Jean Michel Jarre* ‎– Equinoxe

Jean Michel Jarre's second most well known album after Oxygene - this is very similar to the previous album but curiously sounds more "poppy" and commercial.

Some clicks and pops, but the whole play well until the end of the first side (equinox 4), a lot of sound level variations, important crackling...very disappointing!

Awesome remaster. A piece of really good work done here. Especially the bassline was emphasized really nice.

Obviously up therewith Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream/Klaus Schulze, Pink Floyd on the list the pioneers and this is one of his best - 5 especially points thewa forward and by the time the beats and bassy stuff is kicking you can see why trance producers have covered or sampled this amazing tune.

The reissue quality is stunning and superb; this is not a 180 gr vinyl, since i'm not in love with them (it's just a promotional claim), for me was a good start. pressed at MPO en france it's a very analogue sounding and silent reissue. the record is total flat, and surface noise is ZERO even in silent parts. my only complaint is about side B which suffers from a bit off-center problem, but slight since i didn't notice any speed flutter variation, just a little IGD in the inner part of the closing session. recommended for people not involved in used records. this is a great choice!

Mine has the "PRS Hannover" stamp on the back cover.

It took me a long time to love and avoid Jarre's music on equal terms - instead of just avoid. One thing that always annoyed me in his work are spectacular accentuations of what electronics can do. But then again, there is a "guilty pleasure" element in his music that cannot be underestimated. Considering a strange juxtaposition of mega-exposure/universal popularity and personal eccentricity, his earlier work is safe from harm of falling flat - either into pomposity or "stock music" category, although it is not entirely rid of electronic posturing.

Of the three crucial albums of his from the 1974-81 era - "Oxygene", "Equinoxe" and "Les Chants Magnétiques" - "Equinoxe" remains a favourite, ideal to play during winter's late night evenings or even more so especially when traveling. Besides Kraftwerk and Moroder, Jarre is equally responsible for the entire invasion of synth-pop that was bubbling about under the surface at the time - take one Orchestral Manoeuvres, for example (and they actually were named "Equinox" in one of their pre-OMD incarnations), as most of their symphonic sounds owe a great deal to Jarre alone.

As for "Equinoxe" - despite Jarre's usual conceptual nature, his sound inventiveness is often at odds with his music titles' non-inventiveness... The main title alone should stand on its own two feet, perfectly representative of the very music, so any lazy repeating of it in a "parts 1-8" mode is utterly redundant (an actual trademark of Jarre's). But of course this doesn't affect the quality of the very music. This is a truly enjoyable sound excursion with undeniable esoteric value attached to it - especially side one, while side two (with parts 4 and 5 in particular) proves to be more popular among listeners but in all, "Equinoxe" is best when experienced as a whole, without splicing between individual parts (as most of them audibly blend into one another to form a unified piece) - in that case, a vinyl version of this album is better choice than CD.

The only moment that partially goes off-topic on the entire album is on "part 8", during its Parisian l'accordéon-esque intro - while it's a nice little oddity in itself (that would sound perfect with a certain Juliette Greco on vocals), somehow this snippet sounds a bit forced into the whole as if marking composer's French temper... thankfully, the end of "Equinoxe" doesn't succumb further into sound shunting as the theme progresses towards the end, but returns to a melody variation similar to "Part 4" which gives it all a nice "scrolling credits" signature, successfully closing the album.

Side B really starts to cook! Equinoxe Part 5 just blew my mind. Great record for 3 bucks.