Oxygene - 30th Anniversary + 2D DVD

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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 5099951413729 Format: Enhanced Label: EMI Manufacturer: EMI Number Of Discs: 2 Publisher: EMI Release Date: 2007-12-03 Studio: EMI
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Superb recreation of Oxygene Comment: This is a compulsory buy for the JM Jarre fan or anybody who loves the Analogue/Moog synthesizer sound and for the Kids today who missed it all the first time round. Any self respecting electronica listener needs to see this if only for the History lesson. I was around for the original Oxygene in 1977 and grew up on Walter/Wendy Carlos and Tomita who both made the Moog famous. Jarre kicked it all into the mainstream with lush spacy futuristic sounds at a time of Disco and Abba. Jarre's contempories Kraftwerk made a rather cold albiet excellent sound that was more experimental and precise. It seems that since Bob Moog died, there has been a back lash from digital to analogue. Great - the lack of precision, the random events, the spontaneous feel is such a welcome breath of fresh air over the ordered computer laptop sound of now. Jarre famously used the first computer sampler, the Fairlight CMI for his 'Chants Magnetiques' Album in 1981 and it was downhill all the way, as was electronic music generally. But now he returns to his roots and has been audacious in actually assembling the whole gamut of such famous ancient names as Theremin, Moog Modular 55, Mellotron, Eminent, ARP, AKS & VCS-3 analogue synthesizers. No digital control or memory. Just 4 superb musicians crafting a beautiful sound. The sound is rich and fat and even distorted in some cases - and a bit noisy but this gear is over 30 years old. The fact that it even works at all is amazing. Maybe some NEW music done analogue Monsieur Jarre please? I suspect a great revival for the analogue sound! As Jarre said, the synths used on this album are to Electronic music what Stradivarius is to classical or Fender is to Rock. Jarre is 60 now. Young people take note. This is where it started. And its still good. A must buy, but only for the DVD. Its true I can't tell the difference between the new CD master and the old one, except its better sound quality - which is good enough! Customer Rating: Summary: Brill DVD Comment: I was hoping JMJ would start re-releasing his earlier work in 5.1 surround and my prayers have been answered. I've fallen in love with the album again. Let's hope he does the same thing with Equinox, Rendez Vous etc...... Customer Rating: Summary: Beautiful photocopy Comment: This album is like a doodle you are particularly proud of. You did a doodle and you want to repeat it but no matter how close you are technically and how much you concentrate somehow it is just not the same. It always lacks that spark of creativity. This album is almost identical to the original. The original did betray its LP origins by falling silent in the middle but the copy brings us into the CD age by ensuring continuity. The mix is slightly richer on the copy but somehow fails to capture the atmosphere of the original. The copy is some 25 seconds longer than the original and yet track IV seems somehow rushed. Still sublime and richer in sound but rushed nonetheless. Why 5 stars then? Well it is still one of the finest pieces of music ever written, copy or not. Customer Rating: Summary: Improved sound, no-frills packaging Comment: Unlike the 3D edition, which is actually quite fiddly with its glasses and fairly spartan sleeve notes, at least this edition dispenses with unneeded fripperies and flounces. Packaging is functional, which is not a bad thing though Michel Granger's new version of the original sleeve art is striking. I own Oxygene both on original CD and remastered in The Complete Oxygene but this new version sounds noticeably clearer, crisper and sharper in every way. Even listening to a 256k AAC rip of the album on my iPod sounds appreciably better than previous versions, particularly when you listen to parts like the bass at the start of part 5, for example. Quite simply this new version sounds wonderful. The DVD is also of great interest, especially with JMJ giving us a quick tour of some of the instrumentation used. And the immediacy of the performance is very refreshing, making me look forward to seeing it performed live at the Albert Hall in March 2008. This new disc is worth owning simply because of the quality of the music. One of the great electronic music albums and a key moment in 70's art. Customer Rating: Summary: A nice revival and a sparkling return to form... Comment: This is a modified review of the 30th Anniversary re-recording of 'Oxygene' and the accompanying 'Live in Your Living Room' DVD. Although electronic music had been around for a few years by the mid 1970's, 'Oxygene' was presented in a unique manner. Jarre felt that other composers of the time were making electronic music sound cold and clinical but didn't believe it had to be this way. He wanted to establish a bridge between electro-acoustic music and pop. He approached the creation of 'Oxygene' more organically, avoiding repetition and comparing himself to a painter - working from a blank canvas and integrating his ideas into the structure of the piece. He used what is now considered to be 'vintage' analogue equipment in the piece: ARP's, VCS's, an Eminent and a modified Farfisa to name but a few. The resulting work is one composite piece made up of six sections. Jarre said at the time that 'Oxygene' was music for the present, and that he hoped that the music was a 'basic need' to be appreciated by everyone. It certainly was. 'Oxygene' took the European charts by storm and in the US it topped the jazz, pop and classical charts. It went on to sell over 15 million copies worldwide. In 2007 Jarre re-recorded the piece. 'Oxygene' is almost universally acknowledged as a must own album. You may already own it, in which case you may be saying to yourself 'I don't really need to buy it again', but I say any self respecting music fan should be buying this record. Jarre's motivations for this recording may be a bit suspect (he says it was motivated by the recent developments in high-definition sound and imaging technology but his last album Teo & Tea wasn't so well received, he had lost his way a bit, and it's fair to say he'd lost a fair few of his original dedicated followers as he's been side-tracked by whatever techno electronic music was in vogue over the past few years). Whatever the motivation, it seems that with this recording Jarre has rediscovered what makes him who he is. The set comprises an audio CD and a DVD. The audio CD is a pure re-recording of the original Oxygene album. The re-recording is faithful to the original, using the same old analogue synthesisers. The arrangements are the same, there's no modernisation or updating - though the sound quality is noticeably improved to the original recording. Unlike, say, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 2003, this re-recording is literally note for note - unless you are an audiophile you will be hard pressed to spot the differences - it may even be a remaster rather then a re-recording. If you already own Oxygene there is little here to motivate a further purchase. The DVD is the real bonus in this package. Jarre, together with three other musicians has recorded the entire album - complete and unabridged in a live performance 'in your living room', with additional 'variation' (or transitional) pieces throughout. It's got a 'Later with Jools Holland' feel to it, it's intimate and very personal. There's hardly any digital gear, it's all old analogue stuff which is a joy to see. Jarre has tried (and mostly succeeded) to avoid using electronics produced post 'Oxygene'. I've never been particularly excited by instruments before, but like looking at a particularly well crafted guitar, there's a real beauty to be seen in these old instruments. The recording is clearly live and Jarre says that no computer or time-code was used. You can plainly see the effort being poured into the playing. Jarre talks about his music being 'organic' - this performance really captures the difference in his approach to someone like Kraftwerk. A slight negative comment is that there are a few continuity flaws (there may have been more then one take here or there) and the package does whiff of being hastily put together. All in all this is an essential package which reasserts Jarre's important role in the development of electronic music and demonstrates old analogue electronica in a live demonstration that's rarely been seen before.. It carries with it hopes that Jarre has 'sorted himself out' and his next new album will be a return to the genius of his earlier work. 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