Metamatic Forums Socialising The Green Room New Jarre album next week...

Ah, well now don't think Chronologie sounds dated at all. Well OK, slightly! One or two tracks are a bit typical of their time, like the use of samples or the dance beats, but aas a whole, I think the album still stands up really well and os of the same calibre as Rendez-Vous.

Magnetic Fields is an album I probably need to persevere with... I bought it on CD ages ago, didn't like ti and got rid of it. As a completist I later realised it was a mistake, but I got a copy of it on MP3 recently so I've been rediscovering it recenttly and some of the album tracks are pretty good. I think the well known tracks from that album sounded much better on 'Images'.

It's an interesting thread. I gave up with Jarre a little after 'Chronologie'; not because I think the work was poor, just that I felt he'd never touch the heights or innovation that he had done with his previous works. This was also coupled with the fact that I'd moved on a bit from his genre and more into other areas of music.

Since getting into his music, my favourite of his has always been 'Revolutions'. I agree to an extent Alex that on record it's a little weaker than it should be, but I don't think it's fair to call it 'naff'. Live, it was a different album and a much deeper piece of work. I do remember going to one of the London Docklands concerts in late 1988, standing in the freezing cold on a huge demolished quay, facing these vast empty industrial mills and buildings a quarter of a mile away across the dock and thinking to myself "Yeah, you know, he's really captured and tapped in to the spirit and feeling of the area, even in decline and regeneration". 'Overture' is just magnificent, right down to the use of anvils as expressing a bygone industrial age in the percussion.

I've heard some of his more recent stuff, but nothing that's bettered what I've heard from a while ago. On the plus side, he's still plugging away at it all which can only be a positive thing for music.

With Revolutions, it's really London Kid, Tokyo Kid and a few of the other tracks towards the end of the album that I think are poor – especially in comparison to the industrial suite at the start of the album, which is fantastic.

The Docklands versions vere perhaps more powerful than the album versions, but it's still a magnificent suite of tracks.

I would pay dealy to see Jarre in concert but sadly these days I think the DAT tape does more work than he does on stage.
(I'd get hung for saying that on the jarre forum!!)

For me, Oxygene 7-13 is as good as the original or Equinoxe. He managed to recapture that same sound, style and atmosphere. It makes a perfect continuation... although it perhaps feels more like a return trip to the world that original album took you to.

After that he moved in more experimental directions. There was a bit of a divide over the Metamorphoses album, but personally I love it. At the time it was fresh and exciting.

Another album to check out is is Geometry of Love album, released in France in 2003. FOr some reason he doesn't count it as a "proper" studio album, which is a great shame. Again it's a different direction, but it is something really wonderful. It might be a bit chill-out or new age, if you want to get into labelling, but musically, it's beautiful.

I also liked the 3 new tracks on Aero. I thought that were going to be more like a taster for a future work, and I wish that had been the case!

Thanks for the advice. To be honest, I doubt I 'll check them out as there's so much more out there to explore that I am interested in. But as I say, it's great that he's still finding ways to make his current audience get excited and to try and attract new ones.

That's true.

I have to admit, in recent years I have really narrowed my musical horizons (having previouly widened them!) and I tend to find myself only following acts I know and love.

Maybe that's not a good thing, but at the same time it feels like I'm waiting for something.

But back with Jarre - like with so many other artists, you don't need to love every release to be a fan, and I think he has recorded many different albums, each with different appeal - and may he long continue to do so.

Jarre´s stuff is fascinating. Among my favourites rank Oxygene, Equinoxe, Magnetic Fields and Concerts in China, his earlier stuff.

After touring the world he had a sort of break and one day appeared on the radio auctioning Music for Supermarkets. Then came Zoolook a change of direction. Rendez-Vous was a return to form going back to the original sounds. Revolutions again like Zoolook, rather experimental for my taste. Waiting for Cousteau wasn´t quite there but he then came up with the excellent Chronolgie. Oxygene parts 7 to 13 was another brilliant show. Since then he has carried on touring and releasing rather experimental albums, like Teo and Tea, built around the new synthesisers he´s bought.

I need to give Geometry of Love more listens but again it doesn´t hark back to his classic analogue synth sounds.

Going back to Music for Supermarkets. As you all know one LP copy was given one airplay and sold to the highest bidder. The original master was destroyed. Lucky enough for all fans, recordings of this broadcast exist (including the auction itself!), although the quality isn´t great. It´s not as hot as Magnetic Fields but it´s probably the first where he samples sounds. It does form the bridge between Magnetic Fields and Zoolook. I hope one day the owner licenses the album for commercial release. I would be quite satisfied if it´s a digital recording from an LP. This is always the best option when the master tapes are lost etc. That´s an opinion of a fan.

Chris C

I've always been a fan but I think I'll be giving this one a miss.After your review & the one in the Sunday Times today.The Sunday Times gives it 1 star & a right slagging off

The one or two UK reviews I have red have completely slagged it off too. There are a couple of tracks worth checking out, so while I wouldn't advise anybody completely against it, I would certainly say listen to it before buying.

The thing critics have to remember is that he's not trying to make a groundbreaking album with every release - but its as though it is expected given his pioneering back catalogue – albums such as Oxygene and Zoolook were miles ahead of their time.

I don't look for the classic sound in all of his albums. His later albums are more like a further exploration of what he started. Geometry of Love is perhaps one of his best albums musically and also one of his more organic sounding. Chronologie might sound of its time today but it has all the "classic Jarre" elements in place. Metamorphoses was a bit of a milestone for me personally - it was the right album at the right time, and for Jarre, it was a refreshing chance and mostly a brilliant piece of work, but with that album you have to expect something different. Unfortunately since then, excluding GOL, he hasn't really gone anywhere.

As I said before, Oxygene 7-13 is the perfect follow-up to the original, recapturing that sound, style and atmosphere. In a way it's like a "bookends" album, almost as if that album finished a 20 year period in his career, and after then he's moved off in other directions. But who knows what's behind his thinking since then...

well ... i think that jmj has made a mistake now that not even kraftwerk had made - to try to get a "trance-y techno" , dancefloor-like image for the new album ! :-/

sorry , but it jus' DOESN'T fit to him , imho ! :-o