Equinoxe vs Oxegene Jean Michel Jarre

JM Jarre is an electronica genius. Oxygene for me. The original that blazed the trail for all that followed.

 

Back in the early 80's a coworker put one of these on the turntable but I can't remember which one.
It made me nauseous.

So I'm trying to listen to Equinoxe off of YouTube now.

 

In the early 80s,I played D and D with a group. The DM always played Oxygene. We swore the temp of the room dropped 10 degrees when he did. I love it.

 

I prefer Oxygene. I love the airy atmospheric effects.

 

Equinoxe for me.
There's more structure to it.
...more "movement"...

 

Oxygen as I sounds a tad more organic to me.

 

Oxygène was truly groundbreaking, and I adore it, but for me Equinoxe remains just a hair closer to perfection - and "Equinoxe 4" is the best thing Jarre ever did.

That having been said, I think his best album overall is the tragically underrated Zoolook. It was groundbreaking yet incredibly immediate and approachable, which is a difficult feat for anyone to pull off. After the somewhat-disappointing Magnetic Fields it also seemed entirely unexpected. Unfortunately it wasn't commercially all that successful and Jarre immediately retreated to familiar territory with (I thought) the boring, somewhat weedy Rendez-Vous.

 

Both are remarkable. Cannot give up any.

 

+1

It always annoyed the hell out of me when he left out the "robo voice section" in some of his live versions.

 

Both these albums are excellent, pure genius, maybe Oxygene a hair above Equinoxe. Both get regular playtime at my house, along with Zoolook and Waiting for Cousteau

 

+1 here.

But don't underestimate the Equinoxe 6 & 7 combo. Equinoxe 7 is epic. Certainly on the Concerts in China album where it emerges from that swampy pile of sound effects and muffled music.

 

I agree. I hated it when it was released but now it is my favourite Jarre album.

 

I'm picking Equinoxe, but only because it gets you a higher score in Scrabble...

 

The Concerts In China album is really pretty spectacular, given the vintage of the thing. A couple of the tracks only available on that record are great, too. I sometimes forget about it...

 

To me they sound like twin sisters, not identical twins, but sister albums all the same and way too close to chose.


My current ratings:

Oxygene 10
Equinoxe 10
Zoolook 10

Rendez-Vous 9.5
Revolutions 9.5

Oxygene (7-13) 9
Chronologie 9
Magnetic Fields 8.5
Teo & Tea 8.5

Metamorphoses 8
Geometry of Love 8
Waiting For Cousteau 8

Sessions 2000 3

Still no release date or title for the New 2015 album?

 

I didn't vote because I find Oxygene, Equinoxe, and Magnetic Fields interchangeably brilliant.

 

Different opinion here. "Oxygene IV" sounds worse than the rest on the MFSL CD.

 

I didn't notice that. Is the original Dreyfus cd better? I didn't think so.

 

I love both. Also like Chronologie very much

 

I don't know the original Dreyfus CD but the 1997 remaster by Scott Hull seems to reproduce "Oxygene IV" the way it should be. All in all this pressing is highly recommendable.

 

So that's one remaster maybe I should look into. What about the rest of the album compared to the MFSL?

 

Maybe you should also consider the Ixygene New Master Recording from 2007. This is complete recreation of the original album, using vintage synths and modern recording technology.

The DVD contains a "live in the studio" recording of Oxygene including new parts. I ripped this version and never listened to any of the older versions. These new parts make the album much better, IMHO.

 

This is the release I'm referring to: http://www.discogs.com/Jean-Michel-Jarre-Oxygene-New-Master-Recording-DVD-Live/release/1325745