and received a gold certification from the French National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (SNEP). Cretu considers "Mea Culpa (Part II)" his favorite song from the album. "Principles of Lust" and "The Rivers of Belief" were both as singles released in 1991. The "Principles of Lust" single is the song "Find Love" renamed. The single charted at number 90 in Germany, number 59 in the UK, and number 29 in France. "The Rivers of Belief" single is the third song of the "Back to the Rivers of Belief" album track. The single charted in the United Kingdom at number 68, and in Sweden at number 37. Critical reception MCMXC a.D. was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Danny Serbib of Colorado Springs Magazine said that by adding Gregorian chant to the album, "[Cretu had] redefined the possible future of popular music." Mikko Stübner-Lankuttis from Deutsche Welle put MCMXC a.D. at number one on his "The Top 10 albums from Germany", saying "His combination of new-age sounds with dance beats regularly took the project to the top of the international charts." AllMusic critic Ned Raggett said, "Michael Crétu's attempt at fusing everything from easy listening sex music and hip-hop rhythms to centuries-old Gregorian chants could not have been more designed to tweak the nose of high art." Marisa Fox wrote, for Entertainment Weekly, that while the album doesn't have as many accessible hits as other ones, "[the] journey through what the group calls 'music, spirit, and meditation' is entrancing as well as provocative." In contrast, Brian Bourke, in the Syracuse Herald-Journal, stated that "once the novelty of Enigma's approach wears off", the rhythms underneath the songs have a sameness that is "irritating" in his eyes, with the exception of "The Rivers of Belief". The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau asserted that the "mellow electrobeat and Gregorian fog" of "Sadeness (Part I)" "provide[s] mutual relief", and suggested the other songs are disco filler with sexual content that is too lacking in vulgarity for his tastes. Commercial performance MCMXC a.D. was a worldwide commercial success. According to The New York Times, the album had sold 12 million copies worldwide as of February 1994. In Germany, MCMXC a.D. entered the German Albums chart at number 60 for the week of 10 December 1990. It peaked at number three for the week of 24 December 1990 and left after appearing at number 72 for