I bought this album on CD when it was released in 1996 but I only listened to it once or twice. I think I was disappointed with this record as it moved away from the sound of the first two albums and something was lost in the process.
As I haven't listened to this music in many many years, I will be trying to assess it afresh without preconceptions. As with previous Enigma albums, I will be playing the 180g remastered vinyl form the "Complete Studio Albums" box set.
The title track starts thing off and features the reassuringly familiar Enigma horn sample amongst the milieu. The next track is the lacklustre "Morphing Through Time" which plods along relatively tunelessly despite its Gregorian chants. "Beyond Invisible" is another track that seems to centre on atmospherics at the expense of melody or any meaningful content. I have no idea why such a insipid track would be released as a single; but it was. Up to this point, everything is a bit vanilla. It feels like 'Enigma by numbers'.
The first sign of a pulse on this record comes with "Why!..." which has a funky drum loop and sounds quite good despite some dodgy vocals and Roland JV-1080 presets. "Shadows in Silence" has some nice hooks but is still a bit prosaic compared to the pounding beats of previous albums. "The Child in Us" could sit quite happily on any Deep Forest album - and I'm not sure that is a good thing. The single "T.N.T. for the Brain" is the first time Mr Cretu tears up the trees and gives us a bit of ear candy, but it is over too soon.
Even though "Almost Full Moon" is another of the more downtempo tracks it has enough to retain my interest. Disappointingly "The Roundabout" has nothing to do with Yes or Dougal and Ermintrude but it does have one of the cheesiest vocal refrains you'll ever hear. "Prism of Life" and "Odyssey of the Mind" make for a disappointing conclusion. Seems my estimation in 1996 was correct. 2.5/5
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