MICHAEL CRETU LEGIONÄRE ALBUM RE-RELEASE VIRGIN RELEASE: MARCH 1, 2002 REVIEW: MARCH 18, 2002

I've been looking for the wrong album all this time. I managed to track down "The Invisible Man", what I thought was the only Cretu album worth getting, just a few weeks ago. Not only did I find it quite boring, but also wondered what all the fuss was about. I kept getting yelled at for not owning this particular eighties classic, while no one even mentioned the existence of an earlier, and shockingly better, album called "Legionäre". Back in the day, Michael Cretu had to be one of the pop scene's ugliest men, mainly because of that impossible poodle hair cut and clothing, for which the eighties are more to blame than Cretu himself, but still.
"Legionäre" is about catchy instrumentals and, at times, equally catchy lyrically equipped Deutsche Welle tracks. The classic "Total Normal" has survived extraordinarily well since its origin in 1983 and so has almost every song on the disc, especially including the album's closing theme "Der Planet der verlorenen Zeit", a powerful ballad, with characteristic Cretu pompousness.
It's particularly nice to hear some of Michael's own work instead of seeing his name on countless sleeves for other artists as producer or song writer. Many of you might recognise him form his work with his wife Sandra and of course Enigma, while, probably, not so many of you are aware of his fantastic production skills, shown efficiently on the late eighties masterpiece "The Different Story (World of Lust and Crime)" by Peter Schilling.
It's been a while since Cretu released something of his own, but "Legionäre" really deserves to be labelled a classic and his work with Schillling, Enigma and Hubert Kah, among others, make him stand out as a true pop/synthpop icon.

NIKLAS FORSBERG