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 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 two days), several international MTV and VH1 websites started streaming the album until 22 September.[1]

Seven Lives Many Faces
Studio album by
Enigma
Released19 September 2008
Recorded2007–2008
StudioVarious places with the "Alchemist" (all in one computed mobile studio)
Genre
Length50:01
LabelVirgin
ProducerMichael Cretu
Enigma chronology
A Posteriori
(2006)		 Seven Lives Many Faces
(2008)		 The Platinum Collection
(2009)

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
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Encounters"Michael Cretu3:12
2."Seven Lives"Cretu4:25
3."Touchness"Cretu3:35
4."The Same Parents"Cretu5:19
5."Fata Morgana"Cretu3:23
6."Hell's Heaven"Cretu3:51
7."La Puerta del Cielo"Cretu, Margarita Roig3:28
8."Distorted Love"Cretu, Andru Donalds4:11
9."Je t'aime Till My Dying Day"Cretu, Donalds4:18
10."Déjà Vu"Cretu2:56
11."Between Generations"Cretu, Roig4:31
12."The Language of Sound"Cretu4:20
Total length:50:01
Pre-orders exclusive tracks (German iTunes)
No.TitleLength
13."Comments on the Album Title"0:46
14."Comments to "Seven Lives""0:40
15."Comments to "Touchness""0:39
16."Comments to "The Same Parents""0:54
17."Comments to "Fata Morgana""0:43
18."Comments to "Hell’s Heaven""0:32
19."Comments to "La Puerta del Cielo""0:59
20."Comments to "Distorted Love""1:00
21."Comments to "Je t’aime Till My Dying Day""0:40
22."Comments to "Déjà vu""0:40
23."Comments to "Between Generations""0:53
24."Comments to "The Language of Sound""0:45
25."Where Are We from"1:34
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Epilogue"1:57

Bonus disc

All tracks are written by Michael Cretu

No.TitleLength
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

Certifications
Certifications for Seven Lives Many Faces
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
GCC (IFPI Middle East)[28] Gold 3,000*
Russia (NFPF)[29] Gold 10,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Region Date
Worldwide 19 September 2008
North America 30 September 2008

References
  1. "ENIGMA New Album Pre-Listening on MTV Sites Around the World!!". myspace.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  2. Monger, James Christopher. Seven Lives Many Faces at AllMusic. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  3. "Billboard 200". Billboard. 18 October 2008.
  4. "New Age Albums". Billboard. 18 October 2008.
  5. "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on 28 September 2016.
  6. "Austriancharts.at – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  7. "Ultratop.be – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  9. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  11. "Lescharts.com – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  13. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2008. 43. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  14. "Italiancharts.com – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  15. 七つの命、無数の顔 | エニグマ [Seven Lives Many Faces | Enigma] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  16. "Mexicancharts.com – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  17. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  18. "Portuguesecharts.com – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  19. Россия Top 25: Centr – Эфир в норме (in Russian). 2M. 13 December 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  20. "Spanishcharts.com – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  21. "Swisscharts.com – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  22. "Chart Log UK (1994–2010): E-40 – E-Z Rollers". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  23. "Enigma Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  24. "Enigma Chart History (New Age Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  25. "New Age Albums – Year-End 2008". Billboard. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  26. "New Age Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  27. "New Age Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  28. "IFPI Middle East Awards – 2009". IFPI Middle East.
  29. "Russian album certifications – Enigma – Seven Lives Many Faces" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF).
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