MCMXC a.D.  by Enigma

In 1990, the German-Romanian musician and producer Michel Cretu created a musical project called Enigma. The musical orientation of the group is towards new age music with many elements from Gregorian chants embedded. The first album was MCMXC a.D., which was released in late 1990 and managed to impress with the originality of its sound.

The album consists of seven compositions, most of which are authored by Cretu. The contribution of the German singer Sandra was significant and decisive, as her voice "dressed" the two major hits of the record, Sadeness (Part I), which was the first part of the twelve-minute composition Principles Of Lust, and Mea Culpa. In 1991, after the enormous success of MCMXC a.D., the members of the choir Capella Antiqua München took legal action against Enigma, claiming that the choral parts of the above two hits were from their recordings. The whole matter was settled out of court.

The album was a huge success in European countries, but even more impressive were the 4,000,000 copies of MCMXC a.D. sold in the United States (!) The sales of the album now approach 9,000,000 worldwide.