Oxygene
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| Oxygene | ||
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| Studio album by Jean Michel Jarre | ||
| Released | 1976 | |
| Recorded | August, 1976- November, 1976 |
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| Genre | Electronic | |
| Length | 39:44 | |
| Label | Disques Dreyfus | |
| Producer(s) | Jean Michel Jarre | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Jean Michel Jarre chronology | ||
| Les Granges Brûlées (1973) |
Oxygene (1976) |
Equinoxe (1978) |
Oxygene is an album of instrumental electronic music composed and produced by Jean Michel Jarre, and released in 1976 (see 1976 in music) on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor.
Originally Jarre found it hard to get the record released, due to its entirely instrumental composition and the lack of a clear single which could be sold separately. After its release it became one of the most popular and characteristic albums of electronic music with sales of over 15 million copies of the album and later singles worldwide.
Contrasted with his contemporaries, such as the rather clinical, hard, futuristic sound of Kraftwerk, or the more 'cosmic' and murky Tangerine Dream, Oxygene had a lush, spacey and strongly melodic sound.
The track "Oxygene Part II" is perhaps most famously remembered for its poignant use in the Australian film, Gallipoli.
The track "Oxygene Part IV" was released as a single and became one of the best-known pieces of electronic music ever.
Key components of Jarre's sound included his use of the Electroharmonix Small Stone phaser on synthetic string pads provided by the Dutch-built Eminent-310 Unique organ, and liberal use of echo on various sound effects generated by the VCS3 and AKS synthesizers.
The album reached #2 in the UK charts and #78 in the US charts [1]
In 1997, Jarre produced a sequel to this album Oxygene 7-13. This refers to the original album as being the first six movements from a larger complete piece of work, despite the time difference between the release of the two albums. It was written in the same style and using the same instruments although the work is much more uptempo.
[edit] Track listing
- "Oxygene (Part I)" – 7:40
- "Oxygene (Part II)" – 8:09
- "Oxygene (Part III)" – 2:55
- "Oxygene (Part IV)" – 4:15
- "Oxygene (Part V)" – 10:24
- "Oxygene (Part VI)" – 6:21
[edit] Equipment
Jean Michel Jarre performed on the following instruments for this album: ARP Synthesizer, EMS Synthi AKS, VCS 3 Synthesizer, RMI Harmonic Synthesizer, Farfisa Organ, Eminent, Mellotron and the Rhythmin' Computer (later revealed to be a Korg Minipops-7 rhythm machine).
