Impressive...but is it worth it?
GarionOrb | Houston, Texas United States | 03/04/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, I give this box set five stars simply because of it's immaculate presentation, not to mention the incredible music and visuals it contains. Save for one of the eight discs included, it's the supreme culmination of Enigma's career thus far. Frontman Michael Cretu displays his work proudly here, in a large, glossy book housing the first five albums, a bonus disc and Enigma's two DVD's (with each disc having only the corresponding album's cover artwork on them)
MCMXC a.D. - The one that started it all, the one that brought Gregorian chants into the mainstream, and one of the classic albums of the 90's. Upon its release, this kind of production was never heard, and it finally propelled Cretu into international recognition. Includes the megahit "Sadeness", as well as other gems, "Mea Culpa", "Rivers of Belief" and "Callas Went Away".
The Cross of Changes - The hugely successful follow up that includes Enigma's biggest hit ever, "Return to Innocence". Also worth mentioning is "I Love You...I'll Kill You", "The Eyes of Truth", "Silent Warrior", and their most underrated single "Out From The Deep".
Le Roi Est More, Vive Le Roi! - Enigma's most mellow outing, sounding like a cross between Deep Forest and Pink Floyd, it stands out as their most ethereal and atmospheric album. Though it's two singles were never hits, it was their best album to date (1996). Check out "Why...!", "Shadows In Silence", "Morphing Thru Time", "Almost Full Moon" and "TNT For the Brain".
The Screen Behind The Mirror - Probably the most unoriginal of the bunch, this album crosses the ambience of MCMXC a.D. with rock edge. There are more guitars here, although the overall sound goes back to the heavy beat-driven days of the first two albums. Olive's Ruth-Ann Boyle and European crooner Andru Donalds make their debut as the new voice of Enigma alongside Cretu. "Smell of Desire", "Modern Crusaders" and "Silence Must Be Heard" are the standout tracks.
Voyageur - This is the departure of the sample-driven Enigma, and for the first time we hear a truly original album. This one is less atmospheric and more electronic. It's abstract, but still accessible, and is the freshest Enigma creation to-date! I can't get over "Boum Boum", "Voyageur", "The Piano" and "Incognito".
The Dusted Variations - Sadly, this bonus disc (created especially for this set) is the one disc that disappoints. Yes, we get the latest single, "Hello & Welcome" (which is a real treat!), but then you get several non-Enigma remakes of Enigma songs. Faithless' Rollo is at the helm, and his creations sound like a collective blubbery mess. It sounds like an unmelodic droning of strings that never goes anywhere, as if Rollo is afraid to let the songs move and flow as they were meant to. The classic songs are unrecognizable, and even misnamed ("Endless Quest" is really "Find Love")! Listen to the new single, skip the rest.
MCMXC a.D., The Complete Video Album - This DVD (unfortunately in PAL format) was released after the first album. Great music, very dated videos. But still, it's worth seeing at least once. Plus, you get to hear the first album in 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS sound. A real plus!
Remember The Future DVD - This is every Enigma video ever made through 2001's "Turn Around"....except "Out From The Deep". Why Cretu left this one out is beyond me. Still, it's an impressive collection of the visuals accompanying the music. The classic "Return to Innocence" is the crowning jewel here, but "Gravity of Love" is a close second.
All in all, this box set is for serious collectors only. Fans will already own the albums and DVD's, and casual listeners are unlikely to fork over the staggering price of this collection. But if you would like to have this just to look at it, it's worth every penny. It puts Enigma on a pedestal, and rightly so."
Beautiful presentation but not a complete collection.
Justin | 06/19/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Firstly the collection comes in one of the most artisitc and beautiful CD presentation boxes I have come across. It is presented as a heavy book (10x11 inches) with the CDs inside the back and front covers. The pages in between list the contents of the CDs & DVDs along with a full page of art corresponding to the disc number. The front and back covers of the book have a large E on them which is made to resemble the greek letter Sigma. This is probably in reference to the fact that this collection is the sum of Enigma's work.
The book is then housed and protected by another heavy carboard outer sleeze.
This box set is a great collection of Engima's work over the past 15 years but is in no way to be considered a complete or ultimate collection. Disappointingly only the standard versions of MCMXC A.D & The Cross of Changes are included. Shortly after the original release of these albums Virgin released limited editions with several extra tracks each. It would have been nice to see these extra tracks (7 in total) included on these 2 discs.
The DVDs are also missing a total of 5 videos. The absence of Out From the Deep is interesting. I can only assume that Michael Cretu did not want this video included on the DVD. All of the videos from the Voyageur album are also missing (Voyageur, Following the Sun & Boum Boum). These were produced in 2004 & 2005 so were certainly produced in time to be included on an extended release of Remember the Future. Finally the video for the recent single Hello + Welcome is missing. This last omission is probably because its release was close to that of this collection so there was no time to include it.
I also imported this collection from the UK division of Amazon at a fraction of the asking price of the US Amazon. Great value from the UK but a very expensive collection otherwise.
Most Enigma fans will probably own everything in this collection except the bonus disc produced by Rollo. The songs he has chosen have been completely re-produced using Rollo's own choice of electronic instruments. Personally this CD is disappointing and it is sometimes hard to figure out which song is being played. Rollo has made each track more ambient in style.
On a personal note Virgin/EMI have installed some kind of copy protection on the CDs which meant that they would not play on my computer which runs Linux. A windows machine ran the CDs fine. I object to a record company trying to restrict how I play the music that I have paid for. An upgrade to my linux system eventually bypassed their copy protection. Nowhere is it mentioned on Amazon.com or on the CD packaging that this CD may not play on some players.
The cheaper UK price plus the magnificent packaging makes this collection an essential item for collectors and die-hard fans. I will be wrapping my boxset in bubble wrap to preserve it for a long time."
Track Listings (80) - Disc #1