Jote wrote:
I think I would've preferred being "bored" than "meh".
Also, I'm not keen to believe we are hearing much JMJ's work in these tracks. I think it's a 95:5 ratio ("Phased strings, see? Wink wink"). His name is just slapped on some random tracks, because "JMJ" is still a powerful brand. Imagine such a win-win: JMJ finally releases an album without doing much work and some artists will get broader recognition - how many of us have heard about this Gesaffelstein guy before? How many of us are suddenly keen to explore his other works?
You have a point here. It's quite obvious that Jarre seems to have lost certain parts of his creativity to some degeree over the last 15 years or so. And maybe he turned out to be more a kind of "producer" rather than "composer" nowadays. But I hardly doubt he did all his pre '97-work entirley on his own, too. On a certain level, it's nearly impossible to do everything on your own. That's why artists work with producers, composers, lyricists, managers and the likes. And of course successful artists are brands and some might draw more attention because of their names than others. I would also not be suprised if the fact that he's the son of the great Maurice Jarre had hepled him building his career in the past. The brand "Jarre" was already there and that was a main benifit for JMJ, for sure.
Jote wrote:
I'd love if he focused on catering to his older fanbase - you know, releasing the unreleased and so on.
I don't think it is because JMJ doesn't care, but more a question of rights and availability of quality masters.
Jote wrote:
(My own conspiracy theory is that JMJ has been using "help" like this (in smaller or larger extent) since 1997 - there was a sudden change in his choice of chords and harmonies)
Wasn't that the time when he and Michel Geiss parted ways? I think that Michel Geiss had a major influence on his work.