THE ESSENTIAL

Early compilation from electronica wizard Jarre featuring his "greatest hits" from 76-82, including all the singles such as 'Oxygene IV' and 'Equinoxe V', and a few lesser known tracks with 'Equinoxe III', 'Oxygene VI' and interestingly enough the middle section of 'Magnetic Fields I' at one point. Most of the tracks are also edited to fit the 3-4 minute mark (notably 'Fishing Junks at Sunset' and 'Oxygene II'), adding up to 14 tracks in total which should be a nice treat for casual fans of JMJ or 70's/80's electronic music. Jarre's music is still very best experienced while listening to the proper studio albums from this time front to back, so if you already are on to those, then you don't need this one. It had a purpose back in 1983, but now I think "Images - The Best of..." is a better choice if you want a Jarre compilation, making this more of a collectors item.

A demo disc for a compact disc player

"The essential Jean Michel Jarre" is a worthwhile introduction to the music of this keyboard showman. It gathers together tracks from his early high selling albums (i.e. omitting his first two releases) from "Oxygene" in 1977 through to "Magnetic Fields" in 1981 and the live "China" album the following year.

Inevitably, the most commercial tracks are selected, and the hit singles placed up front, kicking off with "Oxygene part IV". Hearing the tracks in this manner is reasonably rewarding in a superficial sort of way. It is like listening to a succession of good quality pop songs that you can sing along to. Not something you would want to do too often, but an acceptable diversion on occasions.

The "Oxygene", "Equinoxe" and "Magnetic Fields" albums each contribute approximately the same amount of material, the tracks simply being distinguished by their numbers within each work (such as Equinoxe part V). Only the three tracks from the "Concerts in China" album have unique names, these being new pieces which had not previously appeared on studio albums. Of these, "Fishing junks at sunset" is heavily edited down from its original 9+ minutes to extract the most commercial three minutes.

This album was released in the very early days of the compact disc, offering those who had a CD player the opportunity to demonstrate the quality and power of the sound now available through high quality recordings of futuristic music. These days, this collection may have a quaintly dated feel to it, but for those of us who were there at the time, it is enjoyable nonetheless.

Incidentally, the album has a different sleeve in the UK, and possibly other territories.