Voyageur (Enigma album) explained

Voyageur
Type:	studio
Artist:	Enigma
Cover:	Enigma - Voyageur.jpg
Released:	8 September 2003
Recorded:	2003
Studio:	A.R.T. (Ibiza, Spain)
Genre:	Europop new-age ambient electronic experimental
Length:	47:18
Label:	Virgin
Producer:	Michael Cretu
Prev Year:	2001
Next Title:	15 Years After
Next Year:	2005

Voyageur is the fifth studio album by the German musical project Enigma, released on 8 September 2003 by Virgin Records.

Voyageur was considered to be Enigma's most distinctive album to date, due to Enigma's drastic changes in sound as compared to the previous four albums. The project's signature shakuhachi flutes, Gregorian chants and tribal chants found on the earlier albums were all but gone on Voyageur. Instead, most of the songs found on the album were more pop-oriented, such as "Voyageur", "Incognito", "Boum-Boum" and "Look of Today"; the latter of which interpolates the chorus of ABC's "The Look of Love". Michael Cretu described Voyageurs genre as "sophisticated pop". Only a few samples of previous works are retained; a familiar reversed cymbal rhythm appears in "Look of Today", while "Incognito" contains the chorus of previous single "Sadeness" buried in the bridge of the song. The "Enigma foghorn" also appears at the opening of the record.

Release

Voyageur was released on the CD and cassette formats, while the CD cover art (done by Johann Zambryski) has two different versions:

• A normal version with full paper inserts (which can be harder to find compared to the "special package" edition);
• A "special package" edition with a transparent CD cover, with the album art printed on the inside of the CD case and partly on the CD itself, and a ring-shaped booklet placed under the CD.

In May 2018, the album received its first vinyl release as part of The Colours of Enigma series of reissues, which includes all other Enigma studio albums.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Voyageur.^[1]

• Ruth-Ann Boyle – lead vocals
• Andru Donalds – lead vocals
• Michael Cretu – lead vocals ; arrangements, engineering, production
• Sandra Cretu – female voices
• Jens Gad – arrangements, engineering, guitars
• Johann Zambryski – artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2003)! scope="col"

Peak position
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)^[2]	20
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)^[3]	87
US Billboard 200^[4]	94
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)^[5]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2003)! scope="col"

Position
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)^[6]	13

Chart (2004)! scope="col"

Position
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)^[7]	13

External links

• Web site: Michael Cretu "Voyageur" Interviews Part 3 . 2003 . EnigmaMusic.com . 10 February 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110518093617/http://www.enigmamusic.com/interviews/voyageur-iv3.html . 18 May 2011.

Notes and References

1. Voyageur . liner notes . . . 2003 . 7243 591312 2 1.
2. Web site: Oficiální česká hitparáda IFPI ČR – 38. týden 2003 . Marketing & Media . cs . 19 September 2003 . 3 April 2022.
3. Book: Salaverrie, Fernando. September 2005. Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. es. 1st. Madrid. Fundación Autor/SGAE. 84-8048-639-2.
4. Enigma Chart History (Billboard 200) . . 20 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200129204901/https://www.billboard.com/music/Enigma/chart-history/TLP . 29 January 2020.
5. Enigma Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums) . . 20 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200129212037/https://www.billboard.com/music/Enigma/chart-history/ELP . 29 January 2020.
6. Year in Music – Top Electronic Albums . Billboard . 115 . 52 . 27 December 2003 . YE-66 . 0006-2510 . Google Books.
7. 2004 The Year in Music – Top Electronic Albums . Billboard . 116 . 52 . 25 December 2004 . YE-61 . 0006-2510 . Google Books.