Vumiko wrote:Consider that his last MAJOR musical effort was Metamorphoses; that was over 10 years ago. Since then we've had little side projects (Sessions 2000, GOL), compilations (AERO, Essentials) and one very weak album (T&T) that he admits was a mistake. Overall, since 2000, his creative output has been rather unimpressive and he simply doesn't seem interested or inspired in terms of new musical ideas and direction. Think about it for a moment: only ONE major musical effort in the past 10 years. (I love Metamorphoses BTW). That's a serious decrease in output. In America, we call that "going down hill".
It's pretty forgetful to say Jarre is going down the hill. He has been doing some pretty good and pretty crazy projects the last 10 years. Concerts in the middle of nowhere (Aero and Marocco), one of his best shows ever (Gdansk), sideprojects nobody excpected (S2K and GOL, jazzy stuff showing a different side), and two different tours. T&T wasnt everyone's cup of tea but it was still different and experimental, and it did challenge JMJ.
Now, the 2008 Oxygene tour was not planned to exist from the beginning. It was the success of the 10 concerts in Paris in December 2007 that created a demand for a tour. Then they realized the market was right for an even bigger tour, which went on to be probably the biggest tour of the last few years of any French artist. The tour seems to be neverending as he's just responding to public demand. For a freelance artist, you have to take opportunities when they arise, and you cant just say "wait, I will do this tour in two years from now, so please hold up your interest and save your money until then". As popular as Jarre is, he still depends on support from investors, companies and promotors that believe in him right now.
All in all, the last decade has seen few normal albums but he has worked a lot with only 2003 not seeing a new album or concert. His projects has been varied and many of them great. I would not call this decade a failure, just because he has not released sequels to Equinoxe and done La Defense again. The typical project pattern of the 80s and 90s does not fit anymore, and it's not the fault of Jarre. So, while you are entitled to your opinion of course, when judging an artist you have to put your personal demands away and look at what actually has happened. Otherwise what you are actually judging is how the artist matches your own demands, and that is something else.
Looking forward to the rehearsals! 
I know we shouldn´t expect anything new musically, so let´s just hope for a great, hopefully spectacular, concert/evening that will gain him some new attention 
