BlahBlahCafe - Jean-Michel Jarre forum

Christophe wrote:Since then when I saw mud I think to Jarre's music... .

Hehe, I think somewhere between those words is a big compliment to JMJ's music.

Besides the rumba finale, which is very "off-electronic music", it is a great album.
He renewed his tyle by using new technologies like "samplers". Part 1 is an out-of-mind sequence madness with beautiful landscapes and a smash end (Why didn't he allow himself to split it in two parts ?). One of his best-ever tracks.
Part 2 is a fun tune, the first one I played on synth. Part 3 and 4 are magic, taking the course of the Oxygène first half.

The cover photograph is a bit boring, compared to the two original masterpieces.

I've read in the french sleave that Magnetic fields was in billboards in all 3 jazz, pop and classical charts for the United States. (Source : John Tobler, 1997) Is that true ?

It's like I haven't got completely into this album yet. I prefer the Images version of Magnetic Fields 2, while MF3 is better on CiC due to the ambient solo. I also prefer MF4 of CiC. There is just more life in that version IMO. MF5 is lame but at times I listen to it anyway. I don't know why but MF1 is interesting in all ways it could be, still it is far from the most played JMJ track in my player. Hopefully the time comes where I'll learn to enjoy this track in it's full lenght. MF1.1 is the best part IMO contra the most typical opinion that 1.3 is so unique.

jeanbatman wrote:Besides the rumba finale, which is very "off-electronic music", it is a great album.
He renewed his tyle by using new technologies like "samplers". Part 1 is an out-of-mind sequence madness with beautiful landscapes and a smash end (Why didn't he allow himself to split it in two parts ?). One of his best-ever tracks.
Part 2 is a fun tune, the first one I played on synth. Part 3 and 4 are magic, taking the course of the Oxygène first half.

The cover photograph is a bit boring, compared to the two original masterpieces.

I've read in the french sleave that Magnetic fields was in billboards in all 3 jazz, pop and classical charts for the United States. (Source : John Tobler, 1997) Is that true ?

I know in Billboard Pop Albums of 1981 Magnetic Fields peaked at #6 in the U.K. Charts and #98 in the U.S. Charts.

Magnetic fields is not the real translate : in french " champs magnetiques " is magnetic fields in english but the real title of the album in french is " chants magnetiques " , magnetic songs in english

I've just discover the theme of a french TV show from the late 70's called "Temps X" and it bears some resemblance with the 3rd part of MF1. The 2 composers are french, I don't know if they are friends.

Temps X was composed by Didier Marouani.

(A fine tune, one of his more "classic electronic" sounding ones at that)

And as far as I know, he's as far away from being Jarre's friend as possible (Marouani dissing the money spent on JMJ gigs in the early 1990s and even (quite recently) adamantly claiming on Facebook that Magic Fly was released before Oxygene).

I always thought of "The Last Rumba" as a sort of hommage to Hank Marvin…
Sounds pretty much like a Shadows instrumental track to me.

5 is fairly awful but a lot less painful than 2, a real cheese-fest. The rest of the album is sublime though, love it, one of his best.

Geiss recorded the sounds of trains for this album.

I just realised that Magnetic Fields has a similar structure to some Mike Oldfield albums from the same period (QE2, Five Miles Out) - one long "suite" for side 1 and a few relatively short songs on side 2. In any case, this was a sort of Holy Grail album for me, very difficult to find in Romania back in the day (no problem finding the others, curiously). In the end the father of the girl I was dating then recorded it from a friend, and that's how I listened to it for years. Somewhat controversial, but still great album

MF is not one of my favourite Jarre albums.
Track one is good, but not that good to take up about half the album.
Track 2 is Jarre's best cheesy track. The China version is very good.
Track 3 I can live without.
Track 4 is one of the best and most subtle things Jarre has done, I love it,
and once again China version wins out.
Track 5, I don't get the joke and never will. It's an awful piece of music full stop.
Apart from T&T and Met, It's his weakest studio album imo, but still pretty good by other's standards.

SebAudio wrote:I've just discover the theme of a french TV show from the late 70's called "Temps X" and it bears some resemblance with the 3rd part of MF1.

Rossini's Barber of Seville is the inspiration MF1 part 3 main melody


from 2min09

Far-fetched.

Listen again.

Giving attention to the rhythm of the two melodies : identical
Cadence of notes : similar although I much prefer JmJs.


JmJ solo end of MF1 part 3 : tender melancholy .... my favourtie JmJ solo.



On another note

MF2 :
if JmJ keeps the beat the same speed, slowing down other instrumentations
then JmJ would invented Drum n Bass.