Customer Reviews

China Concert

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1997, Sony rereleased the full "The Concerts in China" on a single compact disc on the Epic label. Beforehand, this album had been available in Europe as a double CD, and from time-to-time, in the Europe and the U.S. as two individual CDs sold separately. For the 1997 rerelease, Sony had Masterdisk remaster the record using 24/96 technology. The result of Masterdisk's work is utterly spectacular and totally superior to any previous form of the album on CD. This is one of the best sounding CDs I have ever heard. Assuming that this product (Sony; ASIN: B00000ILPU) is the same as what I have (Sony/Epic 01-488139-10), then this is absolutely the product to buy. If you already own this album in one of the earlier CD releases, then you may want to consider upgrading. The fact that it all fits on a single disc is nice too.

firstly i have to make a correction to Ola Obrant from Swedens review. Mr jarre was actaully the 1st western musician EVER to play in china. Mao let him in because he liked the colour of his eyes of all things (info from the jarre biography).

this cd has always been good, I initially owned it on tape and played it to death. it was a good album to go running to as the tracks vary in speed and allowed good endurance training.

there are no bad tracks on this album, night in shanghai and fishing junks at sunset stand out as tracks that just create excellent images in your mind. arpegiator (i'm bound to have spelt that wrong) is an excellent upbeat track. this album brought together traditional chinese music and western synth technology for the 1st time.

jarre caused heart attacks for the red guard at his concerts when he stepped off stage with a portable keyboard to let the crowd play the new instruments.

jarre debuted his laser harp at these concerts, a yamaha dx21 converted to play notes when a laser beam is broken. people think this is a gimmick! Far from it, it does work! why do they think he's wearing asbestos gloves and glasses. It is very real.

jarre in concert is always excellent but merging east and west created the best concert album I've ever heard, and I was at docklands.

to conclude, if you like synth - buy this!

I reckon this CD has got something special. I have got 16 of Jarre's albums, and This is the best Live album by far(Oxygene , Oxygene 7-13, Equinox are the best albums). Jarre was the first western popular musician to have a concert in China, and he was also the first one to be broadcasted in Chinese radio. The recording is very good and it sports the quality of a studio recording. This CD has got a streangth that grips me every time I put it on. If you are new to Jarre, "Images" might be your best buy though, but this record is like a "best of" from 1981.

Concerts in China is, I feel, the best Jarre concert album to date. Pieces like Arpegiator, Orient Express, and Nights in Shanghai exemplify Jarre's ability to compose aggressive, stirring electronic music. The album also features pieces whose arrangements have been localized, such as Magnetic Fields II and Fishing Junks at Sunset, which makes for some interesting listening.

Before I ever even bought my first CD player, I bought this double CD as an expensive German import

I knew CD's could handle at lease 79 minutes and 52 seconds of recorded material, but this double album took up even less space than that but back in 1984, I guess CD companies didn't have the confidence to put so much music on just one CD. But, today, you can buy this fabulous 1982 China concert collection as a single CD. Jean Michel Jarre has released several live CD's but this one is still the best.

The first disc is recorded live in Peking (with some studio recordings blended in, and the second CD has recordings from his Shanghai performance, again, with some studio recordings blended in. Although his nineties concert of "Hong Kong" is quite good (he has other musicians supporting him), I still appreciate his 1982 performance because he was still rather unfamiliar to the world, and was more humbled before his audience.

I have two of his more recent concerts on DVD, which are unfortunately PAL releases, which can only be played on non-regional DVD players, but are worth every penny. Non-regional DVD players are available for purchase on-line, or you can even program your own DVD player to be converted to be an all-region DVD player. There are websites available to help you to revert your current American DVD player to be an all-region DVD player. Look into it.

The Concerts in China is a live album and was recorded in 1981. Jarre was the first western artist to play in China after the cultural revolution. The sound quality is astounding and verily it feels as if one is present at concert as one is listening. Jarre composed several new compositions for this concert. Among these being "Arpegiator" and "Fishing Junks At Sunset". The booklet contains many nice photographs and lists whom plays what including the brand of keyboards used. Allmusic gave this recording 4/5 and I 100% agree. 5/5.