Enigma - Seven Lives Many Faces (2 CDs)
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Free Music Notes for Seven Lives Many Faces (2 CDs)
Free Music Review: Seven Lives Many Faces - Enigma
Hit: 5 Stars
Very fast delivey to Great Britian. Well packaged and as described. Many thanks for your custom.Free Music Review: Best
Hit: 5 Stars
For Me this is the best Enigma album since they first albums. I would strongly recomended!Free Music Review: Enigma's Return to Glory.
Hit: 4 Stars
Five songs into Seven Lives Many Faces, I was convinced that I would never buy another Enigma CD again. The CD started with the obligatory horns and breathy, spoken-word vocals followed by two of the most mediocre Enigma songs I had ever heard. Track number 4, "The Same Parents" was interesting, but a little too cliche in its message. As I listened, the death of Enigma was nearly sealed with "Fata Morgana", an absolutely forgettable composition.
But as "Fata Morgana" transitioned into track 6, "Hell's Heaven" my ears took notice. "Hell's Heaven" opens with a heartbreaking chord progression that gives way to a sinister bass beat and then into rising string stabs. The truth is that Enigma has never done anything this interesting or experimental on any of the previous six albums. Another reviewer here has derrided one of the sound samples in "Hell's Heaven", describing it as "a telephone throwing up". I think this is the perfect description for the sound, but I don't see it as a negative. The "Hellish" sounding effect is brilliantly (and intentionally) balanced at the end of the song by a choir of angelic voices singing over a soul-wrenching string arrangement.
"Hell's Heaven" had peaked my interest and the song that followed, "La Puerta del Cielo" honestly blew me away. It was like I was living in 1990 again, listening to MCMXC a.d. "La Puerta del Cielo" is the closest Michale Cretu has ever gotten to revisiting his breakthrough genius.
Now I was hooked, and Seven Lives Many Faces did not disappoint. Cretu has organized the tracks in a way that keeps the drama building all the way through to the end. "Deja Vu" is an extremely clever concoction of sonic elements from some of Enigma's previous albums that only the most tuned-in fans will pick up on. "Je T'Aime Till My Dying Day" features a crunching beat layered with warm, muted strings and Andru Donalds, who usually oversings his vocals, giving the best performance he's ever given on an Enigma album. "Between Generations" and "The Language of Sound" round out the set, making it clear that Enigma is not part of the past, but still looking into the future.
As the CD started over at track 1, I had a new appreciation for the first five songs I had initially disliked, now that I had a context in which to put them. "The Same Parents", which had initially peaked my interest on first listen, now seemed to fit into the overall story of the album and took it's place as the great song that it is.
Seven Lives Many Faces is probably the most musically risky Enigma album to date; yet somehow, it still feels comfortable. From "Hell's Heaven" on through the end, the album is pure genius. For those of you who wrote off Enigma several albums ago, this is the rebirth you've been waiting for.
Free Music Review: Magnificent, modern Enigma!
Hit: 4 Stars
Enigma suddenly released their seventh album only 2 years after A Posteriori, and it's easily one of the best ones they've released! While the lackluster A Posteriori went for a more new age sound, Seven Lives Many Faces returns to the days of Enigmas 1-4, only with a more modern element. The album is heavy on samples of chants (particularly in the second half), but it also features very heavy beats and basslines, which makes this their most ambient and trance-like outing yet. This goes perfectly with the miscellaneous swirls of soundscapes that move this album along. The production on it is outstanding! To me, the music sounds perfectly layered, almost 3D. You can listen to it on headphones and always hear new nuances whispering in the background with each listen. Standout tracks include "The Same Parents" (easily the most moving Enigma song ever), "Touchness", "Hell's Heaven" and the string & hip-hop infused "Seven Lives".
Included also is a bonus disc containg 4 extra songs and a remix of "The Language of Sound". The extra songs are even more abstract than those found on the album, but they're stunning nonetheless. I would compare them to the songs found on Nine Inch Nails' experimental Ghosts I-IV album, but Enigma style.
Overall, this album is extraordinary! While it's not my pick for best Enigma album ever (that honor goes to Voyageur), it's still one of their strongest and most complete offerings.
Free Music Review: enjoying this album
Hit: 4 Stars
Okay. Being a fan of Enigma since 1990 when I was 14 and first saw the Sadeness video, I've fallen in love with most of the albums. Enigma is one of those rare groups that captivate my attention with each successive album, the exception being A Posteriori. I've read the reviews and have listened to it multiple times, but still have not been able to appreciate it as much as the others. But with Seven Lives Many Faces, there are many elements which are reminiscent of previous albums, but with some new things added which, to me, were surprisingly refreshing.
I didn't give this album 5 stars for two reasons: As other reviewers have stated, many of the songs on Seven Lives are more simple than the Enigma fare a lot of us are used to, relying too much on repetitive lyrics in certain songs and not having multiple layered elements in others.
That being said, while I didn't enjoy this album as much as the first five, I still liked it quite a lot. I have a great deal of respect for artists who branch out to try new things, and Michael Cretu is no exception. (And while A Posteriori falls flat for me, I still appreciate what was done with it.) I would recommend this album to any Enigma fan, and anyone with an interest in moving, relaxing ambient music.