Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

[Jon]

A year has now passed since Jarres T&T album.

So how's it going with the fans?.

I have now turned to playing the odd track here and there, but quickly turn to Jarres much older material soon afterwards. After all the hype, the taunts of this being Jarres worst album, I think that this album will go the same way as many of his others, a "stand aloan" album. Or the "odd" one out in simpler terms.

[Nico_Noyau]

Let's be objective.

In 1993, what did the fans say about Chronologie ? That it was not good, where is Jarre and so on, since 1997, JMJ knows some sort of "crisis", he has quite changed, and the albums were not bad at all, they were just different from what he had done before.
Teo&Tea is just in the vein of his post-1997 work, not a lot of persons like Gol, Métamorphoses, Sessions 2000, and now, Teo&Tea.
So I don't really think why fans are leaving him now, they should have left him in 1997 instead, Teo&Tea was almost "given" according to what he had composed just before, he just couldn't compose again some sort of Oxygène-Equinoxe-like album after having composed GoL, Méta and Sessions, if he really was able to compose such an album, he wouldn't have tried to change his mind so much.

For my case, I still like Teo&Tea very much, actually, I love all JMJ's work since 1976, and for me JMJ is not dead at all, it's just a logical following according to what he has done since 1997.

Maybe there will be another change like in 1997, nobody knows, but hey, it has been done because Michel Geiss and all his musician partners left him, maybe, he one day he leaves either Francis, or Claude, or Patrick, or Joachim, he will change again...

[Finaero]

I actually listened through the whole album for the first time yesterday. After reading many reviews and opinions from the forums I expected a lot worse. The only track I've actually listened to whole year has been Vintage, and I listened some tracks of the album back in March or so.

So here's a quick review.

-Fresh News: 6/10 - This and Chatterbox make my brain dissolve. Clearly filler material.
-Teo & Tea: 8/10 - Not the greatest track in any way, but still fun
-Beautiful Agony: 8/10 - Musically it's pretty neat, the voices are extraneous
-Touch To Remember: 7/10 - Very Meta, but the goddamn cheesy speech synthesizer with goddamn cheesy lyrics ("Are you an angel?" - did JMJ rip that off from The Phantom Menace, dangit?) keep me from listening to this track more frequently.
-OK Do It Fast: 7/10 - Nice, except the sounds are quite cheap IMO
-Partners in Crime: 7/10 - I actually list them as one because... well, they might as well be one. Quite nice but not really innovative.
-Chatterbox: 6/10 - Ugh.
-In The Mood For You: 7/10 - This could be great if it actually went somewhere.
-Gossip: 6/10 - Filler material.
-Vintage: 9/10 -
-Melancholic Rodeo: 6/10 - Ugh. I really can't hear how this is a version of the Merzouga intro track. Doesn't go anywhere, there's the same damn pattern going on all the time... what
-Teo And Tea 4:00 AM - 8/10 - Neat extended version of Teo & Tea, but the fact that this is the final track of the album just seems like JMJ had no ideas for more tracks and put this one there...

Whole album: 7/10

What I Like: It certainly shows that JMJ still knows how to make neat melodies and chords and whatever.

What I Don't Like: That he most certainly doesn't use them neatly. Most of the album feels like it's not going anywhere. And no, I'm not saying "HE SHOULD MAKE CHRONOLOGIE AGAIN" since Meta certainly felt like it was wisely organized. This doesn't. Hm.

[Nico_Noyau]

Odd, for you a bad mark is 6/10, I hope you wannabe a teacher when you get older, children would be happy

[Zoolookologiste]

Hum, for me, after 5 month, I keep Vintage, Teo&Tea, and In the mood for you.

I think there's very good JMJ's tracks, that it could be possible to play in next mega-concert

But, actually, I doubt that the rest of the album will could be efficient in concert and stay in the memories

[jarrekid]

I've only listened to this album fully 3 times now in 5 months.... fairly worrying.

Fresh News and Chatterbox are the best tracks IMO.....

[Big time]

I don´t listen to it much if any! I did in the beginning like anything new, so I could get a taste of what it´s like! But there´s not much in that album, it´s ok well produced, but it´s veeery thin musically IMO! Again it´s different from all the rest, but IMO there´s not much substance in there. There´s some fun tracks alright, but there is also some really emty tracks in there, Touch to remember, Vintage & Melancholic Rodeo.. Sounds like he´s just hitted a bottum on some keyboard..

And Partners in crime... Well, it had some potential, but again it just sounds like some semi pro musician put that together, well just almost... It never goes anywhere anyway, there don´t seem to be any real idea behind those two tracks IMO..

My fave track must be Gossip!

[Jakob BC]

let's see what status it has in a few years. By now I think Metamorphoses has become a classic JMJ quality album. Maybe this is a little different as the whole arrangement in Metamorphoses is one of the things that makes it so great.

[ralf]

T&T 5 months latter.....

The biggest CRAP in all JMJ carrier.......

Score:-1/10

[Velodynamic]

Thanx but No thanx.

Deleted from my memory...maybe I'll pick T&T up in twenty years or so.

I was buying Session 2000 a couple of days ago -better.

[jp8000]

I like it, still

[Big time]

I like your optimism Jacob, but this is a "No-good" for me, and it won´t take me any longer to see it different! It´s not that it is a BAD album, it´s just not "massive" enough for a Jarre album, and I´m not talking massive as in Chronologie or Oxygene 7-3 etc, it´s just a very thin album if you know what I mean? IMO that is!

I absolutely hated Metamorphoses when I first heard it!! As an electronic musician myself I could recognice (Right spelling?) many of the sounds and samples from the album right away (as I had them myself), and my impression was that this album was just some "Sampled stuff putted together", and I thought "Come on!!??.. What a bunch of sh..."

Now, as with all Jarre albums you/I need to listen to it alot to really "get it", and I knew that back then, but I just thought "I "got it" already, and I don´t see how this would change!?"
But a few days later, ONLY A FEW DAYS LATER, 3 or 4 maybe, I DID GET IT!! And I absolutely loved it, and still do!!! Meta is a top album!!

Now, 5 months after the release of T&T my opinion is the same as when I heard it the first couple of days. It´s a fun album in many ways, and it surely doesn´t sound as anything else out there. You can clearly hear that this is Jarre, Jarre when he´s "just" fooling around! IMO that is! BUT... As mentioned, it´s nothing more really. I´m actually hearing the album right now, and I can´t seem to stop smiling a bit, co´s it really is a bit charming in many ways!! Even though it´s a bit "emty" it still, thank god, sounds fresh in many ways!

But T&T is not as good as Sessions and Geometry wich are really great albums, it doesn´t even come close! IMO that is

I´m actually surprised that Jarre stated that this was his first REAL studio album since Meta!? I think, as said, that both Sessions & Geometry should be regarded more as studio albums than T&T!? But what Jarre says and might think is of course up to him!

Anyway, T&T is for me: Jarre putted in a big playroom with lot´s of small toys and the outcome is this: A childlike album, fun and... well, just fun! No big sensations here, just Jarre being the child he actually is!

The thing is, we just didn´t see this coming AT ALL!!! That is why many people is disappointed and some even very angry!!

But let´s wait and see what we´ll get the next time! It surely won´t be another thing like this! Co´s Jarre never does the same twice!! And thank god for that!

[GeeJee]

Touch To Remember, OK do it Fast and Partners In Crime are quite cool, but the rest mmhh... I don't like it. It's been a while I have listened the album, and I think I have listened the album in its entity for 3 times or sth.

[Christophe]

I like the album a lot from the beginning and that opinion is not changed 5 months later!

Greetzzz...

[Dark Shrimp]

Teo & Tea is a good album, very different of all the other one, with a good part of "fun",but I think it's not a revolution in the electro world of today.
I think also it isn't his best album, and his work is in the continuity of after 97's work, original and different, but good.

So wait and see if this album will be like Chronologie or Zoolook ...