Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

[Robi]

Agree?


Disagree?

[Black Bird]

neither !

If you mean that he produced in chain I agree, but I'm sure he will surprise us even more. Sometime !
As an artist, he will never be past. He has created so many valuable music, even in 100 years, it will be played as a classic, like today, Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, etc. .....
I`m sure, he will never be truly gone.

[Kanta]

No comment...

[Velodynamic]

Yes ...and No. The peak of his career is in the deep past but apparently he hasn't made an official statement to resign yet so, who knows right?

[keran]

As I said before, Jarre has destroyed his carreer and creative spirit, when he broke up with the team which made also his success: FD, Durand, and Geiss.

Funny to notice that this break up fitted together with his divorce with Charlotte and the sale of Croissy house.

His concerts are today so boring, with his shit cymbals he uses all the time, often at the wrong moment. His solos are not good. Where are surprises, giant puppets, amazing instruments? Where are Delacroix, Faucheux, Rondat, or live musicians? Only 4 on stage today. Not very big shows.

He creates non sense objets for Apple design. It's a shame.

Here in France, JArre is not really widely reported in the media any more. But 15 ago he was a big star here. All big TV channels fighted to buy his shows.
Today on Euronews, pfff. Who cares Euronews?

I'm really upset and disappointed saying that.

[Robi]

You say a lot of right things.
It seems, anyway, that Jarre is fine with this situation.

[Black Bird]

You say a lot of right things.
It seems, anyway, that Jarre is fine with this situation.

Yes it seems, I hope he is fine with his current situation . He is an freelance independent artists, and a human. No one is on the top his whole life. There are only sequences of success and no success. He was never completely gone and I suspect it´s also never been so very important for him, to be on the top. It just happened, and he's one of few artists who have not gone wrong with it, he looks very realistic and he feels luck to make music and other things. Whether people like it or not. This is very exemplary. I don`t like artists which try to make it all right for all people, and look only about commerce. For me, this are no real artist . An real artist produce if he feel to produce something. Not because people want it. Many artists are producing a theire whole life things without any success. They do it, because they MUST do it. They earned money with other professions. Jean Michel has maybe so much money, so he can do what he want. Maybe nothing !?
Maybe his "bottle of inspitation" is empty, but if he will agree or not, he will be an artist ever. He has created things. This profession and status is forever. Its different to other professions like bus driver or secretary or ???

[keran]

You say a lot of right things.
It seems, anyway, that Jarre is fine with this situation.

Yes it seems, I hope he is fine with his current situation . He is an freelance independent artists, and a human. No one is on the top his whole life. There are only sequences of success and no success. He was never completely gone and I suspect it´s also never been so very important for him, to be on the top. It just happened, and he's one of few artists who have not gone wrong with it, he looks very realistic and he feels luck to make music and other things. Whether people like it or not. This is very exemplary. I don`t like artists which try to make it all right for all people, and look only about commerce. For me, this are no real artist . An real artist produce if he feel to produce something. Not because people want it. Many artists are producing a theire whole life things without any success. They do it, because they MUST do it. They earned money with other professions. Jean Michel has maybe so much money, so he can do what he want. Maybe nothing !?
Maybe his "bottle of inspitation" is empty, but if he will agree or not, he will be an artist ever. He has created things. This profession and status is forever. Its different to other professions like bus driver or secretary or ???

You're right. He must be respected for that: to do what he wants, not adding empty records just to make a living.
With the flop of T-T, it seems to be important to him not to do that kind of things again.

Anyway, I don't understand why he doesn't re-form his old team.

[GlennFolkvord]

What Black Bird said.

All the criticism so far in the thread, is only about wanting an egocentric satisfaction of one's own taste and preference. "Jarre is a supplier of pleasure for me, and if he does not deliver what I want, he is no good anymore".

That's not how a real artist works. If you keep listening to the fans too much, you are not a true artist anymore.

[keran]

I don't agree. That's not the problem of giving pleasure to the fans or not.

To me, Jarre missed somthing at the end of the 90's. First, doing "Oxygene 7-13" was a mistake. It's not a very good album, at the level of Oxygene. The audience dont't know it and expect during the Oxygene Tour, Jarre never plays it during the shows. As a big fan of Jarre music, I never listen to it as an example. Maybe the part 8 is interesting.

Do I have to talk about Metamorphoses, Odissey, GOL? I don't think so. To me his last very important album was Chronologie...20 years ago.

I will not talk about the Jarre team again.

I think that people was fed up with playback concerts and artificial shows, during only a few parts were played live. With his mimics, while he was not playing at all, Jarre bored the audience, to be quite ridiculous.

Today he plays live, OK. I'm a musician, and instrumentalist. Jarre is not instrumentalist. He doesn't play well, not in time, has always big delay or really ahead of others. He's a very good composer, a very good studio musician, a big genius in creativity, and a above all an awesome businessman as well, but not instrumentalist at all. I don't understand in fact why during 30 years he never made strides. I understand why he used playback during 30 years.
But Ok, that particular point is not a big deal.

To me, his current shows are not creative any more. Musical arrangements are too noisy, disordered. Why no musical director or artistic director any more, as Delacroix or Durand were? I feel bad when I watch the Monaco concert as an example. And those cymbals, my god... No special guest any more: Marvin, Khaled, Cross. No percussionist, no soprano any more. It's too bad.

Though, I swear I love this guy and his music.

But...

[Dr_Jones]

What Black Bird said.

All the criticism so far in the thread, is only about wanting an egocentric satisfaction of one's own taste and preference. "Jarre is a supplier of pleasure for me, and if he does not deliver what I want, he is no good anymore".

That's not how a real artist works. If you keep listening to the fans too much, you are not a true artist anymore.

It's all so easy to stand on the sideline and whine and complain. I tend to ignore those kinds of posts and that's why the ignore function on this board is so nice.

[Black Bird]

@Keran: The reviews of the albums are your personal taste. I like Oxygene 8-13 more than Oxygene 8-13. My personal taste.
I agree with you in part, what you say about his shows. Yes, they are not as spectacular as back then. I suspect this has something to do with changing social realities.
For example: The fear of terror attacks, it did not exist. The security apparatus is bloated today , This are enormous cost for a sprawling experimental show. Who want`s to pay for it ? Or who can pay for this ?
I see it in my hometown Berlin. Many large open-air concert events that existed 20-30 years ago, are not possible today for safety reasons, or environmental protection. Authorities and changing laws, and bad experiences in the recent past restrict the conduct of such events, or make it impossible. I know, that JMJ had tried two times to give a big gift to his favourite city Berlin, but he failed to authorities. That`s a shame. How long should he fight? I understand that he has less motivation and time to plan an experimental show. I guess it's gotten harder anywhere in the world.

But also economic reasons play a part. In Europe there is a recession. So many people can no longer afford so many concert tickets as before. The economic risk has increased enormously for the organizers.

I agree with about the stupid cimbals. These annoy me also.... increasing. But if he is a bad live-player I can not judge. Maybe you're right, maybe not. But even if it were so. Should he hide on the stage? The people want to see him, of course.
However, I noticed that he e.g. 20 years ago, he was more concentrated on the stage and serious, was not always performing so much as party-boy. Funnily enough, people want to dance and celebratea party. So I think he want to spread joy.
I would like to see a concert, without laser, video, towers, etc. Only him, with musicians and instruments in a good concert hall, as the Philharmonic in Berlin.
He does such a kind concerts sometimes. Everyone finds what he wants.

[Phil J.]

I like Oxygene 8-13 more than Oxygene 8-13.

How's that work then?

[Black Bird]

I like Oxygene 8-13 more than Oxygene 8-13.

How's that work then?

Oh sorry, it was too late

I like Oxygene 7-13 more than Oxygene 1-6.

[daz]

I agree with Keran, disappointingly. I have followed JMJ since the mid 80's, I still remember standing in the queue in Our Price record store with the brand new Rendez-Vous LP clenched firmly in my hands and the exitment when I got it home and put it on my record player. Eerything JMJ did up until the EiC tour was fantastic. After that came Oxygene 7-13 and the tour which I dropped everything to see, still a good show but a massive disappointment after the previous 10 years.
His recent indoor tour could have given more opportunity to stun people. He could have used specially made synth's and been a bit more imaginative with the set. But I guess he was just trying to say "look, this is me, playing music,and that's it"
I would love to hear another Equinoxe / Chronologie style album, and for him to host a show on the scale of PLD or Docklands (how it should have been).

BUt I still follow him anyway.