Studio album · No. 7

The Fall of a Rebel Angel Songwriting Credits by Enigma

2016 Island 12 tracks 48:15

Produced by Michael Cretu  ·  Engineered by Michael Cretu

Island New agePopElectronicaDowntempoSynth-pop
100%
Authorship
Complete Artist

Holds writing credit on 12 of 12 tracks

Authorship Breakdown 12 / 12 documented

Who wrote the songs?

Scored across the 12 tracks with documented writers, by whether Enigma carries a lyricist or composer credit.

100%
12 trackswritten by Enigma 0 tracksoutside writers
Enigma's roles on this album

Share of the 12 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.

Lyricist67%
Composer100%
Producer100%
Performer100%

By the Numbers

12
Tracks
3
Lyricists
1
Producers
2016
Released
Data Insight

This is the first Enigma album Michael Cretu did not write by himself. Michael Kunze takes a lyric credit on all 12 tracks, and on four of them ("Circle Eight", "Mother", "Oxygen Red", "Amen") Cretu has no lyric credit at all. Kunze also shares the music credit on "The Omega Point" and "Diving". What did not move is the music: Cretu is credited on the music of every track and is the album's only producer and only engineer, so the record still sounds like one man's studio even where the words came from Hamburg. The one outside writer is Brazilian singer Mark Josher, credited under his legal name Marcelo Amaral Pontello on both words and music for "The Die Is Cast". Cretu is billed here under his own name rather than the Curly M.C. pseudonym he used on the early albums.

Enigma's eighth studio album and its first in eight years, a 12 chapter concept record about a protagonist's fall and eventual change. Michael Cretu recorded it between March 2015 and May 2016 on Merlin, an all-in-one mobile digital studio built to his own spec, working from a story and lyrics by German librettist Michael Kunze. Anggun, Aquilo, Mark Josher and Nanuk sing on it, and the art forger turned painter Wolfgang Beltracchi supplied a painting for each of the 12 chapters.

Track Listing & Credits 12 tracks

Written by the artist Written by outside writers
#TitleLyricist(s)Composer(s)Producer(s)Performers
1
Circle Eight
Michael Kunze Mihai Crețu Michael Cretu NanukMichael Cretu
2
The Omega Point
Michael KunzeMichael Cretu Mihai CrețuMichael Kunze Michael Cretu Michael Cretu
3
Diving
Michael KunzeMichael Cretu Mihai CrețuMichael Kunze Michael Cretu Michael Cretu
4
The Die Is Cast
Michael KunzeMichael CretuMarcelo Amaral Pontello Mihai CrețuMarcelo Amaral Pontello Michael Cretu Mark JosherMichael Cretu
5
Mother
Michael Kunze Mihai Crețu Michael Cretu AnggunMichael Cretu
6
Agnus Dei
Michael KunzeMichael Cretu Mihai Crețu Michael Cretu Michael Cretu
7
Sadeness (Part II)
Michael KunzeMichael Cretu Mihai CrețuJohann Sebastian Bach Michael Cretu AnggunMichael Cretu
8
Lost in Nothingness
Michael KunzeMichael Cretu Mihai Crețu Michael Cretu Michael Cretu
9
Oxygen Red
Michael Kunze Mihai Crețu Michael Cretu AnggunMichael Cretu
10
Confession of the Mind
Michael KunzeMichael Cretu Mihai Crețu Michael Cretu Michael Cretu
11
Absolvo
Michael KunzeMichael Cretu Mihai Crețu Michael Cretu Michael Cretu
12
Amen
Michael Kunze Mihai Crețu Michael Cretu AquiloMichael Cretu

Songwriter & Credit Spotlight 9 contributors

More from Enigma

Frequently Asked Questions The Fall of a Rebel Angel

Who wrote the songs on The Fall of a Rebel Angel?
Michael Cretu and German librettist Michael Kunze wrote the album together. Kunze has a lyric credit on all 12 tracks and a music credit on "The Omega Point" and "Diving"; Cretu has a music credit on all 12 and a lyric credit on 8. Brazilian singer Mark Josher, credited as Marcelo Amaral Pontello, co-wrote "The Die Is Cast".
Is The Fall of a Rebel Angel a concept album?
Yes. Kunze wrote a story that Cretu split into 12 chapters, one per track, following a protagonist through a fall and a change of life. The limited deluxe edition adds a 12 track spoken narration of the story, and the super deluxe edition carries it in English, Spanish and French for 36 narration tracks.
Who sings on The Fall of a Rebel Angel?
Four guests. Indonesian singer Anggun sings on "Mother", "Sadeness (Part II)" and "Oxygen Red", English duo Aquilo on "Amen", Brazilian singer Mark Josher on "The Die Is Cast", and Nanuk supplies the voice on the opener "Circle Eight".
What is sampled on Sadeness (Part II)?
The track opens on Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, which MusicBrainz records as a work relation on the recording. Bach is public domain, so the sample carries no living rights holder and no writer credit on the sleeve. AllMusic's review also describes Gregorian chant and ritual singing by members of Taiwan's Amis people in the track, but no source names a writer or a rights holder for either.
How did The Fall of a Rebel Angel chart?
It reached number 10 in Germany, 19 in Switzerland and the Czech Republic, 23 in Poland, 24 in Austria and 40 in the UK. In the United States it peaked at 122 on the Billboard 200 while topping both the New Age Albums and Top Dance/Electronic Albums charts.
Who painted the album cover?
Wolfgang Beltracchi, the German painter convicted of one of the largest art forgery frauds on record. He designed the sleeve and painted a separate work for each of the 12 chapters, reproduced in the booklet.
Where was The Fall of a Rebel Angel recorded?
On Merlin, a mobile digital studio built for Cretu and about a third the size of his earlier rig Alchemist. It packs a Mac Pro running Logic Pro, an ultrawide monitor, three 3TB drives, a MOTU interface, an 88 key keyboard and surround monitoring.
Why was there an eight year gap after Seven Lives Many Faces?
Cretu spent four of those years writing music for a stage musical based on the 1927 film Metropolis, which is where he began working with Kunze. He liked writing to a story enough to want the same approach for Enigma, then spent a further year testing ideas before recording started in March 2015.
Is The Fall of a Rebel Angel the last Enigma album?
It is the most recent one. No studio album has followed it, and it was the first Enigma record made for Universal after the company bought most of EMI's assets.
Data note: AllMusic's review of "Sadeness (Part II)" describes Gregorian chant and ritual singing by members of Taiwan's Amis people inside the track. No credit line on the release, and no entry in MusicBrainz, names a writer, performer or rights holder for either element, so neither is listed in composers. The only documented sample source with a named composer is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, linked to the recording of track 7 in MusicBrainz.

Sources