Yup, "lazy" is a good word... A new design by Michel Granger would have been much nicer and probably could have continued the "story" graphically (e.g. the original was somewhat pessimistic, and the Oxy 7-13 cover was somewhat optimistic, with the Earth as the man's heart as opposed to a dead man inside the Earth), so the 3rd one could have been a mixture of those or a "real" new angle...
The "new" angle is nothing new (looks very similar to a still from the video of the 2007 remaster (w/ Live in Your Living Room), and lacks the grain of a real painting like Granger's 2 designs... Oh well, another missed opportunity. Hopefully the music will be great.
Re: the numbering consistency and renaming of Oxy 7-13 to Oxy 2 it must have been a bit of a difficult choice... Graphically I would have preferred Oxy 14-20, but it doesn't sound as catchy as Oxy 7-13 did. Especially in French, "7-13" is short and sweet (2 syllables only) and sounds better than "14-20" (sounds a bit weird in French, better in English). So OK, Oxy 3 is a better title for the new album. But they could have kept the "7-13" name and cover, especially with the symbols usually associated with numbers 7 and 13.
Looking at the covers of the trilogy side by side the only consistency is the background color. But now Oxy "2" looks a bit out of place between the 2 skulls... It would have been better to keep the original orange color and get a new, different design for the new album, keeping only the "consistency" with the lettering at the top and of course the Granger touch.
Speaking of lettering, did you notice that the "-" between Jean and Michel (the correct spelling, if only a bit less stylish) has made a comeback since Electronica? Also the type (Avant Garde) is fatter, similar to that of the Oxygène re-re-re-re-re-remaster of 2014 and the new cover of the Houston / Lyon concerts. The original, thinner lettering, without the "-" looked nicer methinx.
Just my opinion, of course...
Anyway, looking forward to the release of Oxygène 3... I still don't know which package I will pick. I'd like to get the book but the whole set is probably going to be too expensive for what it is. Come on, who hasn't the previous 2 albums in various formats yet? OK, maybe Oxy7-13 in the new cover and with new name may be nice as a collector's item, but you still have to buy one of the trilogies to get it...
Good news anyway, can't really complain
Concerts: 2017: Upper Darby < 2010: Lille, Liège, Paris < 1997: Lille < 1990: La Défense
