Enigma is not a band but a project. It was started years back by a man named
Michael Cretu. He made himself a philosophy and started to create music from it.
"Old rules and habits have to be rejected and dismissed, so that something new
can be created", he said, and the results have been millions of records sold on
a world wide basis. The word 'Enigma' is actually greek and translates into
Riddle. As an extra twist, Cretu once said it could have been fun if no
one knew who actually created the music, which is famous for it's unique, mysterious
style and sound. A style most people like to some extent. This desire was however
quickly spoiled by the popularity of the project.
Biography for Michael Cretu
Maybe you have come to wonder who Cretu is, or maybe you know a little about him, but want to learn more? This page is here for you; the curious and interested. Michael Cretu was born on May 18th, 1957 in Bucharest, which is the Capital of Romania, Europe. In his younger days he studied music in Bucharest, but his studies also brought him to Paris (France) and Frankfurt (Germany). After earning a degree in Germany, he realized that classical music wasn't for him, and he changed his style. As he said it himself, he started making money on music the day he sold his piano.
After earning his first gold award in 1980, he worked with many more or less popular artists, including Sandra Lauer with whom he is now married. Some people probably also recognize Mike Oldfield, whom Cretu produced an album with and earned yet another gold award for. Cretu's first popular album was Legionnaire from 1983, but it was never a massive breakthrough. After a while, he was running out of ideas, and was at a point in his life where he felt totally drained.
He then decided to make a philosophy, as stated in the top of this page, and create his music from that. Working with a couple of other artists, David Fairstein in particular, he created some music that no one knew would become the great success it did. He first smelled massive success with his first album under the Enigma name. It was MCMXC a.D.. It was released in late 1990 in Europe, and in 1991 in the United States. He quickly earned a platinum award for the release, that is by many still considered the far best installment in the Enigma series. One of the key songs from the album is Sadeness, which is intentionally spelled that way.
Cretu had not yet hit the top, though. On his second album in the Enigma name, The Cross of Changes, you find one of the most popular tracks he ever made. Return To Innocence is recognized by most people. Even though there was a lawsuit involved when Cretu used a sample from a tribe in the song, it remains a classic hit that opened the door fully for Cretu and his amazing project.
In 1996, we finally got the third installment in the project. The atmosphere remained true to the series, but this time a little more futuristic in it's approach. Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! contained another massive hit in Beyond The Invisible, and the fanbase of the project kept growing at a great rate. Now working more closely with Jens Gad, Cretu began work on the fourth album. It released in 2000 under the name The Screen Behind The Mirror. This album featured various samples from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, and was host to the hit songs Gravity of Love and Push The Limits. In this album, Cretu gave many subtle answers about his opinions considering the world today.
Besides a Greatest Hits album for the Enigma project, Cretu has been producing a lot of music for his wife and various other artists. ATB may be one of the artists you want to look into. He has also produced the hymn for the most prestigeous soccer tournament in the world for clubs, The Champions League. More recently, he took his Enigma project in an entirely new direction with the album Voyageur, which was released in 2003 much to the delight of fans who had been awaiting it's arrival with anticipation of what would happen to the project next.
