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Enigma – Return To Innocence
Romanian-German musician and producer Michael Cretu, come his project as Enigma. I was a fan as soon as the debut album, ‘MCMXC a.D’ came out in 1990. It’s a sensual, gothic, beat infused with Gregorian chant, sexy masterpiece.
However, the second release, ‘The Cross of Changes’ in 1994, became a huge seller because of the worldwide hit, “Return To Innocence”. It was Top 10 on three U.S. charts, number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, number four on the Billboard Hot 100, and number six on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40.
The iconic intro is an Amis people chant (“Elders’ Drinking Song”) is repeated, which opens the song. Difang and Igay Duana, from the Amis, were in a cultural exchange program in Paris in 1988 when their performance of the song was recorded by the Maison des Cultures du Monde and later distributed on CD. The producer later obtained the CD and proceeded to sample it. In addition, the drum beat of the song was sampled from the Led Zeppelin song “When the Levee Breaks”, played by John Bonham.
