Customer Reviews

Rendezvous

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although not the best place to start if you're new to Jean Michel's work - Oxygene, Equinoxe, Revolutions and Chronologie are more likely to get you hooked - this is a must have for any serious music collection that involves electronic music.

Although most well known for the Houston/Lyon double act of 1986 as well as having Final Rendez-vous (to use the correct name) becoming the 'theme' of the Challenger disaster that same year, Rendez-vous stands out on its own as an album that perfectly showcases Jean Michel's talents.

Opening with a dramatic piece that rams an image of space vistas into your head, the tone is epic and relaxed. Before you get yourself too lazy though, Second Rendez-vous shoots you right between the eyes with its dramatic three-part ten minute score. Punctuated in the middle by Jarre's laser harp dancing, it finishes by reaching a climax and then filtering away into the night.

Third Rendez-vous shows off the laser harp as a wonderful solo instrument. Why more artists don't use this thing is anyone's guess! Fourth-Rendezvous is quite frankly the piece that got me infected with Jarreitus. Although better when performed live complete with light show and fireworks, it's still a fine toe-tapping piece to listen to in any guise (yes, even Rendez-vous '98...), although as many have said, it feels somewhat out of place sandwiched between Third Rendez-vous and Fifth Rendez-vous.

Fifth Rendez-vous is a return to a more 'calmer' piece where if you listen carefully, you'll hear fragments of previous tracks. Of course, Final Rendez-vous is a triumph. Both saddening but at the same time full of the idea of space, the album bows out on a high.

Easily one of Jarre's greatest works it's well worth having. The continued inclusion of both Second Rendez-vous and Fourth-Rendezvous in Jean Michel's live concerts are testament to the album's greatness.

Rendez-vous has it all: Swirling instrumental backdrops like those found in the early Jarre albums, a few bouncy melodies like in the later ones, and most importantly COHESION between the two which many of his releases don't have.

This is a great place to start if you don't know JMJ. I would put this CD and Oxygene 7-13 in the same camp.

I loved this CD even before I found out that the final track (Last Rendez-vous: Ron's Piece) was supposed to be the first music performed in space (by Challenger astronaut and saxophonist Ron McNair). It's fitting that it's such a sad piece, filled with loss. Love that sax.

I first got "turned-on" to Jean-Michel Jarre in 1990* where through a promotional from Sony, I received the entire collection to date*. Rendez-vous is the most widely known cd because of the PBS series Cosmos, which was hosted by the late, great, scientist, Carl Sagan.

Rendez-vous is truly magnifique and I am torn between the Houston/Lyon Live CD and this one for obvious reasons. Kirk Whalum and Pierre Gossez's contribution to "Ron's Piece" (Last Rendez-vous) have me siding with Pierre even after I've listened with the producers of some recorded benefits for Houston featuring Kirk. How that came about is a long story indeed, but not as long of a story as Jean-Michel's claim to fame. For those who have never heard of Jean-Michel, this is the "classic" to start out with. His upcoming releases with Sony will be equal to the task of upholding the excellence you'd expect from his works. But my favorite will always be this CD. It's jazzy sultry sound is tasteful as it is sweet.

What's best about the music is simply this: It's clean, inspiring and soaring. You can't ask for more than that. I myself enjoy listening to his entire collection over-and-over whilst doing research or performing my experiments.

For the future audience I say, Enjoy.... [for Carl and Ron McNair]

This is an incredible album. Jarre's most classical album to date all the synth presets are orchestral in nature. Techno, rock, classical are all elements. Choirs are used throughout. Rendezvous 2 and 4 are the best known although part 4 sounds extremely dated now. Highlight tracks are parts 1,2, and 6. "The Last Rendezvous" is a beautiful saxophone piece and can't be faulted. The 24 bit remaster makes this album stand above the rest of Jarre's catalogue in terms of sound quality.

When I purchased my first CD player, I asked a knowledgeable clerk what, besides Brothers in Arms and The Allen Parson's Project he could recommend to display the superiority of CD over phonograph. Rendez Vous. When I first listened to it, I said What in Blazes is this!?! Well, although Jean Michel Jarre has some foreign philosophies about music, he knows the effectiveness of the 'hook'. The music literally grows on you like a fungus. I think it was Igor Stravinsky who said 'It's not that American's know what they like... they like what they know.' Jean's compositions weave a theme, SNeak a theme in and out of subsequent cuts to hook you. The music penetrated my wall of skeptisizm when, one day, I was listening to it as the TV Marketing Channel was showing displays of rotating crystal sculptures... Airplanes, cars, birds, sparkling, gleaming, rotating.. and Rondezvous welded its art to the radiating beams and surreal images on the screen. In Houston, Jarre set up an event atop a downtown highrise to the delight and amazement of thousands of shopping and commuting Houstonians.. replete with a laser light show extravaganza.. a fitting venue for this exceptional talent. Oxygene is good too, but the superior recording captured on Rondez Vous makes it the creme of new age. Get Vangelis and this, and save golden apples for another time. GOTTA have Rondez Vous!!! Give it a couple of chances. It's hip.

This is an excellent album from JMJ, one of his best IMHO. For JMJ fans, this is a must-have. For fans of electronic music, this is a must-have. Rendez-Vous could have been the soundtrack to an epic sci-fi film but still stands alone as an excellent example of composition and craftsmanship. The last track "Final Rendez-Vous" was intended to be the first song ever recorded in space. Astronaut Ron McNair of the Space Shuttle Challenger had brought along his saxophone on the shuttle and was going to play and record it for this song. Unfortunatley, tradgedy struck on that fateful day in January of '86 and Ron was killed along with 6 other American astronauts. The song, both very sad and beautiful at the same time is dedicated to his memory.

Definitely worth the money and an excellent addition to anyone's music collection.

This is Jarre's finest album, plain and simple. Hauting melodies envokes memories of the Challenger disaster of 1986 for which Rendezvous was a tribute to. Fantastic light-synth takes you on a unforgettable journey to the stars...... I bought this in 1986, and it still does not sound dated in 1998. A must for all Jarre fans.

I'm 15 and when we moved in with my step Dad I found it in his CDs, and now I like it more then he does, I also have Zoo Look and I really like that one too, I hope to buy them all some day. I give it 5 stars. hope you like it too.

In spite of its release date (1986) this is an especially fine album of electronica that is at times reminiscent of classic works including Oxygene (1976) and Equinoxe (1978). Rendezvous is a special album and is commemorated to the memory of the astronauts that died in the terrible Challenger shuttle disaster in 1986. In fact, the track Last Rendezvous (Ron's piece) was written with the intent of having astronaut Ron McNair play the saxophone part while on board the shuttle.

Jean Michel plays a wide assortment of equipment on the album including a mix of some classic 1970s gear and pieces of equipment from the 1980s (Fairlight; Seiko DS 250; Roland JX BP; Synthex, Emulator II, Laser Harp, Prophet and mini moog amongst others). He is accompanied by Michael Geiss (ARP 2600), Dominique Perrier (memory moog); Joe Hammer (drumulator and percussion), the Choir of Radio France, Pierre Gossez (saxophone) and even Jean Michel's son David Jarre (baby Korg).

I love the synth textures that are used on this album. While they are somewhat 1980s sounding, they are also very organic - I was actually surprised at just how organic everything sounds on this album.

Musically, this is a great selection of (mostly) gloomy synthesizer pieces loaded with sad and sweeping atmospherics, with the occasional brisk and upbeat track featuring bright/cheery melodies and synthesized percussion (Fourth Rendezvous is a good example). The choir parts are wonderful and add soft textures to this album, which seems to have more than its fair share of classically influenced passages (some of which are fairly dark). The closing track is especially haunting and features a soft saxophone part beneath which dreamy synthesizer pads are layered. Whether intentional or not, the saxophone part seems disembodied and floating; the effect is very eerie.

All in all, this is a fine example of electronica and is recommended along with Oxygene and Equinoxe.

when the other reviewers say that rendez-vous 4 sounds "dated" that's not necessarily a bad thing. if you like 80s synth pop like OMD or early pet shops boys, you should like this just fine.