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Oxygene

Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene Audio CD

A fair review of the Jean Michel Jarre "Oxygene" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Jean Michel Jarre reviews here, or go back to the Jean Michel Jarre tabs.

Band: Jean Michel Jarre
Title: Oxygene
Rating:

Release Date: 1997-07-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Oxygene/Part 1 2: Oxygene/Part 2 3: Oxygene/Part 3 4: Oxygene/Part 4 5: Oxygene/Part 5 6: Oxygene/Part 6 7: [CD-Rom Track] [Multimedia]

A classic
It is a classic, and it is so for a reason. Whether you like electronic music or not, this is an album that belongs in everybody's collection. It transcends its genre: it is not just good electronic music, it is good music, period.

The mastering work is very good, and while I would still prefer the sound of the MFSL gold CD issue from the mid '90s, the sound quality on this release is, in general, superior to anything that has come before it.
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Excellent
The re-mastering of the tracks for this CD was well beyond the usual level of quality.

plus II
I bought this CD because of reviews on Amazon about the CD Les Chants Magnetiques. I never knew that there were other albums recorded by Jarre until now. By the way, when I bought that album back in the seventies, it was called by the English name, Magnetic Fields. Probably because no one at that time would have bought it with a French title. This CD is just as good as Magnetic Fields, which is great.

Absolutely incredible.
It's just never been to my taste. Ok, I should first start by remarking that in no way am I a big fan of electronic music. Initially this was because I regarded the synthesizer as the lazy man's way of making music, but now that i'm older I realize that working a synthesizer well requires at least as much patience and practice as any other instrument. I can only imagine how much effert Jean Michel put into this album over the three months it took him to create it, and in his dining room no less. And not only does he pull it off, but he pulls it off quite nicely. It's the only piece that I've ever listened to that left me feeling as though I'd just made a journey through space, under the sea, across an arctic wasteland and perhaps even across time itself all within the space of about forty minutes. And it was all done by one man.
Oxygene has a spacy, I would even say hypnotic feel to it, which would explain why it's been used in Sci-Fi films and radio programs. Anyone who's ever listened to this piece and who's also familiar with the BBC's Hitchiker's Guide radio program will know that Oxygene gets some fairly heavy use in a lot of the narration sections. I even had a teacher use it, the entire album, mind, in an assignment for Creative Writing back in my Senior year of High School. The idea was that we were to listen to the piece and then just write whatever popped into our heads. And since the class was well over an hour long there was ample time to listen to the whole album. I seem to recall some fairly abstract pieces of work emerging from that particular class, although for the life of me I couldn't tell you what any of them were about. I don't even remember mine. But that just goes to show what effect Oxygene can have on you if you open your mind to it. The tense, urgent sound of Oxygene II, all the tracks of this album are named in this way (Oxygene I through VI), is enough to set my blood to racing. Quite apart from the spacy sound effects that thread throughout the first half of the track, the melody itself is a high-pitched, urgent one that almost makes you feel as though your life is on the line. And the bass, although it's only the same note repeated rhythmically over and over again, is played in such a way as to make you think of a frantically racing heart. In fact this very track is used in several films I know of, Galipoli to name one. It also appeared as the main theme for a film we watched when I was in eighth grade Social Studies. We were talking about Hiroshima and the atom bomb, and my teacher had rented what she thought was a documentary about it. It may have been about Hiroshima rightly enough, but if it was a documentary it was of a silent variety, featuring only the aforementioned Oxygene II. Whether or not more of the piece was featured in said film I don't know, because my teacher ejected the cassette from the VCR rather quickly because the music got on her nerves. Of course that was before I learned that it was part of a piece called Oxygene, and at that point I agreed with her about it beig annoying. But since hearing the full masterpiece in Creative Writing I've tried, mostly without success, to find a copy for myself. Then I found one here on Amazon. After reacquainting myself with it I can actually give you a breakdown of each track, so let's get on with that, shall we?
The CD opens with Oxygene I, which sounds like a prelude to something. It opens quietly with what sounds, to me at least, like an etherial sort of melody that is quickly joined by the bass and other accompaniment. There's even a Theremin, or what sounds like one, featured heavily in this track. The melody remains basically the same throughout with a few subtle changes, then towards the end some spacy sound effects begin to phase in. At that point the melody changes to a kind of tense, anticipatory sort of sound, by which you know you're coming to the end of Oxygene I and will soon be into Oxygene II.
Oxygene II, probably my absolute favorite track, picks up right from Oxygene I. In fact oxygene I bleeds seamlessly into Oxygene II. The melody, as I said earlier, is a very high-pitched, I would even say urgent little tune enhanced shortly by the synthe bass and the spacy sound effects that almost put one in mind of a meteor shower in the vacuum of space. Soon we're treated to another high pitched little melody that, if anything, is even more urgent, I might even say sinister, than the main one, all the while with the main melody still playing underneath. Twice we're treated to this little gem, after which the melody takes a dramatic change. Oddly enough, however, it works out just fine. The spacy effects, too, are largely absent from the second half of the track, replaced by an amazingly realistic sound as of wind blowing through sand or even tall, dry grass. Soon there's even what sounds like a choir of human voices, a sign that the track is coming to its end.
Oxygene III is little more than a bridge between the fabulous Oxygene II and the equally fabulous Oxygene IV. But it's a fabulous bridge at that. In fact it's one of the pieces used fairly heavily in the BBC's Hitchhiker's Guide radio drama. The theremin is back in this one as well.
Oxygene IV is perhaps the most well-known track on the album. It starts out with more windy sounds, joined by a cool rhythm and an even cooler melody. The wind remains in the background, making you think of crossing an arctic glacier. In fact if I remember right the video for this track featured a penguin march.
Oxygene IV bleeds eventually into Oxygene V, marked by more bird sounds, or perhaps stoner sounds if you choose to look at it that way. The tune itself starts out extremely quietly, almost enough to allow you to catch your breath from the journey so far. But soon it picks up a little with a newer melody, accompanied by the same grandios bass sounds like in Oxygene III or even Oxygene I. But wait! There's more! Soon enough the track takes a complete 180, with an insistant riff and a completely different melody that persists for a good three minutes at least.
But all good things come to an end, and Oxygene ends with Oxygene VI. An excellent windy noise preceeds a catchy rhythm and a quiet melody, accompanied by a convincing sound of waves breaking on the sand, complete with sounds of gulls. The track ends on the same soft, windy note on which it began.
All in all I find nothing on Oxygene to complain about, except perhaps its brief playing time. Forty minutes? Brief? For something like this, yes it is, since it's almost guaranteed to leave you wanting more. So if you're into synthe music, or even if you're not but want an intensive listening experience, you might just do yourself a favor by taking a good long listen to Oxygene. It might just change your life for the better. It certainly improved mine.

as it always should have been
This is the sound We have been waiting for, for the best electronic music album ever. Nothing much to say.

You can see a complete list of all Jean Michel Jarre discography, or go back to the Jean Michel Jarre tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.