ZOOLOOK

Zoolook is a bit of a divisive album in Jean Michel Jarre's discography, and justifiably so. Of course, this is the point when Jarre shifted towards incorporating more digital synths in his work, but I actually think he does so quite adeptly and tastefully so the division of opinion seems to be about more than just a nostalgia-addled "it's digital therefore it's bad" backlash. At the same time, Jarre incorporates a lot of synthpop influences into his sound and makes extensive use of sampling, especially vocal sampling, to create something which sounds very distinctive from the progressive electronic suites of earlier hit albums.

Some may find that a turn-off; I consider it key to Jarre's successful adaptation to new synthesiser technologies, and consider this a richly evocative cyberpunk-era collection which, in its own way, manages to recapture the majestic sweep of Oxygene and Equinoxe but evoke it on its own terms, rather than repeating the playbook of those albums.