For many Oxygene (39:35) was their gateway album into the genre of Electronic Music. This classic LP by Jean-Michel Jarre in its day provided a meaningful first exposure to a new synthetic instrumental style. A release that raised awareness of a modern mind music, it broke the cardinal rule of EM by becoming a bestseller - a concept unheard of in a genre first known for its Bleeps, Bloops and impenetrable Interstellar scale. Made for those seeking a more imaginative listening experience Oxygene presented a smart response to the decade of the 1970s, as well as a path forward.
For many, hearing this work in 1976/1977, an era where the synthesizer was still considered an exotic device and just beginning to intrude upon the mainstream, Oxygene was an inspiring encounter. Throughout this fabled decade came a host of Electronic titles out of Germany. But this one was from France - where Jarre seemed to be sharing his joy at the realization of existence. The use of melody, harmony, rhythm and pulse combined creatively with dramatic shifts in timbre and tone to produce an assured sonic statement. Expressed in control voltages, on/off gates, sequences, arpeggios, phase shifts and echo Jarre shaped electrical current into something more meaningful and intentioned than anything previously known.
Two LP sides, with three interconnected tracks each, yielded a synergy of six that had a bigger heart than the early academic realizations of Morton Subotnik and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and a more vivid personality than the classical interpretations of Wendy Carlos and Mike Hankinson. Emotionally different from Vangelis' Albedo 0.39, friendlier than Tangerine Dream's Stratosfear, warmer than Kraftwerk's Autobahn and spacier than Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells Oxygene landed optimally between Prog-Rock and the nascent New Age movement. The 7" single Oxygene: Part IV even proliferated throughout FM commercial radio, while record shops contemplated under what category it should be filed.
Oxygene is forward-looking enough to have aired on Star's End since shortly following the radio show's debut, yet was also instilled with enough emotional intensity to hold the attention of those with more pedestrian tastes. Ever the absorbing aural adventure it still has the ability to transport us to new spaces and places in the cerebral realm - and continues to lead us well past the magic sparks of its maker.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 28 August 2025
