Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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elebrated as the European electronic music community's premier ambassador, composer Jean Michel Jarre elevated the synthesizer to new peaks of popularity during the 1970s, in the process emerging as an international superstar renowned for his dazzling concert spectacles. The son of the famed film composer Maurice Jarre, he was born August 24, 1948, in Lyon, France, and began studying piano at the age of five. Abandoning classical music as a youth, Jarre became enamored of jazz before forming a rock band called Mystere IV; in 1968, he became a pupil of the musique concrete pioneer Pierre Schaeffer, joining Groupe de Recherches Musicales. His early experiments in electro-acoustic music yielded the 1971 single "La Cage"; the full-length Deserted Palace followed a year later.

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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Jarre's early works were largely unsuccessful, and gave little indication of the work to follow. As he struggled to find his own voice, he wrote for a variety of singers, including Francoise Hardy, and also composed for films. Seeking to push electronic music away from its minimalist foundations as well as the formal abstractions of its most experimental practitioners, he slowly developed the orchestrated melodicism of his 1977 breakthrough effort, Oxygene, an enormous commercial hit that reached the number two spot on the U.K. pop charts. The follow-up, 1978's Equinoxe, was also a smash, and a year later Jarre held the first in a series of massive open-air concerts at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, the estimated one million spectators on hand earning him a place in The Guinness Book of World Records.

Only in the wake of 1981's Les Chants Magnetiques (Magnetic Fields) did Jarre mount a proper tour, traveling to China with a staggering amount of stage equipment in tow; the five performances, performed backed by some 35 traditional instrumentalists, later generated the LP Concerts in China. Released in 1983, Music for Supermarkets instantly became one of the most collectible albums in history – recorded for an art exhibit, only one copy was ever pressed, selling at a charity auction for close to $10,000. The master was then incinerated, guaranteeing the record's rarity. Jarre's next proper release was 1984's Zoolook, which failed to connect with audiences with the same success as its predecessors.

A two-year hiatus followed before he resurfaced on April 5, 1986, with an extravagant live performance in Houston celebrating NASA's silver anniversary; in addition to the over one million in attendance, it was also broadcast on global television. Rendez-Vous appeared a few weeks later, and after another highly visual live date in Lyon, France, Jarre assembled the best material from the two events as the 1987 concert LP Cities in Concert: Houston/Lyon. Revolutions, featuring the legendary Shadows guitarist Hank B. Marvin, followed in 1988, and a year later a third concert LP, dubbed simply Jarre Live, hit stores. After 1990's En Attendant Cousteau (Waiting for Cousteau), Jarre mounted his biggest live experience yet, with an attendance of over two and a half million fans converging on Paris to see him perform in honor of Bastille Day.

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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The decade to follow proved surprisingly quiet, however, and apart from the occasional live appearance Jarre was largely removed from the limelight; finally, in 1997 he issued Oxygene 7-13, updating his concepts for a new musical era. At the turn of the millennium, he recorded Metamorphoses and then took a break from the studio as a flurry of reissues and remixes followed, including Sessions 2000, Les Granges Brulees, and Odyssey Through O2. In 2007, after a seven-year hiatus from recording, Jarre released a new dance single, "Teo and Tea," a surprisingly strong return to electro, and followed it with a trancey, angular album also titled Teo and Tea.

by Jason Ankeny

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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Jean Michel Jarre, son of film composer Maurice Jarre, is one of the true pioneers of electronic music. Oxygene is one of the original e-music albums. It has withstood the test of time and the evolution of digital electronica. Jarre's compositional style and his rhythmic instincts were his strong points in 1976. While his popularity has escalated exponentially over the years, he never quite achieved the quality of this amazing recording. The innocence and freshness provide most of its charm. Jarre's techniques and ability provide the rest. This epic work will appeal to fans of Tonto's Expanding HeadBand, Tangerine Dream, Synergy, Kraftwerk, and Klaus Schulze.

by Jim Brenholts

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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As the follow up album to Oxygene, Equinoxe offers the same mesmerizing affect, with rapid spinning sequencer washes and bubbling synthesizer portions all lilting back and forth to stardust scatterings of electronic pastiches. Using more than 13 different types of synthesizers, Jarre combines whirling soundscapes of multi-textured effects, passages, and sometimes suites to culminate interesting electronic atmospheres. Never repeating the same sounds twice, it is obvious that the science fiction hype of the late 70's played a large part in the making of this album. Computerized rhythms and keyboard-soaked transitions scurry by, replaced by even quicker, more illustrious ones soon after. There is always a pulsating beat or a fluttering tempo happening somewhere in each of the tracks, which are titled as a numbered sequence one to eight. Each track harbors its own energy and electronic fleetness, but none are identical in sound or pace. So much electronic color is added to every track that it is impossible to concentrate on any particular segment, resulting in waves of synth drowning the ears at high tide.

by Mike DeGagne

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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Les Chants Magnetiques was the third of Jean Michel Jarre's albums in a row to update Tangerine Dream's atmospheric sequencer trance for a synth pop and mainstream crossover audience. The side-long "Les Chants Magnetiques, Pt. 1" is the capstone of the album, while "Pt. 2" through "Pt. 5" move through driving electronic pop and several passages more indebted to Jarre's past in the musique concrete scene. It's often just as melodic and inventive as Oxygene, though not as consistently creative.

by John Bush

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On the first departure of his career since 1977's Oxygene, Jean Michel Jarre combined an actual band and processed vocal samples – recorded in 25 different languages – with his rich, melodic synthesizer pop. The rhythm is often propelled by guttural vocal snippets, as on "Ethnicolor" and "Zoolookologie." That's not half as disconcerting for those used to his previous work as the album's art-funk backing: Adrian Belew on guitar, Marcus Miller on bass, and Yogi Horton on drums, plus Laurie Anderson on one track. Though Zoolook is interesting throughout, the tracks with Jarre alone are often the best, reprising the classic Oxygene sound.

by John Bush

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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Just after his live performance in Houston to celebrate NASA's anniversary, Jean-Michel Jarre released Rendez-Vous, an appropriately cosmic-sounding album of glittering synth pop. It consists of the same music heard at the Houston concert and shows Jarre moving closer to conventional rock territory, though still with his distinct blueprint. The final track, "Last Rendez-Vous: Ron's Piece," was composed by Jarre for astronaut Ron McNair and was intended to be the first musical piece played and recorded in space. McNair's historic duty was cut short, however, by the Challenger shuttle disaster of January 1986.

by John Bush

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While it can be easy to dislike and dismiss some cookie-cutter electronic music, the challenge lies in finding reasons to listen to it again. Such is the case with Revolutions by Jean Michel Jarre. One reviewer wrote, simply, "(This) is not revolutionary." That is true; Jarre breaks no new ground with the release of this album. He does, however, continue to create original music in his own style. He is often imitated and that is the sincerest form of flattery. This album features ten short pieces (five minutes and 22 seconds is the longest) of pop influenced e-music. This disc neither challenges nor offends the listener. It has its moments but it neither soars nor plunges. Of course, die-hard Jarre fans will love this disc. Fans of Synergy, Char-El, Klaus Schulze, and Ashra will like it.

by Jim Brenholts

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In 1990, Jarre's search for a new theme took him to the West Indies and the world of Jaques Cousteau. Jarre is not the first to be inspired by Cousteau of course, a number of musicians have trodden a similar path, including the late John Denver. This album, which was released with the English language title of "Waiting for Cousteau", is the result of Jarre's working holiday.

Side one of this album is a three part suite named after Cousteau's boat "The Calypso", a name which predictably reflects the style of music of part one. Jarre calls upon the assistance of a steel drum band plus bass and drums for the suite, but the sound is still predominantly electronic. The second part moves into more orthodox Jarre territory, with a straight forward synthesiser rendition. Part three is slower with a funereal atmosphere. It would work well as background music for some of Cousteau's stunning films, but heard in isolation it is rather mundane. The addition of a real bass to the tracks does add a certain heaviness to the sound, the music though is somewhat predictable.

The version of the album I have is on cassette, so the running time of the title track is curtailed by 25 minutes to a mere 22 minutes (coincidentally the length of side one!). The piece actually has very little to do with Cousteau or the Caribbean, even being recorded in France. It consists of slowly altering soundscapes devoid of discernible melodies. Essentially, it is the sort of music you see on racks in ecologically friendly shops, the prime selling point being the relaxation qualities of the product. Once again, if you are watching one of Cousteau's films the music might complement it well, although in this case the subject would need to be of the flora and fauna variety, not the wildlife.

This is very much an album of two halves. Side one is a largely predictable and traditional JM Jarre suite, while side two is a dreamy relaxation tool. In all, I found it to range from unremarkable to just plain boring.

by Easy Livin, progarchives

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For fans of Jean-Michel Jarre, Chronologie contains more of Jarre's proven ability to blend familiar sounds in the New Music tradition into unusual, inventive compositions. The uninitiated will find Chronologie's blend of 19th Century classical musical themes with pop, rave and rap sounds downright danceable. Many of the pieces begin with a classical sound – in one song it's deeply resonating pipe organ – and almost invariably pick up the tempo quickly and slide right into a Gloria Estefan beat…

by Rovi

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Oxygene 7-13 continues where Jean-Michel Jarre left off 20 years before, that is, with the last track ("Part 6") of 1977's Oxygene. Much had changed in the interim, for both Jarre and synthesizer technology. The result is a set of up-tempo, highly melodic electronic trance reminiscent of Steve Hillage's work of the time, as well as German trance producers like Sven Vath. Though it will sound best to those already familiar with his music, Jarre's influence was considerable, and he continued to prove it into the late '90s.

by John Bush

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Recorded in 2000 and not available in the United States until 2004, Metamorphoses is another of those enormous productions by the French electronic music master. Offering a cycle of songs, Jarre and his platoon of keyboards – a wonderful meld of cutting-edge and vintage technologies – delve into the notion of change and evolution with a remarkable efficiency despite the plethora of guest vocalists and instrumentalists. His collaborations with Laurie Anderson ("Je me souviens") and Natacha Atlas ("C'est la Vie") are wonderfully successful. The former is a staggered sequencer-driven track whose pulse varies, throbs, and wanes as the vocals are articulated in syncopated fashion in alternating cadences. The latter is an Eastern-tinged house track, where elements of disco, breakbeat, and even jungle enter and leave the mix after leaving traces of themselves on what follows their articulation. Atlas sings and wails and whispers, following sequences of broken beats and ushering in acid house pulsations as a lonesome violins caresses the proceedings and the cut breaks wide open in a frenzy of longing and increasing tempos before a trancey set of beats takes it out. Other vocalists include Lisa Jacobs ("Millions of Stars"), Dierdre Dubois ("Miss Moon"), and Veronique Bossa ("Give Me a Sign") Because of its many colors, Metamorphoses is the most adventurous recording of Jarre's in a decade, and articulates his universal language of transcultural musicality and futuristic altruism fantastically.

by Thom Jurek

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Jean-Michel Jarre Discography. Part1 (Studio Albums)

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Sessions 2000, Jean-Michel Jarre's first Stateside release after a maddening drought, is essentially a year in the life of the mind of the master who wowed the world with his seminal "Oxygene" suite in 1976. Jazzier than early fans would probably expect, but as interesting as he's always been, Jarre's six-track view of a year is energetic, invigorating, and after-dinner-drink smooth.

Eschewing song titles for a deceptively simpler system of dates, Jarre has both taken away outside meaning from each song, but has also imbued each one with the sensory synapse each season brings. So, then, "January 24" is shot through with the ambience of ice and wind, becoming a chilled "Auld Lang Syne" of sorts, leaving "March 23" to open up sunnier vibes with jazz trumpet and down beat synths. And it just goes on from there across the rest of the year, as "May 1" gives way to the sleepy vibe of midsummer's "June 21," before "December 17" eventually comes round full circle to connect the end to the beginning. The use of breaks and spaces to define moments of sound and moments in time are things we've come to expect from Jarre, and Sessions 2000 is no exception; his formula is refreshed here with some surprising musical twists and turns, including a pedal steel guitar.

Jarre is, for most, an acquired taste, so those not accustomed to the musician's musings, or not in love with instrumental experiments in melodic fusion probably won't get it – at all. But that's fine, because that just leaves more glee for the rest of us.

by Amy Hanson

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"Geometry of Love" followed the footsteps of "Sessions 2000" with the same relaxing and chillout mood to it, just like longue music. Less interesting though, but not a bad album at all overall. Jarre still convinces that he can write good material for an album, though some of it is less successful musically than it could be, but if he could mix the material featured here with something from his mid-90's stuff, this one could be even better I think. The opener, "Pleasure Principle", is a very moody tune with a very atmospheric ambient middle section, but the most sad track here is definetly "Near Djaina", a very sad piano track and is one of Jarre's more moody stuff. The rest is more upbeat, notably the addictive title cuts. Still, the album has an uneven feeling to it, but it's not bad overall.

by Bj-1, progarchives

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2007 digitally remastered 30th Anniversary edition of this influential Electronic album. Famed for it's melodic lushed spaced-out Electronica, this is the album that captured keyboard maestro Jarre at his zenith. The lead single 'Oxygene IV' is one the most recognizable Electronic pieces in recent history. The son of famed French film composer Maurice Jarre, Jean-Michel Jarre is a synthesizer wizard, who had a number of instrumental hits, beginning in 1977 with "Oxygene", the success of which propelled him to pop-star status. In the ensuing decades, he has continued releasing albums and mounting enormous stage spectacles around the globe.

~ amazon

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I admit to be fed up with Jarre the last couple of years. He did not produce new songs anymore, but remained occupied with rehashing his old songs. This new album shows us a Jarre that wants to be up to date. Some would call this music "eurodance," but it is nothing like the cheesy 80s stuff. I like the album, but I must admit that this is nothing like Jarre's music from Equinoxe or Oxygene, so that many fans will be disappointed by the musical turn that Jarre has taken with his last couple of albums.

Especially the title song "Teo & Tea", "Vintage", and "Teo & Tea 4.00 AM" have real hit potential. But there are more gems on this album. "Touch to remember" has haunting melodies. "Chatterbox" shows Jarre's legacy to Kraftwerk. "OK, Do It Fast", and "Partners in Crime I and II" have interesting breakbeat and melodic parts. More lounge-like are "Beautiful agony" (if you hear the vocals, you know what is meant by the title), "In the Mood For You", "Gossip", and "Melancholic Radio" (in my opinion the worst song of the album).

The negative part of this review is that the album is only 50 minutes long, which I find really disappointing, especially for an album that fans have been waiting for for so long.

As I said, this album does not come close to Jarre's earlier success albums. However, this album definitely is the best album he has created in years. And I definitely hope soms songs of this album will be picked up by big DJ's, like Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Armin van Buuren, and/or Paul van Dyk for some exciting remixes.

by T. A. Smedes, amazon