Seven Lives Many Faces
Seven Lives Many Faces is the seventh studio album by German musical project Enigma. It is Enigma's 7th album. The album was released on 19 September 2008 worldwide and on 30 September 2008 in North America. Michael Cretu stated that the new album would feature an omnicultural sound unlike anything on its previous releases. On 12 September, the album was released on Enigma's MySpace page for pre-listening. After enjoying a huge success on MySpace (with over 400,000 listens in 2 days), several international MTV and VH1 web sites started streaming the album until 22 September.[1]
Seven Lives Many Faces | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 19 September 2008 | |||
Recorded | 2007–2008 at various places with the "Alchemist" (all in one computed mobile studio) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 50:01 | |||
Label | Virgin / EMI 50999 2 37979 0 2 V0-37979 | |||
Producer | Michael Cretu | |||
Enigma chronology | ||||
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Seven Lives Many Faces was also released in DVD format with 5.1 surround sound, similar to their previous album A posteriori.
Singles
The first two singles from the album are "Seven Lives" and "La Puerta del Cielo". The videos for each song use scenes from previous Enigma videos, "Push the Limits" for "Seven Lives" and "Age of Loneliness" for "La Puerta del Cielo". "The Same Parents" was released as the third single off the album. The lyrics of the song "La Puerta del Cielo" (The Gate of Heaven), although with a Spanish title, are in Catalan language. The other song of the album written in Catalan is "Between Generations". Both songs were co-written by Michael Cretu and Margalida Roig.
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
AllMusic's James Christopher Monger gave the album three stars out of five. While he praised the singles "Seven Lives" and "La Puerta del Cielo" calling them "quietly stunning", he found that in most cases "the new age, fortune-cookie derived lyrics... mirror the unimaginative, two-chord melodies that carry them along."[2]
Commercial performance
The album debuted at No. 92 on the Billboard 200,[3] and No. 1 on the New Age Albums,[4] selling 6,000 copies in the first week. The album had sold 85,000 copies in the United States as of September 2016.[5]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Encounters" | Michael Cretu | 3:12 |
2. | "Seven Lives" | Cretu | 4:25 |
3. | "Touchness" | Cretu | 3:35 |
4. | "The Same Parents" | Cretu | 5:19 |
5. | "Fata Morgana" | Cretu | 3:23 |
6. | "Hell's Heaven" | Cretu | 3:51 |
7. | "La Puerta del Cielo" | Cretu, Margarita Roig | 3:28 |
8. | "Distorted Love" | Cretu, Andru Donalds | 4:11 |
9. | "Je t'aime Till My Dying Day" | Cretu, Donalds | 4:18 |
10. | "Déjà Vu" | Cretu | 2:56 |
11. | "Between Generations" | Cretu, Roig | 4:31 |
12. | "The Language of Sound" (6:52 track length includes bonus track "Where Are We From") | Cretu | 4:20 |
Total length: | 50:01 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
13. | "Epilogue" | 1:57 |
Bonus disc
All tracks are written by Michael Cretu.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Superficial" | 2:58 |
2. | "We Are Nature" | 3:51 |
3. | "Downtown Silence" | 2:08 |
4. | "Sunrise" | 2:38 |
5. | "The Language of Sound" (slow edit) | 3:56 |
Total length: | 15:31 |
Credits
- Michael Cretu – music, lyrics, performance, production, programming, arrangements, engineering
- Andru Donalds – vocals (tracks: 2, 4, 8, 9), co-writer (tracks: 8, 9)
- Nanuk – vocals (track: 4), narration (track: 9)
- Nikita C. – vocals (track: 4)
- Sebastian C. – vocals (track: 4)
- Margarita Roig – vocals (tracks: 7, 11, 2 (Bonus CD)), co-writer (tracks: 7, 11)
- Ruth-Ann Boyle – vocals (tracks 3, 5, 2 (Bonus CD))
- Additional personnel
- Photography – Rosemary Robenn
- Artwork – Dirk Rudolph
Charts
Chart (2008) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austria Albums Chart[7] | 30 |
France Albums Chart[7] | 93 |
Germany Albums Chart[7] | 15 |
Italy Albums Chart[7] | 36 |
Mexico Albums Chart[7] | 59 |
Netherlands Albums Chart[7] | 22 |
Poland Albums Chart[7] | 48 |
Portugal Albums Chart[7] | 29 |
Russia Albums Chart[8] | 10 |
Spain Albums Chart[7] | 75 |
Switzerland Albums Chart[7] | 18 |
US Top New Age Albums[9] | 1 |
USA Billboard Top 200[9] | 92 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
GCC (IFPI Middle East)[10] | Gold | 3,000* |
Russia (NFPF)[11] | Gold | 10,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
Country | Date |
---|---|
Worldwide | 19 September 2008 |
North America | 30 September 2008 |
DVD release
The entire album was released on DVD, with claimed 5.1 surround sound. Unlike previous DVD release called A Posteriori, Seven Lives, Many Faces features video movies to each song.
References
- "ENIGMA New Album Pre-Listening on MTV Sites Around the World!! by ENIGMA on Myspace". myspace.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- Monger, James Christopher. Seven Lives Many Faces at AllMusic. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- "Billboard 200". Billboard. 18 October 2008.
- "New Age Albums". Billboard. 18 October 2008.
- "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on 28 September 2016.
- Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces
- "Enigma - Seven Lives Many Faces - Music Charts". acharts.us. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- Россия Top 25: Centr - Эфир в норме (in Russian). 2M-online.ru. 13 December 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
- Billboard.com
- "IFPI Middle East Awards – 2009". IFPI Middle East.
- "Russian album certifications – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF).