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Specchiarsi, compiacersi, piacersi. Esercizio di vanità mica da ridere. Michael Cretu, mente, arti e fluido secolare del progetto Enigma è un master a 5 stelle in tal senso.
Per dire: il vaso di Pandora è stato aperto in occasione dell’album di debutto, il pluridorato "MCMXC" (1990). Da lì in poi, Cretu ha ravvivato il progetto di lavoro in lavoro riproponendo echi del pregresso: non autoplagiandosi, beninteso. Piuttosto, come indicato sopra, compiacendosi. Cambiano i ritmi tribali, magari l’intonazione dei vocalist: non il contesto ambient. Vale a dire sussurri, moine, respiri, canti gregoriani anche in modalità reversal, ritimi incalzanti inframezzati da litanie.
Vita, morte e miracoli del progetto Enigma.
Che ha sempre brillato di luce propria, e continua a farlo anche in questo quarto episodio, "The Screen Behind The Mirror" (2000). Ci prese il recensore di Allmusic, al tempo. Disse : “Oddio, non c’è una crescita, no. Ma il lavoro è piacevole, solido, e non deluderà i fans”. Vero.
‘Enigma 4’ poggia su certezze acquisite nelle tre precedenti esperienze. Vocalists di fiducia, tra cui l’ex moglie Sandra (al tempo non ancora ex ndr), Ruth-Anne Boyle ed il fido Andru Donalds ; Jen Gads occasionalmente alla chitarra elettrica.
A fare da frangiflutti, a colorare e cercare di innalzare il livello di performance, la "Carmina Burana" che, volenti o nolenti, ce la mena per quasi tutta la durata del disco.
Rispetto al predecessore, “Le Roi Est Mort…….Vive Le Roi !” (1996), questo lavoro parte con ritmo più incalzante. Messo al sicuro l’ascoltatore con la consueta intro rappresentata dagli Enigma Horns, “Push The Limits” da il là al familiare ritmo che, al tempo stesso, induce a battere il piede pur guidando all’introspezione. Il primo singolo estratto, il lento “Gravity Of Love”, fa da bridge con uno dei punti più alti del disco, “Smell Of Desire”, che ripropone parte del parlato di “Mea Culpa” ed un reverse-gregoriano di “Sadness (reprise)”. Il sunto perfetto, insomma, di quanto esplicato in sede di introduzione: guardare avanti senza disincagliarsi dal passato.
Non convince l’enfasi propinata in “Modern Crusaders” (avanti con la Carmina Burana, per chi ne avesse sentito la mancanza), è invece ottimo viatico il trittico “Traces” (lentone melancolico di matrice tribale) – title track (conosciuta anche come "The Experience") – “Endless Quest”.
“Camera Obscura” si diverte a riversare “Modern Crusaders” senza, ca va sans dire, mancare di riproporre indovinate cosa ? Già. Carl Orff, povero, si sarà a seconda dei casi rivoltato o compiaciuto nella tomba.
La chiusura è variegata, con la meditabonda “Between Mind & Heart” e l’incalzante “Silence Must Be Heard”.
E insomma: niente di nuovo all’orizzonte. Anche se, va detto, il prodotto finito è rassicurante, di livello, ottimamente arrangiato e corredato. Ultima fatica realizzata nell’"ART Studio" di Ibiza, che verrà poi rimpiazzato da “Alchemist” e “Merlin”. Perché, si sappia, Cretu è irrequieto in sede di sperimentazione e, consumato uno studio, lo demolisce (giuro) e ne confeziona uno più all’avanguardia. Tant’è. “Screen” è un album di assoluta transizione, con “Voyager” (2003) arriveranno novità parzialmente bocciate dai fans, ma il progetto si perderà in troppi rivoli e rivoletti laddove invece, questo quarto episodio, lastrica il percorso degli Enigma mantenendoli in rotta, a testa alta, con il petto gonfio e l’animo in perenne introspezione.
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Modern Crusaders (03:50)
Modern Crusaders
Don't look back, the time has come
all the pain turns into love
we're not submissive, we're not aggressive
but they think we can't defend
STAND UP, JOIN US, MODERN CRUSADERS ALIVE
we have the power to face the future
Cause we are the fighters
just fighting for our rights.
They're accusing, like always without knowing
what is just fiction or what is the truth.
They have no mission, they have no passion
but they dare to tell us what's bad and what's good!
STAND UP, JOIN US, MODERN CRUSADERS ALIVE
we are the power to face the future
Cause we are the fighters, just fighting for our rights
STAND UP, JOIN US, MODERN CRUSADERS ALIVE
02 Return to Innocence (04:15)
Love - Devotion
Feeling - Emotion
Don't be afraid to be weak,
Don't be too proud to be strong.
Just look into your heart my friend,
That will be the return to yourself.
The return to innocence.
If you want, then start to laugh,
If you must, then start to cry.
Be yourself don't hide,
Just believe in destiny.
Don't care, what people say,
Just follow your own way.
Don't give up, and use the chance.
To return to innocence.
That's not the beginning of the end,
That's a return to yourself.
The return to innocence.
03 The Eyes of Truth (07:14)
The Eyes of Truth
Are always watching you.
Алсын газрын зэрэглээн
Адуу шиг мал шиг торолзоноо хуоо
{Alsyn gazryn zeregleen
Aduu shig mal shig torolzonoo khuoo}
Je me regarde
Je me sens
Je vois des enfants
Je suis enfant!
05 Silent Warrior (06:00)
Long ago, for many years,
White men came in the name of god.
They took their land, they took their lives.
A new age has just begun.
They lost thier gods, they lost their smile,
They cried for help for the last time.
Liberty was turning into chains.
But all the white men said:
That's the cross of changes.
In the name of god - The fight for gold,
These where the changes.
Tell me - is it right - In the name of god,
These kind of changes?
They tried to fight for liberty,
Without a chance in hell, they gave up.
White men won in the name of god.
With the cross as alibi.
There's no god who ever tried,
To change the world in this way.
But for the ones who abuse his name,
There'll be no chance to escape.
On judgement day.
In the name of god - The fight for gold,
These where the changes.
Tell me - is it right - In the name of god,
These kind of changes?
Tell me why, tell me why, tell me why,
The white men said:
That´s the cross of changes?
Tell me why, tell me why, tell me why,
In the name of god,
These kind of changes.
06 Second Chapter (02:15)
We came out from the deep,
To help and understand, but not to kill.
It takes many lives, till we succeed,
To clear the debts,
Of many, many hundred years.
09 Camera Obscura (01:27)
(M.Cretu.)
In reverse mode
Cause we are the fighters
Just fighting for our rights
Stand up, join us, modern crusaders alive
We have the power...
We're not submissive, we're not aggressive
But they think...
Stand up, join us, modern crusaders alive
We have the power...
. Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria
Hac in hora
sine nora
cordum pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!
(Translation:
Fate, in health
and virtue,
is against me
So at this hour
without delay
pluck the vibrating strings;
since Fate
strikes down the strong man,
everyone weep with me! )
11 The Screen Behind the Mirror (03:58)
Here's the mirror. (behind, there is a screen)
Turn around. (On both ways, you can get in)
The experience of survival.
Look around just people,
Can you hear their voice?
Find the one who'll guide you,
To the limits of your choice.
(The experience of survival)
Try to think about,
That's the chance to live your life,
And discover.
Try to think about,
The experience of survival.
(The experience)
The experience of survival.
(The experience)
12 Gravity of Love (03:58)
Turn around, and smell what you don't see.
Close your eyes, it's so clear.
Here's the mirror, behind there is a screen.
On both ways, you can get in.
Don't think twice before you listen to your heart,
Follow the trace, for a new start.
What you need, and everything you'll feel,
Is just a question of the deal.
In the eye of storm you'll see a lonely dove,
The experience of survival, is the key,
To the gravity of love.
The path, of excess, leads to the tower of Wisdom.
(The path, of excess, leads to the tower of Wisdom)
Try to think about it...
That's the chance to live your life and discover,
What it is, what's the gravity of love.
Look around just people, can you hear their voice?
Find the one who'll guide you, to the limits of your choice,
But if you're in the eye of storm,
Just think of the lonely dove,
The experience of survival, is the key,
To the gravity of love.
14 The Dream of the Dolphin (02:47)
In every colour, there's the light.
In every stone, sleeps a crystal.
Remember the shaman, when he used to say:
"Man is the dream, of the dolphin"
15 Push the Limits (06:26)
Inclination of equator to orbit:
24.936 degrees.
Gravitational escape velocity:
3.121 miles per hour.
Inclination from Orbit.
Basic instincts, social life.
Paradoxes side by side.
Don't submit to stupid rules.
Be yourself and not a fool.
Don't accept average habits.
Open your heart and push the limits.
16 Smell of Desire (04:57)
Je ne dors plus
Je suis folle, je m'abandonne
Je ne dors plus
Je suis a toi
Je ne dors plus
Je suis folle, je m'abandonne
Je ne dors plus
Je suis a toi
Je ne dors plus
Je suis folle, je m'abandonne
Je ne dors plus
Je suis a toi
The eternal flame will always burn
Feel - understand - and learn
17 Silence Must Be Heard (05:12)
Look into the others eyes, many frustrations
Read between the lines, no words just vibrations,
Don't ignore hidden desires
Pay attention, you're playing with fire
Silence must be heard, noise should be observed
The time has come to learn, that silence...
SILENCE MUST BE HEARD
or diamonds will burn, friendly cards will turn
cause silence has the right to be heard
People talk too much for what they have to say
Words without a meaning, they are fading away
Silence must be heard, noise should be observed
The time has come to learn, that silence...
SILENCE MUST BE HEARD
or diamonds will burn, friendly cards will turn
cause silence has the right to be heard
18 Out From the Deep (04:53)
We came out from the deep.
To learn to love, learn how to live.
We came out from the deep.
To avoid the mistakes we made.
That's why we are here!
That's why we are here!
That's why we are here!
We came out from the deep.
To help and understand, but not to kill.
It takes many lives till we succeed,
To clear the debts of, many hundred years.
That's why we are here!
That's why we are here!
That's why we are here!
That's why we are here!
That's why we are here!
That's why we are here!
19 The Cross of Changes (02:05)
If you understand, or if you don´t.
If you believe, or if you doubt.
There's a universal justice,
And the eyes of truth,
Are always watching you.
20 The Gate (02:04)
Closest approach to earth:
34,600,000 miles.
Mean distance from the sun:
141,600,000 miles.
Period of rotation around the sun:
1.88089 years.
Sideral rotation period:
24 hours, 37 minutes, 22.66 seconds.
Mean surface atmospheric temperature:
-23 degrees.
Visual albedo:
0.159.
Pole Star:
BD 52, Degrees 2880.
Visual magnitude at mean opposition:
-2.01.
Mass:
0.10174.
Density:
3.93.
Diameter:
0.532.
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