Equinoxe [Original recording reissued]

Jean Michel Jarre | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Dreyfus
• ASIN: B000001ZS4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,320 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #78 in Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > Electronica

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And the magic begins...Best synth album ever!, March 15, 2000

By 

Jesper Hansen (Ringkobing Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Equinoxe (Audio CD)

Who has made the best synth album ever? Well, some would say Schulze, some would say Kraftwerk, some Tangerine Dream and some Jean Michel Jarre. I guess that the question can never be answered - it's a matter of taste really. One thing is for sure though. When it comes to the ability of making atmospheric soundscapes and cathcy themes, Jarre beats them all. Equinoxe was released back in 1978 and synth albums from that period often sound outdated because of the progress with computers and synths in general, but Equinoxe will never become outdated. Jarre has a unique eye for detail and even though I've listened to this album hundreds of times I still find new things in the music that I haven't heard before. The album is complete, meaning that it never loses the atmospheric feel. The music isn't just in the room when you listen to it - it surrounds and embraces the room. Many have tried to recreate the feel of this album and all of them have failed miserably, no one has ever come close - except for Jarres own Oxygene. The "hit" songs of this album would be Equinoxe 4,5 and 7. To me there can be no doubt. This is the best album ever and you owe it to yourself to listen to it. If you don't belive me just read the rest of the reviews.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Electronic Music CD of all Time!, June 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Equinoxe (Audio CD)

Equinoxe, by Jean Michel Jarre, in my opinion is the greatest electronic music CD of all time. Jarre's masterpiece flows from the opening track Equinoxe 1 to the finale Equinoxe 8. It was created in the days before CD's so there is the break for both sides of the original vinyl and cassette recording. Otherwise I am sure Mr. Jarre would have made this one seamless piece of extra-ordinary creative music.

And yet the break enables one to get one's breath as Equinoxe 5 begins an everflowing journey of sound and sonics. Once into the music, you cannot escape the voyage to the inner recesses of your mind.

I have heard thousands of electronic Cd's in my time, and some have maybe more melodic, more evocative tracks. but none, and I reiterate, none flows from start to finish like Equinoxe. In fact as host and producer of the Nightflight a 2 hour radio show devoted to this genre, Equinoxe, was named the first Nightflight Hall of Fame Award in 1997.

Good Listening

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent !!!, August 10, 2000

By 

Felix Matathias (Manhattan, NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Equinoxe (Audio CD)

Excellent space music. The man really made this music accesible to the masses and we should recognize that to him. He did not invent electronic music as a lot of people think. To prove my point by 1976 Claus Schulze had already released: Irrlicht, Cyborg, Blackdance,Picture Music, Timewind and Tangerine Dream had already released: Electronic Meditation, Alpha Centauri, Zeit, Atem , Phaedra, Rubycon, Ricochet.Listeners that like the style of Equinoxe should also listen to those. Claus Schulze's "X" is also very close to this one along with Vangelis' Albedo and Spiral. I warn you that you will be surprised. I was. I thought that Jarre was the beginning and end of electronic music. Not true at all.

In Oxygene and Equinoxe we find tremendous influences from Schulze's Picture Music and even more from Tangerine Dream's Phaedra and Rubycon. It is very interesting to explore how different ideas and sounds evolved in the cosmic music scene throughout the 70's.

All in all the music is groundbreaking, I think that Jarre really took the music one step further than the people I mentioned already. His sounds are more care free more ethereal and above all more TRANSPARENT.

Schulzes biosphere evolves in the wastelands of an unfriendly planet. Jarre's Equinoxe is the crystal clear water of a new promising world. Its really sad that Jarre's experiment did not last beyond his first 3 albums.

Equinoxe and Oxygene should belong to the collections of all serious listeners of electronic music. Great material.