OXYGÈNE 7-13

As seen on PBS. That's what the sticker on the disc case said. Not "the brilliant followup to his 1976 masterpiece" or "featuring the hits Oxygene 8 and 10," but simply "as seen on PBS." It's not even clear how it appeared on PBS. Maybe it was part of a new space series (like Carl Sagan's Cosmos), maybe it was only advertised on PBS, or maybe they were giving it away during Pledge Week because they ran out of canvas tote bags. Since we can't count on stickers to do our homework for us, here's the skinny on Oxygene 7-13. It's not a followup to Oxygene so much as the slightly celestial confections Jarre has been peddling since Les Chants Magnetiques. Not groundbreaking stuff by 1997's standards, but rather the sort of new age space music that Jarre helped pioneer and TD later plied. The sounds seem a little trite for space: splashes, whooshes, and the sort of gimmicks Steve Miller was using back in the '70s. While artists like Vangelis and Tangerine Dream clearly influenced the club/house music scene, they didn't embrace it like Jean Michel Jarre. A lot of Oxygene could have come from any number of nondescript house mixers, which you might see as a case of clever adaptation or an unfortunate bit of slumming. Note that I listened to the original Oxygene and couldn't find any thematic similarities between that and this new disc. There are familiar moments, like the bossa nova beat behind the closing "Oxygene 13," but again the precedent there is Chants Magnetiques. If you enjoy Jarre when he's clubbing things up, then you may find Oxygene 7-13 to be a breath of fresh air. Or you may have already had your lungful with Revolutions. I'm not entirely comfortable with the way artists like Jarre and Tangerine Dream exhume old victories and put a new spin on past accomplishments. Twenty years on, no one was really holding their breath for a followup to Oxygene, and the pretense to a sequel may have been no more than efficacious marketing. It's certainly a pleasant ride, nearly as much fun as Optical Race, but Oxygene 7-13 is not one of the first five Jarre albums you should own.

Jarre's first international album, "Oxygene", was a worldwide success, selling several millions of copies to this date. Jarre soon became one of the pioneers of electronica music and released several musically excellent albums after "Oxygene". This album was it's follow-up, seven studio albums and 20 years after, and can also be concidered as a modern reincarnation of "Oxygene" since the music often displays several similiarities between these two albums. While not as musically interesting as "Oxygene" this one still stands as one of my absolute favorites by him and undoubtly his best work after "Chronologie" (released in 1993). The production is clear and warm and the songs are often dominated by Jarre's usualy melody patterns, without sounding clichèd at all. It's a great album overall and will always be one of my top releases by him. 4.5/5

The gas man returns

Mike Oldfield has over the years successfully exploited the "Tubular Bells" brand through the release of a number of similarly named albums (TB2, The Millennium bell etc.). Here, Jean Michel Jarre attempts to piggy back on the success of his best known work through the creation of this belated follow up. With over 20 years between the two releases, technology has moved on immeasurably in the intervening period; it is therefore perhaps surprising how similar the two albums sound. By and large, the tracks on this album could easily have come from the original Oxygene album, the only really noticeable difference being the crystal clear quality of the production.

The opening "Oxygene 7" (the tracks have exciting titles ranging from "Oxygene 7 to, yes that's right "Oxygene 13"!) is a three part suite running to over 11 minutes. It has the same basic rhythm as "Oxygene part 4", thus offering the familiar feel of a comfortable pair of slippers. The latter part of the track sees the rhythm yielding to washes of synth and sundry spacey sounds.

There after we have a succession of 4-5 minute tracks which are sufficiently like those on the original album to justify the shared name, while simultaneously avoiding simply being re-recordings. Some parts work better than others. Part 9 for example has a tendency to come across as clumsy and unfocussed.

The latter part of the album, especially part 11, has distinct similarities with "Rubycon" era Tangerine Dream, although the themes are not developed as fully as the Tangs would do, and the overall sound is kept strictly accessible.

Those who enjoy the original "Oxygene" will be guaranteed to enjoy this album, the similarities are far greater than the differences. The irony is that whereas the original "Oxygene" was pioneering and new, the intervening years mean that this album is retrospective and sounds rather dated.

The title of this album is somewhat misleading and would have gained in more credibility (but not marketing wise) if called "Earth, "Moon", "Heaven" or you can name it!

What's for sure is that the music is quite pleasant and enjoyable. Dynamic as well, which is not a feature that I demand specifically while listening to prog electronic music to which this artist fully belongs.

Pop sounds are also available, but no sell off here: the artist provides fine combinations of upbeat music combined with skilled keyboards lines. The man is skilled and gifted. As a composer as well as on the keyboards.

My fave because the most spacey mood is with no doubt the ninth part of this "oxygène" we all need to live. Bombastic, elegant, melodic, organic, fantastic and splendid. In one word: gorgeous. The highlight as far as I'm concerned.

There are some parts which could have been skipped ( like "10") but this is a usual stuff, right? If all tracks are outstanding, we should be confronted with a masterpiece which is not the case with this album (at least, it is my opinion).

If I can give one piece of advice: just stick to the original name and don't concentrate on this one. It holds some good moments, modern and upbeats parts ("11"), but the grandeur of the glass mastering is not there.

Three stars. A good album for sure. Like most of JMJ's output.

Breathe this!

I have always loved the melodic pieces of Jarre's original Oxygene (particularly the well-known and memorable Oxygene IV), but the album as a whole I never was able to like. The reason is simply that it contains way too much aimless soundscapes that are not much more than transportation to my ears. Oxygene 7-13 is the follow-up to that classic 1976 album and I am happy have discovered that it is built on the style of the best and most melodic parts from the original and as such is a much more enjoyable album overall for me.

The original Oxygene album was of course a pioneering work of electronic music and as such has earned its place in music history and Oxygene IV is rightly considered a classic tune, but this more recent album is a more mature effort and a much better album overall in my opinion. Indeed, I would even say that this is the best I have heard from Jarre and one of the best electronic music albums I have encountered.

Recommended!

It was probably inevitable that sooner or later Jean Michel Jarre would be prompted to revisit his breakthrough album Oxygene - particularly in the wake of Mike Oldfield's successful revisiting of Tubular Bells demonstrated that there was an appetite in the "New Age" market for updated revisitations of old themes.

As the title implies, the music here is presented as an organic continuation of the original album, and Jarre manages to skilfully revisit the old stomping ground with instrumentation that doesn't sound too out of place (perhaps a happy side-effect of the original Oxygene sounding so far ahead of its time) and sprinkles on a few more modern electronic influences (including a bit of trance here and there) which refresh the sound of the album whilst keeping its character recognisable. Motifs from the original album come back to play here and there, but there's enough new material to make the album more than a mere exercise in nostalgia.

It seems like Jarre is having Mike Oldfield Disease. It's a contest in how many sequels and remakes of a classic album you can do. With Oldfield, it was Tubular Bells (The Orchestra Tubular Bells, Tubular Bells II, Tubular Bells III, the Millennium Bell, Tubular Bells 2003). With Jarre it's Oxygene. So far it hasn't quite as bad as Tubular Bells, but there's the original Oxygene, Oxygene 7-13, Oxygene: New Master Recording, and Oxygene 3.

Oxygene 7-13 was obviously released roughly 20 years after the original. It's been frequently criticized as a rehash. There's no denying he does everything in 1997 to recreate the mood and spirit of the original right down to the rhythms and phased Eminent 310U, but he uses more Mellotron on this album than all his other albums put together (the original Oxygene, as well as Equinoxe had some low key tron choirs, that's it). Some techno elements are present which seem like it hearkens back to Chronologie, his previous album. To me, I like this better than Chronologie, as he wasn't trying to "appeal to the kids" like he did on that one. To ne, Jarre works best when he lets the music do the talking, rather than those overextravagant light shows, where his music frequently suffered in the process. Sometimes his tastes lapse, why else would he record calypso influenced pieces on the "Calypso" part of En Attendent Cousteau (Waiting for Cousteau), or the Latin-influenced "Magnetic Fields Part 5 (The Last Rhumba)". At least with Oxygene 7-13, like the original, the music, not the extravagant light shows, does the talking (actually I know the extravagant light shows only apply live). If you don't mind the music being an obvious rehash, it's actually worth having.

Jean Michel Jarre has to be one of the most undisputed pioneers of electronically based musicspheres. Indeed the Oxygene original vinyl sat proudly on my turntable as I grew up as an impressionable teen and it had an enormous impact on my music tastes and ushered me into the world of electronic music and especially Mellotron soaked and Analog driven instrumental music. Oxygene 2 and 4 are still quintessential Jarre treasures and I did not expect anything on his latter followups to measure up to this genius. I was hoping to have my ears caressed with the gentle warmth of Jarre's synthesizers and in this case I was not disappointed.

There are layers of synths on offer here such as the 2600 ARP synthesizer, VCS3 synthesizer, and Theremin sounds among the majestic Mellotron M400 and Digisequencers. The sound has a crystalline clarity that simply throbs in the ears and by the time Oxygene 12 and 13 entered I was entranced by the beauty and captivating rhythms.

It is an album that deserves the Oxygene title though of course it is not the masterpiece of the original. As a follow up it is worthy of listening from start to finish and has some mesmirising passages and recognizable Oxygene nuances such as the breathing effects and droning Trons that are an eargasm in themselves. Definitely check this out and treat your ears to some heavenly sounds.