When God Was A Woman

Getting Your Hands on the Enigma Album When God Was A Woman

The album came out in 1993 as Enigma's second release, following their debut MCMXC a.D. It was produced by Michael Cretu and featured tracks like "Carrie" and "Gravity of Love." If you're looking to get it, you have a few actual options depending on what you want.

Where to Download When God Was A Woman

You can grab it on iTunes, Amazon Music, or Tidal. The standard CD pressing runs about fourteen dollars if you hunt around for used copies on Discogs. I'd recommend checking the 1993 Virgin Records pressing specifically — later reissues sometimes have slightly different mastering that sounds flatter. For digital, the FLAC files from 7digital give you the best quality without jumping into high-res audiophile tiers that don't actually improve anything on this particular album. At 16-bit/44.1kHz, it sounds fine on decent headphones. Don't bother spending extra for a "remastered" remaster unless you know the specific release — some of those just loudness-war casualties. I learned that the hard way. A few years back I bought what was listed as a "remastered edition" on a random marketplace for cheap. Ended up being a lossy MP3 conversion of a low-quality rip with the wrong track order. Took me twenty minutes to realize what happened after I compared the waveforms against the original CD. Just stick to established platforms and avoid any listing that seems too good to be true. A ten-dollar album shouldn't be going for two dollars unless something's wrong with it.

What Actually Makes This Album Different

Most people remember Enigma from "Sadeness (Part I)" and assume the rest of the catalog sounds the same. It doesn't. When God Was A Woman is notably more atmospheric and less rhythm-driven than the debut. Cretu pulled back on the dance elements and leaned into ambient textures with Gregorian chant samples woven throughout instead of driving them. The title track is nearly seven minutes long and builds very slowly. Some listeners found that approach tedious. I found it effective in the right listening environment — headbadphones at night, not blasting through car speakers at highway speeds. The production values on this record are genuinely strong, which is something you might not expect from a mid-nineties new age project. One thing people consistently miss about this album is how much David A. Stewart ( formerly of Eurythmics) contributed to the songwriting. He co-wrote several tracks including "Gravity of Love," and that pop sensibility underneath the ambient surface is what keeps the album from drifting entirely into background music territory. The vocal performances by Corinne Allalba on "Carrie" and Sandra on "Gravity of Love" are also stronger than the general reputation of the project suggests. Sandra especially brings a clarity that cuts through the dense production in a way that feels intentional rather than accidental.

Problems You'll Run Into

Streaming availability fluctuates by region. In some countries, Enigma's catalog gets shuffled around between labels, and this album may not appear in your library at all. I hit this wall in 2021 when I moved and my new streaming service simply didn't have the rights to the tracklist. I ended up just pulling the CD from my shelf and ripping it with XLD at 1.0x speed using AccurateRip verification. Took about an hour for the full album, and the files have been stable ever since. Another issue is track sequencing confusion. The original CD has a specific track order that changed slightly on some international vinyl pressings and later compilations. If you're building a personal collection and care about the intended flow, double-check which version you're acquiring. The 1993 Virgin CD pressing is the reference point most collectors use. The album's biggest weakness is consistency. The opening and closing tracks carry the weight while the middle section drags a bit. "Turn Around" and "Restauranter" sit in a gray area where the ambient approach doesn't quite land. It's not bad, just less memorable. Cretu had already figured out the formula on the first album and here he's deliberately trying something different. Sometimes that experimentation works and sometimes it just feels like padding. That's fair to say without needing to dress it up.

If you're new to Enigma, start with the debut album. If you already know the music and want the deeper cuts, this is where they are. Not all of them are winners, but the highlights are distinctive enough that the album still holds up after thirty years.