[Cover]

Enigma: Age Of Loneliness

By Joar Grimstvedt, August 4, 1994
CDM: 8 92525 2; 7243 8 92525 2 1 - DINSD 135 - PM 515
(P) 1994 Virgin Schallplatten GmbH
(C) 1994 Virgin Schallplatten GmbH

1. Age Of Loneliness  (Radio Edit)           4:14
2. Age Of Loneliness  (Clubby Radio Edit)*   3:31
3. Age Of Loneliness  (Enigmatic Club Mix)*  6:23  128 BPM
4. Age Of Loneliness  (Jam & Spoon Remix)**  6:28   93 BPM
5. Age Of Loneliness  (Album Version)        5:19
Taken from the album "The Cross Of Changes"

Written by Curly M.C.
Published by Mambo/Ensign Music Corp.
Additional Recording & Remixes by:
  *Jens Gad & Michael Cretu
  **Allstar Productions

Produced & Engineered by "Curly" Michael Cretu

Sample: Extracts from the album "Songs From The Victorious City"
performed and written by Anne Dudley and Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman on China
Records; Published by EG Music/BMG Music Publishing Ltd./EMI Songs 
Ltd.
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The cover is rather special, because it's very different from any of the other covers. It is not of any mythological or religious content, nor is it a photo. It seems like a drawing from the 1920s. The drawing is of an Indian magician doing some stuff, like playing a flute and up comes a snake, only that it is what looks like toys coming up from a box. The background is white. As for the CD itself, it is red, with a star sign map in black.

The visual appearance strays away from the previous three releases. The font used for the text, both on the spine and elsewhere is not the typewriter one, but a standard one. For the cover there is special logo for the artist name and the title.

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The Radio Edit is just that, a shortened version of the track you find on the album. Some seconds have been lost in the intro, and it fades out at what is around 4:40 on the album.

The main new mix on this single is the Enigmatic Club Mix. It is indeed very 'club', with a bass line that lies still at the same note. The track opens in the same was as the Goetterdaemmerung Mix of The Eyes Of Truth - ambience sounds with the main ethnic chant running once through. The bass drum kicks in just before the 1 minute mark, and is a simple quarter note thing. Together with the bass line it makes for a very powerful and thumping sound.

There are various sounds which play around in the background throughout the track. These include a flanged jetsound, the sounds of knives, and of pots and pans. In sections the track is similar to the Hypnotic Mix of Culture Beat's 'Got To Get It'. Gad and Cretu may have sampled from that particular track - I haven't checked. Yello and Kraftwerk are other artists that spring to mind during the track. The famous Yello brass sound is used during a section. The Kraftwerk connection lies in the use of morse code sounds. Both the new mixes (Enigmatic Club Mix and Clubby Radio Edit) has the morse code sounds in the beginning of the track. It works rather OK, but can be a bit tiresome, especially on the Enigmatic Club Mix. I haven't tried to spell out what the morse code means, but it probably doesn't mean anything.

The Clubby Radio Edit is a condensed version of the Enigmatic Club Mix. In short it has all, or at least most, of the elements from the longer mix.

The Jam & Spoon Remix is familiar to some of you, but for those new to it, it is a slower and more relaxed version of the original track. It is more melancholic, which suits the mood and lyrics of the song.

The last track is of course a straight cut from the album.

All in all I think these remixes are better than the ones for The Eyes Of Truth. Remember that those mixes didn't incorporate that many elements from the original song, which isn't that surprising. Age Of Loneliness is a more thankful song to remix, as it is more upbeat and not so epic as the previous single was. The remixes on this release use the original material in a nice way, you can still hear that this is Age Of Loneliness.

I think this single can go down well - it certainly will do better than the previous one that just disappeared after the inital two- three weeks. It won't match the success of Return To Innocence (what will?!), but it will make it's mark. It will also be interesting to see what the video will be like, will it incorporate pictures from the Sliver film? The single doesn't mention Sliver at all, plus the film has been off the cinemas for quite some while now (although it has just been released on video), so I don't think so.

Thanks to Virgin Records Norway


Updated July 24, 1996 by Joar Grimstvedt joarg@hsr.no