We round out my Enigma vinyl collection with the 2021 "Monocorm Series" edition of "Love Sensuality Devotion (The Greatest Hits)". This is a 180g vinyl that features material released between 1990 and 2001. As this collection was initially conceived as a compact disc, there are 18 tracks which have to be spread across two vinyl discs.
The obligatory atmospheric introduction is provided by the "The Landing". This track and the single "Turn Around" were written for this compilation and are competent without being overly impressive.
As "TNT For The Brain" starts I am beginning to notice there is little attention to the band's earlier albums here. The track choices break down as three from the first album, "MCMXC a.D.", four songs each from "The Cross of Changes" and "Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!" but five from "The Screen Behind the Mirror". We don't get any music from the first and most successful album until we're halfway through the record.
I find the inclusion of mediocre tracks such as "Morphing Thru Time" and "Smell of Desire" puzzling as they weren't released as singles and I'm not clear on how they became considered 'hits'. I think it would have been better to have culled 4-5 tracks and made this album a more traditional hits package that focussed on their most successful work. Despite some odd track choices this remains a great précis of the bands output from the so called "first chapter".4/5
