MCMXC a.D. ("1990" in Roman numerals followed by an abbreviation of "Anno Domini") is a concept album created by the musical project Enigma, spearheaded by Michael Cretu. Released at the end of 1990, it was Enigma's debut album. The project's popularity soon soared beyond Cretu's expectations after the album's launch, and it reached #1 in 41 countries.
Four singles were excerpted from this album: "Sadeness (Part I)", "Principles of Lust", "Mea Culpa (Part II)" and "The Rivers of Belief". "Sadeness" and MCMXC a.D. itself hit #1 in the UK singles and albums charts respectively on its UK debut in January 1991. On the U.S. market "Sadeness (Part I)" reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and MCMXC a.D. went to #6 on the Billboard 200 and remained in the charts for a total of 282 weeks.
MCMXC a.D. was one of the first albums to be recorded on a hard disk after Cretu's upgrade to the A.R.T. Studios.MCMXC a.D. ("1990" in Roman numerals followed by an abbreviation of "Anno Domini") is a concept album created by the musical project Enigma, spearheaded by Michael Cretu. Released at the end of 1990, it was Enigma's debut album. The project's popularity soon soared beyond Cretu's expectations after the album's launch, and it reached #1 in 41 countries.
Four singles were excerpted from this album: "Sadeness (Part I)", "Principles of Lust", "Mea Culpa (Part II)" and "The Rivers of Belief". "Sadeness" and MCMXC a.D. itself hit #1 in the UK singles and albums charts respectively on its UK debut in January 1991. On the U.S. market "Sadeness (Part I)" reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and MCMXC a.D. went to #6 on the Billboard 200 and remained in the charts for a total of 282 weeks.
MCMXC a.D. was one of the first albums to be recorded on a hard disk after Cretu's upgrade to the A.R.T. Studios.false2025-11-07 23:09:06MCMXC a.D.19901990-01-011990-01-0112New Age1124252118248c84d5361-750b-3d42-887c-13e315cd85f1f1d1df24-91af-4d27-83a4-9b4ad29b37ebd0ef18b3-2935-3ff7-84b5-02614195f59c/media/data/media5/Music/Enigma/MCMXC a.D_/folder.jpgEnigmaEnigmaEnigma is a German musical project founded in 1990 by Romanian-German musician and producer Michael Cretu. Cretu had released several solo records, collaborated with various artists, and produced albums for his then-wife, German pop singer Sandra, before he conceived the idea of a new-age, worldbeat project. He recorded the first Enigma studio album, MCMXC a.D. (1990), with contributions from David Fairstein and Frank Peterson. The album remains Enigma's most successful, helped by the international hit single "Sadeness (Part I)", which sold twelve million units alone. According to Cretu, the inspiration for the creation of the project came from his desire to make a kind of music that did not obey "the old rules and habits" and presented a new form of artistic expression with mystic and experimental components.
Enigma followed MCMXC a.D. with a series of albums that involved several musicians and producers working with Cretu. The first was The Cross of Changes (1993), which incorporated tribal and ethnic influences and sold over eight million copies worldwide, followed by Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! (1996), which blended the Gregorian chants reminiscent of the first album with the strong intercultural soundscapes present in the second. Enigma's fourth album The Screen Behind the Mirror (2000) started a slight departure from the previous world music themes towards a heavier electronic atmosphere. This evolution culminated with Voyageur (2003), its fifth and more pop-based album, and A Posteriori (2006), a work inspired by the future collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, with distinct operatic tones and an electronic spectrum closer to Voyageur than the earlier releases. Seven Lives Many Faces (2008) followed and contained a mixture of classical and modern elements ranging from ethnic chants to rap and dubstep influences. Its eighth album, The Fall of a Rebel Angel, was released in November 2016.
Enigma has sold over 8.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US and an estimated 70 million worldwide with over 100 gold and platinum certifications. The project has also received two Grammy Award nominations.