Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

[Jarrepeggiator]

Oxygene 3 from 2016 was a really interesting release. I know some people really loved it when is came out while others really hated it and rejected as an Oxygene album. In my case, it took me some time figure out what I think about the album, but eventually, after many listens, after thinking about the ideas behind the album, reading some interviews with Jarre, I have to say: I think 'Oxygene 3' is a brilliant album and a totally worthy part of the Oxygene trilogy. In fact, I personally like it more than Oxygene 7-13 and I think it's a smarter approach to the classic 1976 album.

Here is what I realised about the album that we could discuss here:

This album was promoted as a sequel to Oxygene. So some people expected it to be an actual return to the 70s classic analog sounds, the space music. Some people actually expected Jarre to only use tapes and the vintage machines. But when you listen to Jarre interviews from that time, you have to realise: it was not his goal. His approach was different this time. the previous sequel, Oxygene 7-13 was much more about using similar sounds with some faster beats of the 90s, but Oxygene 3 was not about that.

This time, his concept was: how the original Oxygene would have sounded like in 2016, with the current softwares and production methods. It's more of reboot that a sequel, a modernized version of Oxygene that follows the same pacing, the same ideas for bubbling soundscapes, a similar general vibe and the same structure, having one more dynamic, melodic track with more conventional song structure and one more soundscapes-ish track, back and forth. But doing it with modern downtempo production, using Ableton live.

He even intentionally limited himself to have a more minimalist approach, recreating limitations that he faced in the 1970s and he worked on the album only for 6 weeks, as making the original Oxygene also took him 6 weeks. It's a very intenional, well though out, very clever concept actually. A unique way to approach a classic album, respectful enough but it's also different enugh.

(I feel like he tried something similar with Equinoxe Infinity in 2018, but it could not reach the level or O3. I love the individual tracks on E.I. too, but as an album expeience, I sometimes feel that it tried to be too many things at the same time, an Equinoxe sequel with classic sounds, a modern Equinoxe, totally different and new elements, etc. and 10 track are simply too many to make all of them work in just 39 minutes. But this is for an other topic.)

I really fell in love this album over the years, I keep listening to it as much as many of the best classic albums, it's definitely among my top 10 favourite Jarre albums. So O3 is an absolutely worthy sequel in my opinion, new and fresh, but still Oxygene!

The album cover is perfectly symbolic too, the 3D modern version of the original cover:

[Zero]

Can't agree more with everything said...I like it a lot too...

[Dr_Jones]

Yeah, I probably prefer O3 over O7-13 too. Strong opening, very strong ending and everything in between are great tracks. I think there's not a bad track on it. I love that there's plenty of moments where he could go full EDM (Oxygene 19 has very strong trance moments), but he doesn't.

[shadow]

I genuinely think that the three albums work together just fine even if they're made under such different circumstances (iirc 7-13 was even delayed because it needed more time in the oven). They all offer something different from one another while sharing so much at the same time.

Oxygene 3 is a very consistent albums from start to finish and no track feels like it doesn't fit with another, which is part of the consequence of having such a limited time window. Which is something I can't really say for Oxygene 7-13 where the tracks are, while all tracks are good (well, nearly all of them, 9 goes on for waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long), extremely inconsistent going from one to the other with a very obvious fades, cuts and some white noise to cover the transition (or lack thereof) between the tracks. The transition between Oxygene 10 and Oxygene 11 (from the moment the wheezing sounds starts) is a whopping 39 seconds of nothing! If you told me that Oxygene 8 and Oxygene 13 came from the same album, I'd honestly have a hard time believing you, which I can't quite say for the original and Oxygene 3, these two are super consistent. Not to drag 7-13 through the mud, I think Oxygene 8 and 13 are two of the tracks I'd unironically consider the absolute highlights between the three albums together with Part 2 and Part 16.

I will say, as great as the album is, there's only one issue with the album I have, and that's specifically with Oxygene 17. That bloody ticking throughout the ENTIRE track. Since one of you pointed it out, I can't unhear it anymore. The live version of the track gets rid of it and replaces it with a much more pleasing drum sound which improves it so much. It's the one thing if I could change about the album, I would.



Equinoxe Infinity is a whole different story, love the idea, execution not so much... It is not bad album, it is just really weird.
I think the biggest issue with it was instead of making it something intimate, it went for something with the watchers a huge over arching mysterious being/presence and it just did not do the album much of a favour.
First half is decent, though inconsistent. Second half is just... Why?
I absolutely fucking LOVE the individual tracks and get what he went for, but instead of nailing that crucial piece that 5/6/7 do absolutely brilliantly, Jarre just absolutely missed it with such a wide margin, I'm unsure how that album was pushed out as is. Though I will forever love it for giving us Movement 10 (The Opening), what a track!

[Jarrepeggiator]

I genuinely think that the three albums work together just fine even if they're made under such different circumstances (iirc 7-13 was even delayed because it needed more time in the oven). They all offer something different from one another while sharing so much at the same time.

I think he could not finish Oxygene 7-13 for the anniversary mostly due to personal issues that he had at that time (he and Charlotte Rampling seperated in 1996). JMJ kept working and releasing new music all the time since 1971, the only exceptions are the post-Chronolgie Tour period (that's why Jarremix was released) and the post Teo & Tea time, the only era in which he really went back to play his old, vintage sounds before starting the Electronica project. Which means that amazinly he just doesn't stop making music for purely musical reasons, he is constantly inspired to work if he is happy, every year for more than 5 decades now.

I think he said in a 2018 interview, that he also prefers O3 over O 7-13, but still, every time I listen to it, I really enjoy it, so you are right, each Oxygene has its place in the trilogy.

(Equinoxe Infinity probably tried to be too many things at the same time. I like the album, I actually loved it when it came out, but I have to admit now, that in the last 6 years, I played Oxygene 3 or Oxymore more often than Equinoxe Infinity. I just feel that the album structure is not some well thought out concept here, even the track titles are weird, like he could not decide to use seperate tracks or "movement (number)" titles, just like the album which has modernized Equinoxe, totally vintage sounding Equinoxe and totally non-Equinoxe sounding tracks too without a clear structure. On albums like Revolutions, Chronolgie, Metamorphoses you also have different styles, sounds, but the overall concept for the structuring is 100% clear. And your album listening experience depends on that, on how the album starts and ends, on the idea behind track placement. E.I. has amazing tracks, The Opening already among the most iconic JMJ tracks ever, but doesn't have the coherent structure that most of his albums have.)

[jeanbatman]

I was wondering why he promoted so weakly that album with few interviews versus Equinoxe Infinity…

[Finaero]

I should give the album another shot at some point, but I still kind of shudder around the 2:06 mark on Oxygene 15 where it sort of feels a bit too much like a "JMJ-a-like" fan-made track with an obligatory Minipops bit

[Jarrepeggiator]

I should give the album another shot at some point, but I still kind of shudder around the 2:06 mark on Oxygene 15 where it sort of feels a bit too much like a "JMJ-a-like" fan-made track with an obligatory Minipops bit

And when there are no Minipops, then the complaint is "where are the minipops, the old school vintage sound, the old JMJ"...

It's easier to play Mike Oldfiend's entire Amarok album underwater on a single flute than to satisfy a Jarre fan...