→ Jean Michel Jarre - AERO

My thoughts on Jean Michel Jarre AERO surround music DVD and stereo CD. I'd grade it a six out of ten, and I'm being benevolent for the extra effort in surround hyper activity.

May please depending on the angle. Read on if interested in MY and mine only personal opinion...

The audio quality is absolutely flawless and detailed, enough to make AERO standout on this alone.

1 - Intro

Nice intro, brilliant sound detail altough space locations are somewhat artificial it works well in its own surreal way. Cutting to the chase, all the scenes are brilliant in their own surrealistic way, and sound so detailed it will blow you out of your socks.

2 - Oxygene 2

Great atmosphere, with Jarre typical pads and sound effects, sampled from the original Oxygene. Sounds a bit like a slow diferent Oxygene 1 giving in to what is Oxygene 2, very magical, atractive and mind-blowing... a must intro.

The square wave arpeggio lost a lot of life since now it's mono and locked in the center, hence removing a lot of the magic the filtered arpegio brought in all its wideness.

The strings groove is slightly changed in the first verse to provide more "speed" and straight to the point as the chorus aproaches, I like this fast aproach.

The bass is more interesting a new flanged metalic pop-corn sound waves from left to right and to left and actually ads the life the music lost with the remix, and I have to say I love them, though they tend to sound a bit "un-organic" over time. It's Oxygene 2 in a new perspective, more "close", informal, dancy and less "spatial" and sci-fi.

The percussion is quite well engineered in audio terms, stronger, though the same, and up to date. The strings are a bit low in volume, nonetheless they provide enough warmth.

The end "hollow" solo has re-done delay, more "clinical" and the back "flute" stands out more, but lifeless in context and timbre.

In conlusion? It sounds great while I drive, it's a diferent aproach, but I think I still may prefer the classical one, though the metalic grooves, bass and strong soundind percussion add an edge to this one, it lost more than it gained in the context I loved, the "sci-fi" one.

3 - AERO

May sound like bit dated "Robert Miles" like dream-house, but it's actually up to date and still works real fine. It's "Je me Souviens" with new clothes, better ones, much better ones.

The piano could use with some dinamic variation in volume/timbre so it would not sound so artificial, then again, it may be the purpose anyway.

The backing synths are as cold and thin as you can get, though it fits here, and the 4/4 techno beat and some passing effects keep it interesting more than enough.

Cello stabs dont make to much sense but add power altough they do throw all the sound into the middle, quite a contrast after exagerated 180 degrees restless panning on everything, it ain't a bad thing, but a puzzling one, provides some organic movement, but I'm not sure if it works that well.

The music is easily heared to end and pleasant, it does not bother but it does not makes you jump of your chair wanting to know what it is either...

The drum rolls are panned in a bothering way but it grows on you.

4 - Band in the Rain

Amazing detail on the thunders and rain, though the pan is again surreal but highly interesting... pity that the melody lacks total acoustic realism, no reverb to blend it into the paisage... sounds like a strange dry thing passing by the soundscape...

The new arrangements on some notes harmonies are nice... convolution reverb would have had worked wonders here.

5 - Oxygene 4

New groove, with a bit more shuffle. The restless pan removes the analog "virginity" magic of the original arpegio, which is the original still, repanned and with higher definition.

The percussion also gets a boost, as in Oxygene 2, and it sounds dazzling.

The lead sound seems mixed with the original one.

This new lead is a bit more agressive and digital sounding to the obvious, it's delay is out of tempo which distracts a bit from the overall sci-fi soundscape, but also adds an edge.

The "sfi-fi" soundscape is quite complete and flawless in original Oxygene, this one is a bit more down to Earth.

The new bass groove ads another edge, but sound balancing mainly works, as in Oxygene 2, to bring to music closer rather than making it super wide and imaginative as the original "spacey" Oxygene.

Again, although I dont mind listening to this version as I drive - I actually love it - the original one has a diferent aproach that I fancy more, an angle a bit more "sci-fi" than this one which is more "homey" and more danceable as is the new Oxygene 2.

6 - Souvenir of China

In my opinion the best track in AERO, an amazing remake that probably super-seeds the original one in my optic.

It's the only music where 3D actually makes sense and impresses. The percussion is amazing and interesting, filled with spatial effects enough to dazzle even the most skeptic.

The bass drum is a bit dry in this quite rich ambience but I have nothing else to point out.

The pads get the power they deserve and add sadness to the whole thing as a cello groove develops underneath brilliantly mixed in. Added horn counter-point also works fabulously, though a bit coldy...

The music grows and grows in emotional strenght, and rivals the original head to head... diferent but both quite powerfull.

I tend to prefer this one, but I might change my mind according to mood, which goes to proove AERO achieved into giving a new "edge" to the old musics., But now not only do I prefer this Souvenir of China to the original one, but also its my favourite in this album.

7 - Aerology

This track seems very virgin and unfinished, probably ment for remixing.

Faint guitar groove, un-worked resonant bass, space-restless snare, out-of-context bell and to standard pads...

The guitar lead goes nice as do the effects, the melody blends in well, but all is to weak, thin, faint, plastic and cold when compared to the rest of AERO. Poor choice as a first single IMHO altough a very good territory for remixes.

8 - Equinoxe 3

When I first heard original Equinoxe 3 my jaws dropped on the floor, they still do today and it's one of my favourites as a "whole" in the perspective of electronic sounds.

This version distortes it all, under that perspective.
I dont feel the same magic I felt when I first heard the original one.

Here, even keeping the original lead under the velocity-sensitivity lacking piano it does not work for me.

The lead lacks the amazing softness blend the original had, the effects got muffled and the new ones dont seem in context, the lead in the chorus are plastic and MIDI "bontempi"... not to mention the static piano again... might work for some, but not for me.

In fact, I think Equinoxe 3 got butchered! It does not work at all, thi is the track that got so worst it should have had been erradicated.

Please show the original one the whoever listens to this version!

Here, blending analog and digital simply does not work right, it has too much clashes and all is way to diferent and contrasting.

It adds new elements, enough to keep you interested, but you'll soon want to get back to the original one that can sound more modern. (!)

Removing the delay to add mono-aural-surround was IMHO a mistake that removed "wideness" as it was on Oxygene 2's arpeggio.

But even so, this Equinoxe 3 does not even fit under a new "aproach" which works with Oxygene 2 quite well,

It's neither more groovy, dancy or anything... it got assassinated! Great melody, great chords, but production is not adequate to original mood... IMHO.

9 - Equinoxe 4

Confusing total drums panning rotation, though a nice twist... the sub-bass bass drum component keeps restless, and the drums loose "force" as they travel trough speaker by speaker.

The strings are somewhat relatively low in volume not making its "pad" feeling felt. The bass arpeggio seems to loud... mostly due to the percussion going away now and then to some side. The new sub-bass is nice,

The chorus part totally looses a lot by the lack of delay (echo), it's dry and lacks the impact of the slapback echo groove - it works nice in the 360 degrees soundfield but it's not as spacey and jaw dropping as the original when the chorus rushes in.

The music also looses in dinamics as this part sounds as loud as does all the rest.. no emotional build up and release.

I thought this one would be great for a remake, specially after so great remixes done by others, and would suggest it as a first single, but now I say: dont even think about it.

It got weaker, not necessarily worst since audio definition is impressive... but a little delay on the chorus would have had made a huge diference, as would more volume on the analog strings and a solid percussion on its place.

The effects dont stand still, they rotate without logic, and not in perspective, the brain gets confused and stressed... this along all the album, it may impress at first but stresses shortly after.

The "break" part is actually more interesting.

Actually the brek part is way much more interesting than the original one, awsome prodution in this tidy bit and shows the direction Jarre could have had taken on all the album... but that's all, a few seconds...

Equinoxe 4 deprived of the original wide magic with a new "dry" high-resolution twist and an unimaginative drum loop that keeps rotating... thus it should sound awfull in a disco! Jarre/Joachim what were you thinking of?

The ending effects that sounded marvellous in the original now sound dry and out of context... and cold! But impressive audio quality.

10 - Rendez-Vous 6

It's a nice remake, it actually sounds more romantic, but not better nor worse, you also may come to note some multiband-compression artifacts (or is it just me?).

Truth be said, it was not dificult to perform better than the original minimal one. Although this one sounds more poetic, the fact the heartbeat keeps rotating as does the sax stresses the listener to much...

More even because the sax does not rotate around, but aparently "trough" your head... one could try to imagine rotating around the sax player but not in this way... the panning sounds artificial and out of framing with the remaing acoustic space.

The music remained untouched, mainly the audio production changed, and it's quality is much higher.

New effects add interest but are very scarse.

The sax got a bit muffled (is it me of the bass/treble went bananas?), pitty since the performance is brilliant.

When the sax passes in the center it gets way louder... very stressing indeed, specially when the pan rotation spoils such great speed rifs as they get far and lower in volume.

The bass arpeggio is less strong but more in yer face than the original, still felt, but in a new diferent way.

This ends nicely... the water paddle finally returns the brain to real non-stressing acoustics. A perfect soundscape in physical terms, scarse they are, but when they are, they are... brilliant. Amazing detail and HiFi quality.

11 - Zoolookologie

Danceable like the original but still lacking something... the audio is superb, the production is interesting. Nostalgic to say the least.

The pans once again stress the listener too much and the lead has too much reverb getting out of perspective... seems like listening to two diferent songs at the same time.

The mix balance is overall really stressing but in spite it does the brilliant music justice enough but could do more.

It can sound colder and thinner than it's "8 bit" 1984 already cold couterpart, but at the same time its kept very interesting and powerfull. Its just not my cup of tea, but its still filled with nutrients.

This had potencial the get pushed over the edge, as dis Equinoxe 4, but was not. It's quite similar to the original, with a more active panning, some sound surprises feel good... and the audio, though confusing, is way better.

Zoolookologie never apealled to me that much so, I really dont fancy one over the other, both sound cold but this one, much colder yet cirurgicaly filtered, sounds in a much higher definition... it is coldness but in better resolution, in fact, so much better it sets apart the music components into seeming all out of diferent places and contexts.

12 - Aerozone

Nice strings and sound effects.
A relaxing chill-out bleep pseudo-lead.

Groove percussion, with nice pan for a change, though still very hyper-active.

This music really makes you travel.
It is the only that does JMJ justice with in this AERO so much obvious digital only direct aproach or hybrid with pre-recorded analog versions.

Nothing seems out of context, it's digital but nicely balanced and makes you travel and does it sounds great in definition... flawless and perfect, in fact, perhaps to perfect... like a rendered landscape.

Reminiscences of Globe-Trotter and Arpegiateur. Cold, computer music but it makes sense. Getting it trough some top-gear Valve equipment would warm it up enough not to sound so perfect nor thin in such aparent high-resolution.

This one will probably grow on me once I get over the "static plastic" digital feeling that only a bit of LFO tweaking would solve... ah well...

13 -Magnetic Fields 1

Again some multi-band compression artifacts seem evident specially in the non-compensated pans (no 3db atenuation on center).

The theremin sounds cool in the intro string sequence but the panning of it all removes emotion power it had in Aalborg for example.

The hyper-famous mind blowing Magnetic Fields 1 opening trademark arpegio got weaker due to extreme rotation, though it sounds good in 5.1m which delay did so well in the original. Pitty for it was a great hook, goes to show how important production is...

The percussion is stronger but the fact it also rotates (more in the stereo version) spoils it a bit since I get bass waves bluring from diferent directions.

The effects also got muffled when I feel they should be the main thing... the resolution and detail are amazing (but also are in the remaster of Magnetic Fields). Killing the effects may kill the music's organic since they brought so much life.

The music seems very lost and the listener does not know where to focus attention since all is moving out of place before the brain recognizes it...

Interesting sound placements but it's like a lamborghini passing by at 330 km/h, you know it must be beatifull but you cant really apreciate it because it passes by so quickly... or it's like a lack of paralax, like going in the car at 330 km/h and having no horizon to fix the eyes on, only things close passing by...

Hard to explain...
Two sides our brain has, one hear is more sensitive to somethings the other to others, constant rotating is confusing and stressing.

This Magnetic Fields sounds even more dated than the original one, but dated in high-definition glory... even at 16/44.1 or 48k surround.

It gained nothing in AERO, quite "au contraire", it lost a few emotional bits for the gain in audio quality.

It lost not as much as Equinoxe 3 - it has enough to keep interest but no new angle aproach, just a very good polish.

I prefer the original one or more even the China Concerts one anyday.

This one sounds awsome, bu it is cold, thin, restless, unbalanced and not even the theremin keeps it solid... as I said, sounded cool on stage in Aalborg, but not in a studio release with a girl staring...

The amazing last part is also sadly missing.

14 - Chronologie 6

Nice bell groove and a new sub-bass. The "Francis Rimbert" sequenced bass lost a lot of personality from what I loved in the original due again to mono-exagerated-panning. It lacks the original punch but it does not lack interest.

The "harmonic" sound also now jumps in out of audio context, perhaps it's the audio that has really to much detail, which is not bad... but then again...

The pads are not as "swishing strong" as the originals and are kept mono here, I dont like mono pads... (but they sound wide in 5.1), still this "mono" sounds muffled in stereo, specially in such active multi-directional sound field.

The voices are somewhat claustrophobic, not so much in 5.1, but none providing the drama power of the original amazingly mastered Chronologie, but actually work fine in the hyper-active sound field, keeping you alerted (but also stressed).

The synth pad doing the acordion sound at first sounds better but extremely panned to here and there. The arpegio backing it sounds very loud and extremely plastic - placing it to the middle (the stereo version) when it should be rotating instead of the accordion both rotate in 5.1), sounds really unconfortable in stereo, yet it does not kill the groove nor the energy.

The accordion sounds a bit artificial, with more help from the strange rotation... one thing is the sound coming from one place, another is sweeping it along the field... But rotating a static sound with no doppler thing and doing a solo?

Huge stress, good luck trying to listen to it. It might sound interesting in the 360 degrees audio field at first, but that's it... it will sound confusing when you start to try to explore it. Nonetheless if you abstract from it, the music is kept very interesting and the groove actually may super-seed the original one... but just the groove.

Overwhelming bass drum too, BTW.

15 - Rendez-Vous 4 Live at Aalborg

A track that works great live, but not in a studio version, even if done from the live one... well, make that an "it actually works".

The chopter intro has what the album lacks - impressive panning (uses all effected channels, not just plain mono-panning).

Rendez-Vous 4 is quite cluby and danceable, with powerfull bass! Grows nicely and could do without the melody, or is it the melody that coud do without the new arrangements?

Still, no matter how loud the lead sound is, it will work for dancing and uplifting. I miss the effects (that are there but muffled by the super loud lead - specially in the stereo version) and the overall audio picture the original provided.

The chorus sounds anedotic compared to the original but the new arrangments keep it dancy and interesting enough - more in 5.1 - if you are into that kind of sound, which I only am live... still, a very nice choice for a bonus track.

Conclusion

Is it worth a buying?

Yes.
In spite of what may appear to be a negative critic by me -it is not, the album is great if looked at as a "per se" album and not a remake - it is only "less positive" under a personal context, one that compares the original themes.

The 5.1 surround is impressive, and mind you the .1 is really a dedicated nice picked .1 bass, making use of all the dinamics it allows!

AERO is very intersting, I'm still excited with it, especially Oxygene 2 which in itself is worth the price,

It's a new aproach many will find interesting under many diferent paradigmas, I know I did.


What do I like?

Oxygene 2, Souvenir of China, the rest I wont listen that much (but now I am doing it non stop). But I have the previous versions. The magic is still present in AERO but more of a lesson for the future which seems bright.


What dont I like?

The mix, is not realistic, impressive at first, but stressing at further, Jarre still needs to get a bit more mature at this surround thing and figuring out the brain and ears also like peace and predictibility. In fact, a "better" mix would make me grade the album a good 8 out of 10.


What would I improve?

The mix and audio design, the marketing, I would also rewrite Jarre's own speeches to make him look better,..


What makes me more sad?

Ridiculous and arrogant lies in the marketing aproach: it's not a first 5.1 in the world "note per note"mix, it's not Jarre the only one who can do it and the lack of previously announced DVD-A data, namely, top-notch reference 24bit/96khz 5.1 advanced resolution lossless MLP.


What makes me happy?

Jarre's back on his feet and I hope this kind of review makes him improve by leveraging his past and future and combine all in the best way... but my opinion is just that... an opinion... and one, I'm sure many will love AERO much, I love it, but not in the context I prefer.

My advice would be to get a next album ready as soon as possible, fixing these issues and working with those who may help them getting fixed, instead of bragging that no one can do it... yeah... right.

© Alvaro M. Rocha