''The Fall of a Rebel Angel'' is the eighth studio album by the German musical project

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...

, released on 11 November 2016 by

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

. The first studio album since ''

Seven Lives Many Faces ''Seven Lives Many Faces'' is the seventh studio album by the German musical project Enigma, released on 19 September 2008 by Virgin Records. Michael Cretu stated that the album would feature an omnicultural sound unlike anything on its previous ...

'' (2008), it is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

that tells the story of a protagonist's journey of development and change to find a new, fulfilling life. The album was developed by Enigma's founder, producer, and principal composer,

Michael Cretu Michael Cretu ( ro, Mihai Crețu, ; born 18 May 1957) is a Romanian-German musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He gained worldwide fame as the founder and musician behind the musical project Enigma, which he formed in 1990. Cretu ...

and German lyricist and librettist

Michael Kunze Michael Rolf Kunze (born 9 November 1943, in Prague) is a foremost German musical theater lyricist and librettist. He is best known for the hit musicals '' Elisabeth'' (1992), '' Dance of the Vampires'' (1996), ''Mozart!'' (1999), ''Marie Antoine ...

. Its artwork was designed by

Wolfgang Beltracchi Wolfgang Beltracchi (born Wolfgang Fischer on 4 February 1951) is a German Art forgery, art forger and artist who has admitted to forging hundreds of paintings in an international art scam netting millions of euros. Beltracchi, together with his ...

Production

Background

''The Fall of a Rebel Angel'' is the first release from Enigma since its 2010 fan collaboration track " MMX" to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the musical project, and its first studio album since ''

'' (2008).

, Enigma's founder, principal composer and producer, spent one year "testing and experimenting" for a new Enigma studio album prior to recording. Cretu aimed to return to the Enigma sound adopted in its early years which earned the group its biggest international commercial and critical success, adding his wish "to transfer the spirit of Enigma's beginnings to the here and now, but in a new musical language". As the new album would be its eighth, Cretu wanted to make the album with a more complex idea behind it, with the number "8" being a symbol for "a new beginning". Having spent a period of four years recording music for a musical based on the German silent film ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

'' (1927) which involved German lyricist and librettist

, Cretu took a liking to writing music to a story, and wished to pursue such a concept for a new Enigma album. The two had previously worked together during Cretu's time as a solo artist in the 1980s, writing the German lyrics to his 1985 hit single "

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

". Cretu asked Kunze to write a story for the new Enigma album, to which Kunze agreed. Cretu already had ''The Fall of a Rebel Angel'' in his head as a title for the project, and after several brainstorming sessions at Kunze's home in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, selected 10 out of 20 situations that Kunze had outlined for the album's story and developed them further.

Recording

On 19 March 2015, a quote from Cretu posted on the official Enigma page on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

revealed that recording for ''The Fall of a Rebel Angel'' had begun. A video update posted on 19 January 2016 revealed that five months were left to complete the album, during which three songs had yet to be completed. The album features four guest artists: Brazilian singer-songwriter Mark Josher, Indonesian singer

Anggun Anggun Cipta Sasmi (; born 29 April 1974), better known as Anggun C. Sasmi or more often mononymously as Anggun, is an Indonesian-born French singer-songwriter and television personality. Born in Jakarta, she began performing at the age of sev ...

, Nanuk as female voice in intro, and English electro-pop duo Aquilo. Its artwork was designed and illustrated by German artist

, who also designed 12 paintings that accompany each of the album's "chapters". The album was recorded on Merlin, an all-in-one mobile digital studio that is the successor to a larger version of the unit named Alchemist, which Cretu operated to record ''Seven Lives Many Faces''. The machine was built specifically for Cretu and his way of recording. First used to record "MMX (The Social Song)", Merlin is roughly one third the size and weight of Alchemist and incorporates an

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

Mac Pro Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers for professionals that are designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2006. The Mac Pro, by some performance benchmarks, is the most powerful computer that Apple offers. It is one of f ...

computer running the

Logic Pro Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI music sequencer, sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which ...

digital audio workstation A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for Sound recording and reproduction, recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software pro ...

software, an LG 21:9 aspect ratio monitor, three 3 terabyte

LaCie LaCie (; English: "The Company") is an American-French computer hardware company specializing in external hard drives, RAID arrays, optical drives, Flash Drives, and computer monitors. The company markets several lines of hard drives with a ca ...

hard disks, a

Mark of the Unicorn Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) is a music-related computer software and hardware supplier. It is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has created music software since 1984. In the mid-1980s, Mark of the Unicorn sold productivity software and severa ...

analogue/digital interface, an 88-key keyboard, and

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener ( surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to sur ...

speakers.

Story

''The Fall of a Rebel Angel'' is a

formed of 12 "chapter-like" tracks that tells a surreal narrative, based on an

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

written for the album by Kunze, about a male protagonist's journey of development and change to find a new, fulfilling life. Cretu described the story as a "symbolic journey to redemption – with everyone to define his individual path" combined with "psychedelic undertones". He quotes from various literature, religious, and pop culture sources to aid the story which includes themes of sexuality, faith, and death. In one chapter, the character wanders through an imaginary town and encounters a priestess whose god is the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusat ...

, thus becoming a continuation of the story to "

Sadeness (Part I) "Sadeness (Part I)" is a song by German musical project Enigma, released in 1990 as the debut single from their first album, '' MCMXC a.D.'' (1990). It became an international hit, reaching number one in 14 countries. In the United States, the son ...

", the worldwide hit single from Enigma's debut album, '' MCMXC a.D.'' (1990). The story concludes with the individual breaking their own reflection in the water of a lake, accepting responsibility of its life.

Release

The album was officially announced on 8 August 2016 with a scheduled release date of 11 November. Four editions of the album were made available on

, a division of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. * The standard edition on single disc includes a 28-page booklet and the 12 "chapter" paintings by Beltracchi. * The two-disc limited deluxe edition

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

features a 12-track narration of the album's story and a 40-page booklet. * The limited super deluxe edition includes a signed picture frame and exclusive online content. * The

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...

vinyl edition has the 12 Beltracchi paintings and a 16-page booklet. * "Sadeness (Part II)" (featuring

) was released as a digital download on 10 October 2016 for those who pre-ordered the album. Following the album's completion, Cretu felt proud of the album. In May 2018, the album was reissued on a limited-edition coloured vinyl as part of The Colours of Enigma series, which includes all prior studio albums.

Track listing

Narration tracks

The Super Deluxe Edition includes the album's story audio narrated over 12 tracks in three languages, for a total of 36 tracks. The English version is narrated by Ian Wood, Spanish by Manuel Sanchez Fraguas, and French by Patrice Luc Doumeyrou. The English language version is available in HTML5 format on Enigma's website.

Personnel

Enigma *

– music, lyrics, story, production, programming, arrangements, engineering Additional personnel *

– vocals on "Mother", "Sadeness (Part II)", and "Oxygen Red" * Aquilo – vocals on "Amen" *Nanuk – featured performer voice on "Circle Eight" *Mark Josher (Marcelo Amaral Pontello) – vocals on "The Die Is Cast" *

– story, co-author *

– cover art *Ian Wood – album story narrator (English) *Manuel Sanchez Fraguas – album story narrator (Spanish) *Patrice Luc Doumeyrou – album story narrator (French)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fall of a Rebel Angel 2016 albums Concept albums Enigma (German band) albums Republic Records albums