The Cross of Changes
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 by Charisma Records in the United States.
Following the worldwide commercial success of the first Enigma album, MCMXC a.D., Cretu began to write and record music for a new album at A.R.T. Studios, his home studio in Ibiza, Spain. Cretu sampled songs from several artists, including Vangelis, U2, Genesis and Black Sabbath.
The Cross of Changes was a commercial success. Upon its release, it debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Enigma's second consecutive number-one album in the United Kingdom, and peaked at number nine on the [Billboard 200|Billboard 200] in the United States, where it sold over two million copies. In 1994, four singles were released from the album: "Return to Innocence", "The Eyes of Truth", "Age of Loneliness (Carly's Song)", and "Out from the Deep". A special limited edition of the album was released on 21 November 1994 on a 24-carat gold-plated disc, containing three additional remixes.
Critical reception
from Billboard magazine praised The Cross of Changes as "a stunning, mind-expanding collection of chill-out/ambient dance jams. Producer Michael Cretu, who started the act's multiformat fire at club level with 'Sadeness', has clearly topped himself with complex, vividly cinematic compositions like the sprawling first single, 'Return to Innocence', and 'I Love You, I'll Kill You'. Weighting in without a jam above 98 beats per minute, this is sustenance for the adventurous, intelligent programmer."Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Cross of Changes.- Andreas Harde – additional voice
- Sandra Cretu – additional voice
- Michael Cretu – additional voice, instruments, programming, production, engineering
- Louisa Stanley – additional voice
- Jens Gad – guitars
- Peter Cornelius – guitars
Derivative works
- "Return to innocence" has been sampled by Aura Dione in her track "Where Does Love Go?"
Charts