BlahBlahCafe - Jean-Michel Jarre forum

After a quick search of the forum with no results, i decided to make a topic dedicated to my fave album Revolutions

tell us what you think of this album...

It has some nice tracks on it, but definately lacks punch. Then again, it's meant to sound flat and not full of effects. I kind of can't stand London Kid and Computer Week-End, and The Emigrant isn't one of my favourites either. I do like Tokyo Kid and the IR suite quite much though. And the vocal solo to September is awesome...

Computer Week-end should become an anthem track for all the nerds of this world.

Analog-Umph wrote:Computer Week-end should become an anthem track for all the nerds of this world.

What does sir mean by that?

Jakob BC wrote:

Analog-Umph wrote:Computer Week-end should become an anthem track for all the nerds of this world.

What does sir mean by that?

You know, what do nerds do over the weekend....

It's not a jab, just a statement of fact.


On a sidenote, I enjoy the album, Industrial Revolutions Part 1, 2 and 3 are cool, the only tracks I'm not too keen on is The Emigrant and Tokyo Kid.

GeeJee wrote:It has some nice tracks on it, but definately lacks punch.

Well. if I remember it correctly, it was England where the industrial revolution started. If we combine the stereotypic nature of an well-behaved English gentleman, as portrayed in Pickwick Club, for example, with the generally dull and grey weather there, we obtain the Overture and Parts 1, 2, 3 of this album. In this respect they're perfect, as far as style is concerned. We must of course always keep it in mind that not all people are fond of minimalist approach. Some need loud bangs, huge fireworks and that sort of things to convince them that it really is modern music.
What follows after that, starting with Revolutions, seems to me taken from another concept, Zoolookish, going in an ethnic direction. These two parts of the album do not go together well.

I was wondering if Jarre or Dreyfus gave any further explanation about why he took a picture of himselve for the cover of the album ? He said quite a few times he wasn't interested in putting his face on his albums.

jeanbatman wrote:I was wondering if Jarre or Dreyfus gave any further explanation about why he took a picture of himselve for the cover of the album ? He said quite a few times he wasn't interested in putting his face on his albums.

Maybe it was the photographer's idea...and Jarre agreed on this. Maybe he kept it important now to put himself on the cover.

I've catched something wich kinda look-a-like a "cut/paste" oddity on September at precisely 3:30, in the rythmic line : a sort of "digital blooper".

Can anybody confirm this ?

jeanbatman wrote:I've catched something wich kinda look-a-like a "cut/paste" oddity on September at precisely 3:30, in the rythmic line : a sort of "digital blooper".

Can anybody confirm this ?

I just listened to it and perhaps I heard a sort of hiccup but I thought that was part of the rhythm.

I fit is a "cut/past" oddity then it just reinforces my theory (on the "T&T: A Year Later" thread) that this entire album executionally feels like it was inconsistently patched together unlike say Rendez-vous or even "En Attendent Cousteau," albums which really flow as one consistent idea.

Just sounds like hi hats to me.

Yes, the hi hat does seem to skip a beat at 3:30.

Question, is this on the 88 version as well as the 97 remaster?

I have to disagree with the views that some people have about the rest of the album sounding patched together. It was never intended to be a whole album of the industrial revolution suite, it was meant to be a chronological progression of the docklands area from the industrial revolution to the computer age. the justification is on the back of the album, Its for the Children??? maybe Jarre's kids??

in that sense the album is perfect, i think if you sat in the royal victoria docks in 88 when it was empty (before the concert stuff was there) and listen to the whole album, you would just get why each track is on that album.

the justification is on the back of the album, Its for the Children??? maybe Jarre's kids?? (just joking)

Jon wrote:Yes, the hi hat does seem to skip a beat at 3:30.
Question, is this on the 88 version as well as the 97 remaster?

I'm talking about the 1988 version. Unfortunately, I don't have the remastered series, so I can't get this information.

Just listened to the 1988 version CD...

Sorry, "Revolutions" gets an "A" for effort (well maybe a B+) but it ends up being a weak album. I don't mind September that much and I used to like London Kid and Computer Weekend, but now they just sound boring and repetitive. Revolutions is much better to hear live (actually that goes for the whole album) but that vocoder or whatever it is has become a bit dated--and it shows up similarly in Touch to Remember. I think he was doing something interesting with Tokyo Kid but not sure it fits with the rest of the album. If the whole album could have been an extended version of the "Industrial" suite instead of the weaker tracks here I would praise this album to the high heavens. Unfortunately, It feels like the tracks were just patched together. It's the album's inconsistency that kills it for me.

Revolution Industrielle:Overture as well as Part 1~3 are the best along with L'Emigrant, and are probably the closest in style to Rendez-vous, sort of. Other than that, I don't know how you can even compare those two albums.

I think the Docklands concert made the Revolutions studio album somewhat memorable, but without that concert, the studio album would now just be an after thought. Actually, since that concert, the live version has actually rendered the studio album an after thought. Plus I never really liked the album cover for Revolutions.

I always thought the Live version of the Docklands CD was rather nice. Had a bit of a Picasso feel on the front and some great photos on the inside of the booklet. The re-release cover called Destination Docklands just looks like @$$ compared to the original.

Not saying the album is horrible but I think Oxygene Equinoxe, Magnetic Fields, Zoolook, Rendez-vous, Chronologie, Waiting for Cousteau and Oxygene 7-13 are a whole hell of a lot better!


Note: If one has to actually sit at the Royal Docks in 88 to actual appreciate the Revolutions album then you've just lost a majority of your audience and complete credibility.