the United States where it sold over 4 million copies and stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for 282 weeks. Four singles from the album were released—"Sadeness (Part I)", "Mea Culpa (Part II)", "Principles of Lust", and "The Rivers of Belief". "Sadeness (Part I)" topped the singles charts worldwide and remains Enigma's most successful single. In 1991 and 1999, the album was re-released with additional remixed tracks.
Recording
MCMXC a.D. was recorded in 1990 across eight months at A.R.T. Studios located in Cretu's home on the Spanish island of Ibiza.
The chants used on "Sadeness" and "Mea Culpa" were mostly taken from Paschale Mysterium (1976) by the German choir Capella Antiqua München with conductor Konrad Ruhland, specifically from the track "Procedamus in pace! (Antiphon)". The vocals were used without permission which led to a lawsuit.
MCMXC a.D. is considered a landmark and innovative New Age album. Cretu developed the idea of sampling in a new direction. Though samples of up to several seconds' length had been used extensively in hip-hop for decades and in electronic genres by artists such as Jean-Michel Jarre and Klaus Schulze, Cretu built his music around much longer previously recorded sequences, which was novel both to the New Age audience and to the listening public in general.
