All musicians - be it The Edge from U2 or "Billy NoMates" who plays the drums every saturday night in the local bar for a couple of beers all have musical inspirations. For me, the person who evokes so much emotion in his music and is what I consider a "stayer" in musical circles is Jean Michel Jarre, and the album to be reviewed.. the one and only OXYGENE!!
Jean-Michel Jarre began studying piano at the age of five, but he abandoned his classical training. During his youth he formed a band called Mystere IV. In late 1960s he started experimenting with tape loops, radios and other electronic devices, until, in 1968, he joined the Groupe de Recherches Musicales, under the direction of Pierre Schaeffer the "father" of the musique concrète, where he was introduced to synthesisers
Although electronic in origin, Jarre himself once said "There is a certain amount of confusion when people talk about electronic music - they think of gadgets and robots and "Stars Wars". But it isn't the music or the composer that is electronic, it is just the instrument.
Oxygene made it's debut in 1976 and was acclaimed a critical triumph.
I have some pretty potent memories of this album, from the first time I heard it at an Uncles house at the age of six, I screamed at my mother for weeks to buy me it, she "borrowed" a tape recording of it from a work mate and eventually bought me the vinyl a few months later.
From the opening sequence of Oxygene 1 through to the phased synthesiser tones of Oxygene 6, I was hooked.. forever!!
Oxygene 1 was a delight in itself, setting the scene for the whole LP, futuristic sounds that danced around the stereo soundscape, with elements of classic 50's Sci-fi Theramin overtone to add into the sound equation. The track slowly evolved into pure theramin heaven, with the little notes of sound walls hitting the left and right side of the headphones with dizzying regularity.
Other sounds enter the soundscape slowly and again a different scene as the bass synth adds power to the subtle overtones of the first half of the track, changing it's pace before dropping back to it's orignal form. Most people have trouble with progression in a single track, JMJ seems to do that with ease across a full LP, as no sooner than this sequence of events is complete..
The repeating bassline enters and in fades Oxygene 2, which I personally think stands up to scrutiny in many of todays Dance orientated tracks(of which a lot of current artist look too, myself included). The ever present Jarre style pads with the evervesing sounds throwing sound in all directions sets the scene for the lead synth which fits the sequence well, the rest of this takes you on a journey(just close you eyes and try), it reminds me of flowing landscapes, towards the end of the track you can hear loops of sound which JMJ himself is alleged to have cut himself from tape and rejoined and then played through the Mellotron.
A deserted beach, the sun in the blue sky, the sand lapping the shore and pebbles moving with the tide greet you as you enter Oxygene 3. Slowly the synth pads enter and it's time for the organs to enter in glorious stereo, and becuase of the scale of the sounds, you just know something special is about to arrive like a New York taxi on a saturday night..... hail the the return of the Theramin with the beatiful overtones of the above mentioned 50's sci fi put to full effect and amazing high notes bringing images to the mind of height and freedom.
Probably the most famous track of all is Oxygene 4, used in everything from TV programmes, adverts and films. IT'S UNMISTAKABLE!! From the first bar to the last this is true synthesiser heaven to the purist. Having listened to this in it's recently remixed and 5.1 surround sound DVD incarnation and this, I can say this is still a true marvel of sound from 1976!! Need I say more about this track, YES is the answer your looking for. The trumpet lead line is simply stunning for it's time, the rest of the sounds in this track could be used in a whole host of tracks to the current day, and again JMJ proves his worth with the use of effects with the sounds flaying from left to right in a concoction of sound that makes you realise what stereo is all about.
As number 4 fades out and Oxygene 5 reaches us, JMJ returns to his roots. A sort of slow, melodic peice that starts off in a church like setting, but in a fairground sort of manner(which JMJ spent a lot of his youth and still derives inspiration from to this day). Just as soon as you settle into this track, and the timing is impeccable that amazing mid-bass sound bounces in, then the little bell sound reverberating around the speakers slowly fades into a truly great peice of engineering for the time. Kudos to JMJ and the engineers for that sequence of fades and intros, all of a sudden a new sequenced bassline appears and the track takes a different turn, for me this part of the album has the most movement and fun feel to it. It has a sort of Middle Eastern flavour, with the sound of the main synth being much alike a sort of Turkish flute.
In a return to the deserted beach, seagulls flying overhead, JMJ takes a look back from where he begun in track three as Oxygene 6 makes it's entrance and the fairground once again make it's presence known. The farfissa sound machine adds the elements of drums and percussion to a cocoffony of sound and swirly phased synthesisers, slowly and with no haste, the beach scene slowly drifts from your mind as a perfect exit to the perfect album.
On a personal note, to review an instrumental album is painstaking as you have no lyrics to base a review, it goes by you imagination, the imagesI counjure in my mind maybe different from yuor own. We all make our own intrepretations of a song, a tune, a sound, an event in life. Take this classic album, place it in your CD player, close your eyes and put on the headphones, let it take you on a journey, make it your own. But above all.. enjoy it for what it truly is!! A stroke of synthesiser genius.
On a footnote, I ask of the younger generation of musicians, be it rock, pop or dance......I wholeheartedly cry out to you to listen to this track, in fact no, the full album! You can then gain a full appreciation of what it's all about, this track in itself is a true classic.
