Customer Reviews

OXYGENE:30TH ANNIVERSARY RE RECORDING

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Surprised no one has commented on this version yet.

In my opinion, this is the best version to get (of the Oxygene 30th Anniversary reincarnations). The DVD is Region 0, so you shouldn't really have a problem playing it regardless of where you live. Also, the prices offered for this product is very affordable, especially when you consider what's being given.

You are getting a good deal here. First off, you're getting a personal concert recording, in HD, alongside the album itself. This is more than just a concert. This is an education tool. Some of the oldest, rarest electronic instruments are being used simultaneously to recreate this great album. Also, Jarre gives a personal tour explaining the history of these instruments. To see them in use is a rare treat.

The best part about this product, in my view, is the DVD surround sound of the original recording of Oxygene. I've never heard Oxygene so crisp. It includes a fantastic 3D rendering of the album cover for visual effect.

If you are a Jarre or an Oxygene fan, you will most likely enjoy this product, considering location and affordability.

This CD and DVD set are absolutely stunning. Oxygene is remastered to such a degree that textures throughout every piece utterly inaudible before are now integral aspects of each piece. A masterpiece of remastering that preserves the original work but also hugely improves it.

The DVD is even more breadth taking. To see Jean Michael Jarre perform this entire album live, in 3D and to listen to it in 5.1 Surround is absolutely fantastic. What's more - the entire session is so grounded, without pomp and ceremony, you really get into this session because if simply Jarre and his musician colleagues having an absolute blast playing it. This is the best and most rewarding musical purchase I have made in years. Asounding.

All I can say Jean Michel Jarre is - congratulations on revisiting your original masterpiece and actually managing to deliver the defining recording and performance all in one CD/DVD set - and thank you. Simply wonderful.

Kevin Nolan,
Dublin, Ireland.

You've got to see this just for the fun if nothing else. Here's a boy and his many, many toys. The re-creation of Oxygene performed live on the DVD is a chance for you to see all the synthesizers you ever dreamed of having in the 1970s all in one room at one time. JMJ had 'em all--a theremin (not 70's, but cool just the same), every Moog there ever was, the ARP 2600 (or whichever it was), a Mellowtron (sp?) plus tons of sound modules that create white noise, etc.

JMJ recreates his Oxygene album live and IN 3-D??!! That's right. You get two sets of red on one side, blue on the other 3-D glasses to view that particular version if it is to your liking. Personally, I found the 3-D to be more distracting since I wanted to make out the equipment more so than seeing depth in four guys reaching to twist more knobs. Not to worry. You can watch it with or without the 3-D turned on. A second disc, a CD remastering of Oxygene comes as a sort of bonus disc. Nice touch.

The extras are fun--especially when JMJ takes you on a little tour of all his old toys. He's excited to share it all--so excited that he struggles to say in English exactly what he wants as he details "theese next eenstrument". It just adds to the charm of it all.

Very fun stuff. Totally worth buying if you're a JMJ fan at all. Even worth buying if you're just into old synths and modules. Also the 5.1 audio is some of the best use of 5.1 I've ever heard. His music plays well with it.

Jean Michele Jarre produced some incredibly innovative and interesting synth music, back in the day when it required a rack of moog's and a lot of time, effort and skill. Not knocking today's DJ's and the modern electronica scene, which I like as well.

This is relaxing, invigorating and interesting all at the same time. (Well, actually different times, since it moves through the moods rather fluidly).

All I can say is try it... listen to these pieces in order a few times. They'll grow on you, as they did for me and nearly everyone who I have listen to JMJ.

Well, don't believe me, then maybe believe the fact that he set 4 separate Guinness book of world records for the largest concert. First in 1979 with 1 million people, then in 1987 with 1.5 M, again in 1990 with 2.5 M, and again in 1997 with 3.5 million.

Let's just say he's good, and this is the album that started it all.

This is such a moving and beautiful work. Just the DVD alone is worth the purchase. The live DVD performance of Oxygene (with some new interludes added in) is awesome. As a musician I appreciate all the hard work and dedication that went into this. It's not flashy; there are no fireworks; no huge audience; just four top-notch musicians making amazing music. Thank you Jean Michel for creating this amazing work. I'm looking forward to enjoying this work over and over. Equinoxe would be amazing with a similar treatment. Get this DVD/CD combo and enjoy Jarre's mastery.

I purchased this "Living Room" combo a couple years ago and have taken some time lately to re-explore it, namely, the DVD, which plays fine on my Sony NTSC unit.

I bought the set for the DVD, not that the new included CD version of "Oxygene" is not incredible. It truly is.

If you already know and love "Oxygene," then there is no need to go into detail about how wonderful the album was in 1976, and still is today.

I wanted to comment here on the DVD, which I think is more than awesome! This performance was intended to be "intimate," as the label says, "Live in Your Living Room." The description couldn't be more perfect as it truly is a very intimate performance! From beginning to the end, Jarre, (and his bandmates,) offer a very stunning visual experience. Much like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, they don't stare at the camera like a typical performers. Instead, they are completely and emotionally focused on the music as they push buttons and play their electronic keyboards, much of which are classic analog creations from years past. It's rare that watching a performance brings tears to my eyes but I admit this happened as I watched and listened to Oxygene "Part 2" on this superb DVD.

The sound quality is more than excellent, and makes one's heart throb when played on a good sound system. The picture quality is also absolutely top-notch!

I fell in love with "Oxygene" back in 1976 when I heard it played at a local stereo store, and have treasured it since. It ranks in my top 10 favorites of all time as far as electronic music.

All I can say is this CD/DVD combo is worth every penny!

Won't go into depth on the CD portion of this, other than to say it sounds great and the remastering treatment is fitting for this seminal synth work, from the days when synths were analog, sequencers used control-voltage links, and MIDI and PCM-based keyboards weren't even a twinkle in anybody's eye yet (wellll...maybe just a faint one).

But what I REALLY wanted to comment on is the video portion of this offering. As I've said in other reviews, and much to my wife's consternation, I'm synth nut (moderate in my eyes, substantial in hers). Big fat saw-tooth waves running through squelchy low-pass filters, pulse-modulated square waves, synched oscillators, LFOs, bleeps and bloops, etc. make my ears perk up and listen. The only thing I could think of better than just listening to Oxygene is being able to SEE Oxygene performed as well. And the DVD in this package does an AWESOME job of bringing you right there, next to JMJ and his 3 cohorts while they execute the piece live and brilliantly. No audience distraction, just tight shots of JMJ while he's twisting knobs, flipping switches, and playing assorted keyboards and devices.

Now do I fully believe that everything was pulled off live with no overdubs, post-production fixes, or retakes? JMJ says it wasn't (almost enough to convince me in a Sound on Sound music mag interview from 2008), but SO MUCH stuff has been billed "live" in the past that wasn't fully. Record companies would MUCH rather sell a product that sounded perfect, but wasn't perfectly live, than they would something that was truly live but sounded imperfect. It's ALL about the bucks, so I have my doubts, and it doesn't help that JMJ has done plenty of "finger-synching" in the past.

But, I don't really mind so much. If it's really live, it's a helluva feat, and if it's not, I still get to see some seriously classic synths in action, up close, and I get to enjoy a new and slightly different version of Oxygene in 5.1 surround as well. The 5.1 mix was either subtle or I was too engrossed watching the synths to notice (a real possibility), but the sound quality is quite nice.

Bottom line is if you're into classic synths, this is a must buy. If you're even minimally curious how JMJ recorded the piece, it's interesting to see quite a few of the original synths he used to do so, and again probably worth the purchase price.

The DVD is amazing. I have a Fatality Pro and Beyerdinamic Headphones. The audio from the DVD is recorded at 96 KHz. I really enjoy it.

What can I say.. I'm a big big fan.
If you like this music then you might like my music too.. so check it out on amazone "Glenn - Electronic Secret" or "Glenn - Message"

Enjoy ! ! !

A fantastic set! This master of synths created one of the first and most recognizable electronic landscapes. Buy it. You wont be disapointed!