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''Oxygène'' (, ) is the third studio album by French electronic musician and composer
Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the Electronic music, electronic, Ambient music, ambient and New-age music, new-age genres, and is known for organising out ...
. It was first released in France in December 1976 by Disques Motors, and distributed internationally in 1977 by
Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...
. Jarre recorded the album in a makeshift studio that he set up in his apartment in Paris, using a variety of analog and
digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
synthesizers, and other electronic instruments and effects. French sound engineer Michel Geiss helped Jarre in the purchase, recording and programming of some instruments used on the album. Jarre's musical style was influenced by
musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...
, developed by
Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His inno ...
. The album was supported by two singles, "Oxygène (Part II)" and " Oxygène (Part IV)". Following the international success of the latter, the album became Jarre's breakthrough, reaching number one on the French Albums Charts. It was inspired by the track "
Popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns, or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated. The term also refers to the snack food produced by the expansion. It is one of the oldest snacks, with evidence of p ...
" by German-American electronic composer Gershon Kingsley. Oxygène has been described as the album that "led the synthesizer revolution of the Seventies" and "an infectious combination of bouncy, bubbling analog sequences and memorable hook lines". The album influenced later artists such as
Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...
and Brian Canham of Pseudo Echo. In 1978, it would be followed by ''
Équinoxe ''Équinoxe'' (, ) is the fourth studio album by French electronic music, electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in December 1978 on the Disques Dreyfus, Dreyfus record label, licensed to Polydor Records for its worldwide d ...
'' and in 1979, Jarre held an open-air concert at the
Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...
, causing the sales of both albums to increase, reaching worldwide figures of 15 million copies. As of 2016 it had sold an estimated 18 million copies and is one of the best-selling French, electronic and instrumental albums in history.


Background

In 1967 Jarre travelled to London to sell his electric guitar and amplifier to be able to buy his first synthesizer, an EMS VCS 3 (one of the first units of the instrument), which he used on many of his subsequent albums. He also played guitar in a band called ''The Dustbins'' and mixed instruments including the electric guitar and the flute with tape effects and other sounds. Jarre began working with early analogue synthesizers and
tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among ...
s in 1968, and in 1969 he joined the ''Groupe de Recherches Musicales'' (), founded and led by
Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His inno ...
, who developed musique concrete, a type of
music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...
that is mainly based on the use of pre-recorded sounds, originating the concept of sampling. That same year he mixed the harmony, synthesizers and tape effects to record his debut single "La Cage/Erosmachine". In 1971, he left the institution and dedicated himself to designing Triangle's electronic sound effects; he also went to the Pathé-Marconi record company to release it. Jarre had also done production work for some rock artists, earning enough to set up a small makeshift recording studio in the kitchen of his apartment on Rue de la Trémoille, near the
Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...
in Paris. Initially it included very basic equipment consisting of a few guitar pedals, a
Farfisa Farfisa () is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a se ...
organ, the EMS VCS 3, and an EMS Synthi AKS; these last two were linked to two Revox tape machines. One of Schaeffer's former students and artistic director of Disques Motors, Hélène Dreyfus convinced her husband, Francis Dreyfus, to hire Jean-Michel as an employee of his record label. Initially Francis offered Jarre a job as a copyright administrator, however he opted to sign an exclusive songwriting and recording contract. In 1972, the American synth-pop band Hot Butter released a successful version of Gershon Kingsley's "
Popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns, or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated. The term also refers to the snack food produced by the expansion. It is one of the oldest snacks, with evidence of p ...
". Jarre in that same year released his respective cover version under the pseudonyms Pop Corn Orchestra and Jammie Jeferson. Although unsuccessful, the track would serve as an inspiration for his most successful single, " Oxygène (Part IV)". Their first two albums as well as their previous single were recorded on the label, Disques Motors, however they were not published there. Jarre released on Sam Fox Productions his debut
experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
album ''Deserted Palace'' intended to be used in films and on television. It was created using the VCS 3 and RMI Keyboard Computer. In 1973 he composed the soundtrack for the French drama film ''Les Granges Brûlées'' (English: The Burned Barns). In its beginnings in the label, he was mainly dedicated to writing music and lyrics for other artists inside and outside the label from 1972 to 1975. The royalties received by Jean-Michel during his collaborations with
Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; 17 January 1944 – 11 June 2024) was a French singer-songwriter, actress, and author. She was known for singing melancholic, sentimental ballads. Hardy rose to prominence in the early 1960s as a leading figure in F ...
, Gérard Lenorman and
Patrick Juvet Patrick Juvet (21 August 1950 – 1 April 2021) was a Swiss model and singer-songwriter, who had a string of hit records in Europe. While his early career was focused on making pop records, he found international success as a disco music perf ...
allowed him to purchase the ARP 2600, used in several of his collaborations with the French singer Christophe and solo works. In 1974, Jarre attended a conference on the analog synthesizer and the ARP 2600 at the TDF center in Issy-les-Moulineaux. It was carried out by radio and television engineers, and French musical instrument designer Michel Geiss. Later, Jarre contacted Geiss by phone to invite him to his private apartment, Geiss accepted and visited Jean-Michel's makeshift studio, where he had the ARP 2600, the
Eminent 310 Unique The Eminent 310 Unique is a home electronic organ that was built and introduced in 1972 by the Dutch organ manufacturer Eminent, at the time based in Bodegraven, the Netherlands. It was the first organ to include a string section, making it the ...
, the VCS 3 and more. Shortly after meeting, Jarre and Geiss started working together during the recording of Jarre's next album. Geiss, who at that time worked as a maintenance technician at , advised Jarre on the purchase of instruments such as the RMI Harmonic Synthesizer at the Piano Center's music fair, and was in charge of the programming and recording of some of them. Later, Jarre managed to finance the purchase of a Scully 8-track studio recorder and a mixture of
Ampex Ampex Data Systems Corporation is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name ''AMPEX'' is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excell ...
256 and 3M tape. In that same year, he composed the opening jingle for the A4 autoroute (also known as ''autoroute de l'Est''), some media such as ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...
'' pointed out the possible original incarnation of "Oxygène (Part IV)" in the jingle.


Composition and Recording

Jarre recorded ''Oxygène'' between August and November 1976, using the makeshift recording studio in his apartment. In the Ferber studio Jarre recovered his old
Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...
that had few functional keys to write the first piece of music for the album, "Oxygène (Part II)". During the recording of the album Jarre used a Revox tape to delay the sound coming out of a speaker in order to achieve a "huge sense of space". This liberal use of echo was used on the various sound effects generated by the EMS VCS 3 synthesiser. The persistent allusions to terrestrial elements and the biosphere meant that the album would frequently be associated with the new-age musical movement. A
reverb effect A reverb effect, or reverb, is an effects unit, audio effect applied to a sound signal to simulate reverberation. It may be created through physical means, such as echo chambers, or electronically through audio signal processing. The American pr ...
was made through the VCS 3. Jarre also used an AKG stereo reverb and an EMT plate reverb which was meters long in live performances, and eight different stereo echoes. Some little beep sounds were played on the EMS Synthi AKS, as were the waves sound used in "Oxygène (Part II)". The album also included electronic "evocations of chirping birds". Jarre used various other synthesizers and electronic instruments to create the tracks of "symphonic electronic music" on ''Oxygène''. The sounds of the
Farfisa Farfisa () is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a se ...
organ were heavily modified. Geiss programmed specific sounds in the ARP 2600, among them the main sound of "Oxygène (Part IV)" and the "breathing" waves sound in "Oxygène (Part VI)". The Eminent 310 organ as well as the VCS 3 went through a phase pedal for guitars Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phaser in order to provide the string pads used on the album. The main
sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is cal ...
of "Oxygène (Part V)" was created with an RMI Keyboard Computer, while both the Keyboard Computer and the RMI Harmonic Synthesizer were used on "Oxygène (Part IV)", "Oxygène (Part V)" and "Oxygène (Part VI)". Some of the drum sounds on the album were produced using adhesive tape to hold down two preset buttons on a Korg Mini-Pops 7 drum machine simultaneously – "Oxygène (Part IV)" mixed the " rock" and " slow rock" presets, while "Oxygène (Part VI)" mixed "
rhumba Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and ballroom dance, dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cub ...
" and " bossa nova". "Oxygène (Part II)" instead used only the " swing" preset. The album was mixed by sound engineer Jean-Pierre Janiaud and his assistant Patrick Foulon at the Gang studio, it also was mastered at Translab studio.


Artwork

The cover art features a skull inside a dismembered Earth and is an adaptation of a 30 x 40 cm (12" x 16") watercolor, also named ''Oxygène'', by the French painter Michel Granger. A picture of the painting was first published in 1972 in the magazine ''
Pilote ''Pilote'' (), for a while subtitled ''the magazine of Asterix and Obelix'' (French: ''Le Journal D’Astérix et D’Obélix'' ) was a French comics magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major Franco-Belgian comics, French ...
'', and in 1976 the artwork was displayed at the Marquet Gallery, in rue Bonaparte in Paris. Jean-Michel visited this gallery and bought it, then Granger received a phone call from the gallery director to inform him that Jarre wanted to see him in person. On 15 September 1976, Jarre met with Granger so that he could modify the background of the watercolor and adapt it to the square shape of an
LP record The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of  revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...
. The album title was taken from the artwork because he considered that he "perfectly adheres to the spirit of the songs". Jarre said: "30 years ago there weren't so many people thinking about the planet. But I've always been interested in that, not necessarily in a political way but in a poetic, surrealistic way." Jarre also told the English newspaper ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' that "in a way, I wanted to link everything to nature and environmental issues". Granger stated that "''Oxygène'' was part of a series about the damage being done to our planet. It was a pretty violent image for a record cover." He added, "That picture is the best known of all my work. It's my
Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...
. But I don't feel like it belongs to me any more. It belongs to anyone who loves the music of Jean-Michel Jarre."


Release

''Oxygène'' was turned down by several record companies such as
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
founded by
Chris Blackwell Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell OJ (born 22 June 1937) is a Jamaican-British former record producer and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll Hall ...
, who later thought that he made two professional mistakes in his life: rejecting ''Oxygène'' and
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
's first album, '' Empty Sky''. Jean-Michel decided to meet once again with Francis, the head of the Disques Motors label to see if he could release the album, to which he immediately agreed saying: "Right, well we have a world success...". ''Oxygène'' was released in December 1976 in France, and the first pressing of 50,000 copies were given away to a limited number of hi-fi shops vendors. They used a few copies of the album to showcase its stereo sound qualities to their customers, and also as an example of "state-of-the-art sound". These copies were also promoted through clubs and discos. In addition, Jean-Michel and Francis did a promotional poster campaign in Paris. In early 1977, Jarre together with long-time collaborator Juvet decided to put together the same team from the album ''Mort ou vif'' and set about writing the album ', which contained the hit single "". The album was released in June and topped the charts. After another album with Christophe entitled ' in the same year, Jarre decided to stop writing music and lyrics for other artists and preferred to dedicate himself entirely to his solo musical career. In 1977, the album was released internationally by
Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...
, and by April, it had sold 70,000 copies in France. "Oxygène (Part IV)" was Jarre's breakthrough single worldwide, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart. This success led to the album reaching number one on the French Albums Charts, number two on the UK Albums and number seventy-eight on the US '' Billboard Top LPs & Tape''. "Oxygène (Part II)" was edited to about 3 minutes to be released in France as a single. "Oxygène (Part IV)" began to play on the most important radio stations in his native country and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Europe 1 used it as the theme of two of its regular programs, ''Hit Parade'' directed by Jean-Loup Lafont and basketball show ''Basket sur Europe 1'' in the credit titles. The radio station also dedicated an hour and a half program in Jean-Michel's studio, and played the entire album, bringing his music to millions of people. It was played on Dutch radio and television throughout the two days in 1977 that South Moluccan terrorists held. The
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
used the album in a documentary,
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
also played it and was used in television programs such as Antenne 2 or Récré A2. When interviewed in ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' magazine, Motors' director Stanislas Witold said, "In a sense we're putting most of our bets on Jean-Michel Jarre. He is quite exceptional and we're sure that by 1980 he will be recognised worldwide." In Dublin, Ireland, a phone-a-disk system was used, whereby a phone call played about two minutes of the album along with an advertising message. On October 2, 1977, he was invited by host Jacques Martin to an episode of his Sunday program ''L'orchestre d'Antenne 2'', in which the orchestra performed his single "Oxygene (Part IV)". Jarre also received nearly 25 gold records worldwide. In the United States it sold over 100,000 copies in Los Angeles alone, and by the end of 1977, it sold 300,000 copies nationwide. Later, Francis created a label called Disques Dreyfus. ''
Équinoxe ''Équinoxe'' (, ) is the fourth studio album by French electronic music, electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre, released in December 1978 on the Disques Dreyfus, Dreyfus record label, licensed to Polydor Records for its worldwide d ...
'' was released in that label in 1978. It continued with a "familiar style, exploring the emotive power of orchestrated electronic rhythms and melody." In 1979, Jarre performed an open-air concert at the
Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...
, this event caused the sales of both albums to increase, each sold around 1.5 million copies in France and were certified platinum in 1981; both sold 11 million worldwide in November 1979. By 1981, the album had sold an estimated 15 million copies worldwide, and by 2016 an estimated 18 million, being one of the best-selling French, electronic and instrumental albums in history.


Critical reception

Reaction to the album upon its release in the UK in 1977 was largely negative: the British music press, more interested in the developing UK punk scene, was oriented towards guitar-based music and hostile to most electronic music. Angus MacKinnon of the ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' described the album as "another interminable cosmic cruise. The German spacers ( angerineDream,
Schulze Schulze is a German surname, from the medieval office of Schulze, or village official. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrew Schulze (1896–1982), clergyman and civil rights activist * William August Schulze, rocket scientist recru ...
et al) mapped this part of the electronic galaxy aeons ago ... The album's ..infuriatingly derivative. Explore its prime influences instead." Considering the album as a French version of
Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...
's work, ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...
'' said: "Unfortunately, Jarre has produced a work that is ponderous in its self-conscious musicality – he definitely wears his art on his sleeve. Unlike Oldfield, he never stands back and laughs at his own creation. It is heavy throughout, and his influences continually jog the elbow – particularly the lugubrious touches of Mahler and the almost continuous Bach underpinning." The magazine concluded by saying that "so some interest will be generated but the album is not really suited to our insular and musically antiintellectual Anglo-Saxon island." Karl Dallas of ''
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
'' was kinder towards the album, saying that "the first time I heard this album I hated it ... It seemed so bland, so undemanding, so uneventful. I've got to admit it repays further listening, and that it is not quite the electronic
Muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments owned by Mood Media. The name ''Muzak'', a blend of music and the popular camera brand name Kodak, has been in use since 1934 and has been ...
I had written it off as initially." He also stated that it "is not classical music" and that: "Though the track eferring to "Oxygène Part IV"the discos are playing is, as you might expect, actually its least effective section musically, it has the same relationship to popular music as Tangerine Dream, say, or Oldfield. Personally, it still does not impress me as much as either, except at a technical level. It seems to lack heart, the sense of passionate involvement in the act of music-making which makes
Edgar Froese Edgar Willmar Froese (; 6 June 1944 â€“ 20 January 2015) was a German musical artist and electronic music pioneer, best known for founding the electronic music group Tangerine Dream in 1967. Froese was the only continuous member of the gro ...
's work almost a musical equivalent of a
Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...
painting. It is almost too accomplished, too formally precise." The most positive review came from Robin Smith of ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...
'', in which he stated that, "It's pretty tough to communicate warmth through such music and the end product is usually stilted but Jean Michael Jarre has laid down a variety of forms joined together by cohesive lines." He also described Jarre as a "French Mike Oldfield" by "possessing the same emotive powers." He concluded by saying side one "ends on ghost-like notes" while the side two "has a rushing opening like the breaking of a barrier." '' Record World'' magazine commented that it is "an unusually melodic theme" that "is carried over both sides with all instruments played by Jarre himself". Retrospective reviews regard the album as a major work in the development of electronic music. Phil Alexander of '' Mojo'' listed it as one of Jarre's three key albums and wrote that it was "his conscious attempt to unite the worlds of avant-garde, electronic, classical and progressive music." He said that its "dynamic, warm sound is intoxicating" and regarding "Oxygène (Part IV)", he finished saying it is "an unlikely UK Top 5 hit from what remains an elegant cornerstone of electronic music." Jim Brenholts from
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
stated that it "is one of the original e-music albums" and that it "has withstood the test of time and the evolution of digital electronica." He also considered that "Jarre's compositional style and his rhythmic instincts were his strong points in 1976" and that "the innocence and freshness provide most of its charm. Jarre's techniques and ability provide the rest." The album was considered one of the most influential albums of 1976 by uDiscover Music, and was included in the book '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. "Oxygène (Part I)" was considered by ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' writer Lars Brandle as one of the electronic chillout tunes from back in the day.


Accolades


Legacy

''Oxygène'' won the Grand Prix du Disque (English: Disc Grand Prize) award by L'Académie Charles Cros, and American magazine ''
People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'' chose Jarre as the "Personality of the Year". A sequel, '' Oxygène 7–13'', was released two decades later in 1997. In 2007, a new version of the original album titled '' Oxygène: New Master Recording'' was released, and in 2016 another sequel titled '' Oxygène 3'' was released on the 40th anniversary of ''Oxygène''. Welsh music writer Mark Jenkins commented that the album "achieved a dynamic compromise between imaginative sound textures and accessible melodies that for one reason or another had been denied to earlier synthesizer artists". The album has been used for music therapy, meditation and births. Some of the music was used on the soundtracks of the 1978 film '' Snake in the Eagle's Shadow'' and the 1981 film ''
Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...
''. ''Oxygène'' has been described as "one of the biggest catalysts to widespread use of the synthesizer in the 1970s" and influenced electronic artists like
Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...
, who collaborated with Jarre on his 2015 album, '' Electronica 1: The Time Machine''. Brian Canham of Australian band Pseudo Echo said in '' Music Feeds'' that it was a "major influence on my production, song-writing and synthesizer programming with Pseudo Echo, and another of my projects, Origene, hence the homage in the namesake".


Track listing

All tracks are composed by Jean-Michel Jarre. Side one #"Oxygène (Part I)" – 7:39 #"Oxygène (Part II)" – 7:49 #"Oxygène (Part III)" – 3:16 Side two #" Oxygène (Part IV)" – 4:14 #"Oxygène (Part V)" – 10:23 #"Oxygène (Part VI)" – 6:20


Personnel

Personnel listed in the album's liner notes. *
Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the Electronic music, electronic, Ambient music, ambient and New-age music, new-age genres, and is known for organising out ...
– production *Jean-Pierre Janiaud – mixing engineer *Patrick Foulon – mixing assistant * Michel Granger – artwork * David Bailey – back photography *Dave Dadwater - digital remastering with Yakuda Audio (2014 remaster only) * Charlotte Rampling - inner sleeve photo (2014 remaster only)


Equipment

Adapted from the liner notes of the 2014 remastered version. * ARP 2600 *
Eminent 310 Unique The Eminent 310 Unique is a home electronic organ that was built and introduced in 1972 by the Dutch organ manufacturer Eminent, at the time based in Bodegraven, the Netherlands. It was the first organ to include a string section, making it the ...
Organ * EMS Synthi AKS * EMS VCS 3 *
Farfisa Farfisa () is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a se ...
Professional Organ * Korg Mini-Pops 7 * RMI Harmonic Synthesizer *Geiss Rhytmi-computer *
Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * *


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxygene 1976 albums Disques Dreyfus albums Polydor Records albums Jean-Michel Jarre albums Ambient albums by French artists Electronic albums by French artists Electropop albums Space music albums by French artists Synth-pop albums by French artists New-age albums by French artists Albums recorded in a home studio