''Voyageur'' is the fifth 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 8 September 2003 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

. ''Voyageur'' was considered to be Enigma's most distinctive album to date, due to Enigma's drastic changes in sound as compared to the previous four albums. The project's signature ''

shakuhachi A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

'' flutes,

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

s and tribal chants found on the earlier albums were all but gone on ''Voyageur''. Instead, most of the songs found on the album were more pop-oriented, such as "

Voyageur The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ' ...

", "Incognito", " Boum-Boum" and "Look of Today"; the latter of which interpolates the chorus of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's " The Look of Love".

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 ...

described ''Voyageurs genre as "sophisticated pop". Only a few samples of previous works are retained; a familiar reversed

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

rhythm appears in "Look of Today", while "Incognito" contains the chorus of previous single " Sadeness" buried in the bridge of the song. The "Enigma

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...

" also appears at the opening of the record.

Release

''Voyageur'' was released on the CD and

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

formats, while the CD cover art (done by Johann Zambryski) has two different versions: *A normal version with full paper inserts (which can be harder to find compared to the "special package" edition); *A "special package" edition with a transparent CD cover, with the album art printed on the inside of the CD case and partly on the CD itself, and a ring-shaped booklet placed under the CD. In May 2018, the album received its first vinyl release as part of The Colours of Enigma series of reissues, which includes all other Enigma studio albums.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Voyageur''. *

Ruth-Ann Boyle Ruth-Ann Boyle (born 26 April 1970, Sunderland, England) is an English pop singer. Together with producers Tim Kellett and Robin Taylor-Firth, she formed the British band Olive. The band's single " You're Not Alone" reached number 1 in the UK S ...

– lead vocals * Andru Donalds – lead vocals *

– lead vocals ; arrangements, engineering, production *

Sandra Cretu Sandra Ann Lauer (born 18 May 1962), commonly known under her stage name Sandra and Sandra Cretu (), is a Franco-German pop singer who enjoyed mainstream popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s with a string of European hit singles, produced ...

– female voices *

Jens Gad Jens Gad is a German producer, songwriter and guitarist of Danish parents. He started making music at young age. Gad produces music for many artists (Sandra Cretu / Sandra Gambino) and was previously co-producer for the musical project, Enigma. I ...

– arrangements, engineering, guitars * Johann Zambryski – artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voyageur (Album) 2003 albums Albums produced by Michael Cretu Enigma (German band) albums Virgin Records albums