Rendez-Vous (Jean Michel Jarre album)

Rendez-vous
Studio album by Jean Michel Jarre
Released April 1986
Genre Electronica, space music, synthpop
Length 35:04
Label Disques Dreyfus
Producer Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel Jarre chronology

Zoolook
(1984)
Rendez-vous
(1986)
Revolutions
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

Rendez-vous is an album of instrumental electronic music composed and produced by Jean Michel Jarre, and released on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor, in 1986. It is his fifth overall studio album. It sold some three million copies worldwide and remains Jarre's longest-running chart album in both the U.S. and UK, with a 20 week run in the U.S. and an impressive 38 week run in the UK.

The last track on the album was originally scheduled to include a saxophone part recorded by astronaut Ron McNair on the Space Shuttle Challenger, making it the first piece of music to be recorded in outer space, but on 28 January 1986, 73 seconds after lift-off, the shuttle disintegrated and the entire Challenger crew were killed. The track was dedicated to McNair and the other astronauts on board Challenger.[2] On the album the saxophone part is played by saxophonist Pierre Gossez.

The album reached #9 in the UK charts and #52 in the U.S. charts.[3]

The album was nominated for Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in 1987, although it didn't win the award.[4]

In April 1986, Jarre performed the large-scale outdoor concert Rendez-vous Houston in Houston, Texas, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of Texas. The show attracted a then-world-record live audience of 1.3 million people. The concert was originally to have included a video projection of Ron McNair's performance, recorded in space.

Jean Michel returned to the stage in October for another concert, the Rendez-Vous Lyon, marking the Pope John Paul II visit to Jarre's hometown (Lyon).

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "First Rendez-Vous"   2:54
2. "Second Rendez-Vous"   10:55
3. "Third Rendez-Vous"   3:30
4. "Fourth Rendez-Vous"   3:57
5. "Fifth Rendez-Vous"   7:41
6. "Last Rendez-Vous (Ron's Piece)"   6:04

Alternative Track Listing

Early editions of the album from 1986 had the tracks for Second and Fifth Rendez-Vous split up into separate parts, and slightly different timings for Fourth and Last Rendez-Vous (Ron's Piece).

No. Title Length
1. "First Rendez-Vous"   2:54
2. "Second Rendez-Vous (Part I)"   2:36
3. "Second Rendez-Vous (Part II)"   3:17
4. "Second Rendez-Vous (Part III)"   2:18
5. "Second Rendez-Vous (Part IV)"   2:43
6. "Third Rendez-Vous"   3:30
7. "Fourth Rendez-Vous"   4:03
8. "Fifth Rendez-Vous (Part I)"   2:59
9. "Fifth Rendez-Vous (Part II)"   1:13
10. "Fifth Rendez-Vous (Part III)"   3:45
11. "Last Rendez-Vous (Ron's Piece)"   5:47

Personnel

References

  1. Bush, John. "Allmusic review". Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  2. Jarre, Jean Michel (1986). Rendez-Vous (liner notes). Disques Dreyfus.
  3. http://www.connollyco.com/discography/jeanmichel_jarre/rendezvous.html
  4. "Grammy Awards 1987". Retrieved 9 July 2013.

External links