Oxygène

Ansi gott instrumental dæmi. Mun ég samt hlusta aftur? Nee...

What was this

Couldn't really make heads or tails of this. Wasn't bad, but didnt think anything particularly positive of it.

I imagine these are the sounds you hear when you walk through alien landscapes Favourite Track(s): Part 6 Least Favourite Track(s): Part 2

Not quite ambient, but this record of instrumental keyboard/synth music is a good example of electronic music

DNL

honestly what was the point of this

At times I liked it and at other times, it sounded like at Atari game.

Skipped through this album and the songs just sound like background music to a sales pitch with weird sound effects.

40

Kinda soothing but also kinda boring. Could have been inspirational to Air but I just couldn’t get into it

It’s wild to me that this music was thought of in 1976. Ahead of its time for sure, unless you slap some Pink Floyd lyrics over top of it I guess. Since I’m to base this on genre and not hold it up against albums like Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia and Ok Computer, I will say, this is surprisingly good. Like I hate French people, well, just the majority of French Canadians I should say. So that would make me initially not like this guy but he doesn’t talk or sing so it’s cool with me. This is trippy. It’s transcendental. Almost hypnotic. You also almost can’t tell that you are listening to individual songs. It’s almost a continuous track. I didn’t mind this at all. I’m sure it was groundbreaking for its time. This was a sigh of relief with the recent trash I had been getting. Choice cut: PT 6

I'm not sold on this one. It's ok, but after two tracks, I was bored. Just never found anything to pull me in. Recommended if you want to fall asleep or just need some really dull dinner party music.

I mean, it certainly is Ambien, I mean AMBIENT, music.

I feel like I just took a journey through space lol. So this is not usually my type of music, but I'm intrigued by this album. I have definitely heard parts of it at some point. Definitely meant to be listened to in one go.

I'm a bit biased with this one, as it's a "formative" album for me. BUT... as a electronic composition it uas few equals. The production especially, with the sounds moving back and forth throughout the movements, are so well composed. This shows up even better in surround sound. The iconic riff in Part 4... chef's kiss.

Brought electronic music to the masses. Used everywhere on TV. Still sounds great. Still sounds ground breaking. Fabulous production. Pt 2 & 4 stand out even now. It’s hard to emphasise how different this was back in 1976!

remind me to put this on when I go int outer space which I would also never ever do

This is pretty solid. I'm not sure there's much to say, it's an instrumental ambient music album composed of a single song split into 6 parts. It's cool. Sometimes it sounds like a spaceship. Sometimes it sounds like the intro to one of those educational videos where a tiger jumps through a mirror. I liked it overall.

Three stars felt like and an aquarium then turned into a. Planetarium. Decent enough but still ambient.

Probably the strongest electronic album I've gotten so far, a little too sci-fi soundtrack album for everyday listening but I can appreciate what Jarre was doing

DNF - come on man stop this I don’t need you please man just stop ok I’ve had enough please man stop that noise ok man please

This is an interesting ambient electronic album. It has a very spooky, atmospheric vibe that makes it feel almost like a soundtrack to something that doesn't exist. It's not bad, but there's just not a whole lot beyond the atmosphere for me. The whole thing feels like it's building toward something that never quite arrives. I think this would work really well as the soundtrack to an old Puppet Master movie. Give me some creepy puppets, dim lighting, and this playing in the background, and we're in business.

1/10 No lo escuche. Escuche 3 minutos y probé en las otras canciones y son todos sonidos, no me interesa en lo mas minimo

Interesting. This is very much not in my wheelhouse. I’ve listened to very little ambient music thus far. I did find myself enjoying it though. Sci Fi vibe for sure. Definitely out there. 3/5

A bit too experimental/pretentious to fully enjoy, with lots of slow weird shit, but parts of it were legitimately fun. Parts of Pt 4 sound very much like parts of the Stellaris soundtrack (if it were instead a 70s electronic album called Oxygène)

Idk, it’s all weird ambient music that belongs in Meow Wolf or a trippy video game. But it was so evocative of the exact video game I could make up in my head, that I somehow didn’t hate it.

Spacy sounding and probably revolutionary for the time. The Crystal Method sounded kind of like this in the 90s. I'm sure it inspired nearly everything. I also kind of recognize some of this stuff from movie soundtracks. Like 80s scif fi movies or something. Part 5 has some definite chase scene elements. Anyway, good background music. 4/5 mostly because I respect that this must have been groundbreaking, but probably won't listen to again.

I wasn’t in the sauna or just chilling so listening to this today made my day a bit slow to start, but I dig this album for saunaing or chilling in a plane. Have liked it since the 80s when Rob Sirovica put some tracks on a mix cassette called Music to Transcend with and within.

eh, not really my thing

An unexpected one. I really really dig this. Atmospheric, ambiance, blissful

Mañana de martes nublada en San Juan y nos toca un disco que escuché, si mal no recuerdo, el verano pasado en lo de mi amigo Duilio, uno de los tipos más melómanos que he conocido en mi vida. Disco ideal para éste día, sobre todo para acompañar una lectura y una escritura críticas y concientes. Introspectivo y viajero. Muchas gracias y hasta mañana.

muy experimental

Actually great to hear the whole album. When IV starts after the first 3 parts, very cool

Aight

70s electronica, French. Started 70s synth era. Floaty and a bit weird. Very 70s sci-fi/space. Perfume commercial music.

I might grow to like this more upon multiple listens - perhaps on headphones so I pay more attention to it, instead of drifting off

Not against the album, but this genre doesn’t really make me feel anything.

I can see how this is innovative for it's time, but I didn't enjoy it.

вайбово, сохранил. (родителям напомнило Space)

My excitement waned rather quickly when I realised this was 7 versions of the same track, 1 I knew from the charts and 6 boring muzak tracks. Grab any VHS 70s or 80s sci-fi B Movie and the soundtrack is better.

Qué aburrido

Cybernetic. But not my style.

Cool Ambient music. I liked the bird sounds. But it's just background music to me! Cool to work to though.

Very atmospheric synthesizer-based electronic record. The "songs" on this record are more like soundscapes based on the artist's interpretation of the earth. The sounds produced by the synthesizers and effects are very life-like, for example the chirping bird sounds throughout the first and last songs. This a forward-thinking record that inspired many electronic acts for years to come. The blueprint for synthpop, house, electronica, and other genres was laid out in this record. Despite not being too melodic, it was a great listen and probably blew people's minds back in the 1970's.

for an album that came out in 1976, it sounds like it could have come out in the last year. This chill atmospheric electronic music was incredibly soothing and the cohesion of the album was wonderful.

Æ tror aldri æ har vært høy nok til å sette pris på det her? Æ kan skjønne koffor det fungere for noen (med eller uten rusmidler), men det e ikke mæ.

Soothing version of preprogrammed keyboard samples

There's no melody, it's just tones

Beep boop lasers

Weird ambient music that wouldn’t perfectly score a sci fi film. Loved it! Adding to my regular rotation. 5/5

yep, this sure was ambient i liked the rat noises

Wanting to listen to his stuff for a while. I do really like 70s electronica, sure not as interesting as Tangerine Dream but a nice breather from the subpar guitar music that I have got recently. Last track is weakest though! 4 Heard before? No Owned: Yes, 97/365 (26%) Will I get: Yes

A welcome calming influence while I rode my bike to work that morning through what was probably the largest pack of assholes that park in bike lanes I've ever encountered.

Guess it’s a pretty good example of this style and a meaningful album in general. Technically rebellious though the sound became associated with anything but that.

For 1976, this is very well-made. Unfortunately, while technically very cool, this album is also very one note. I didn't really need six lots of it.

I was, erm, skeptical, especially given what I thought I knew about 1970s synthesizer. But, dang it, the songs remain fresh. And they really cohere as an album. My bad.

That was underwhelming as far as listens go. Creative? Yes. Listen again? No.

Cover art somewhat disturbing. Musically, this is what you hear when you call the front desk at the Great Northern Hotel in Twin Peaks and they put you on hold. While you wait, you look out the window and see a woman walking by carrying a log with which she appears to be having a conversation. You really need to get out of this place.

Part 2 and Part 4 are insane. It's not really my style of music, i'd blast this stuff up my ears near a pool, a book in my hand, a good meloncello spritz and a damn good cigar. Someone said this is night music, i don't agree. I'm giving it a 3 simply because it's not something i would just think of and say 'let me just listen to this', but one can't just override how important this man & album is for the synth music.

I'm sure at some point this was interesting. Not to these ears. Electro plod

Fuck it. That was pretty good actually. And only 39 minutes!

This was a fun ambient/electronic jam. I enjoyed it overall, but it didn't blow my mind. Three stars.

this is unironically my fav so far we need mor albums like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A masterclass of '70s synthwork. Solid 5 Stars.

I’m at a 5. Mileage, of course, will vary on how much you like ambient music & 1970s analog synthesizers. I happen to enjoy both a lot, so this is 40 minutes that feel pretty tailored towards me. It’s not quite as isolated & transcendentally centered as an ambient Eno project may feel, but the sense of scale & perseverance that comes through with these soundscapes, assuming you can imagine such things, feels just as vibrant as I was hoping for going in. The rhythm in each of these tracks drives everything nicely; this feels just a bit closer to a Jean-Luc Ponty at times, though with a minimalism to the actual amount of instruments used that evokes Kraftwerk. These are somewhat simple in nature, but the broad sweeping notes & the way they’re mixed together with microscopic percussion & bass creates a super cool dichotomy that allows you to focus on one or the other at any given time, yet still retain the entirety of the track as it’s happening. All of that is to say, this album is hypnotic as fuck, easy to vibe out to, and yet it subconsciously demands your attention. Very few ambient-ish albums on this list tend to balance those aspects engagingly & evenly, and this feels like one that nails it almost perfectly, at least for my tastes. The purpose & determination that comes to mind is what makes this album stand out from some of its peers, and I think Jean-Michel Jarre did a hell of a job here. I need to listen to more of this guy. It’s a very nice 5 for me, and I’m very glad it’s on the list.

Liked the electronic soundscapes.

I don’t know what’s happening really

Never expected to like an ambient album but this was so fun.

Sci-fi lofi, boring after a minute

Electronic music that makes you feel like you're floating in space. Very cohesive, meditative soundscapes with a consistently futuristic atmosphere. Ahead of its time for sure.

A trendsetter in electronic music. It builds nicely and provides a nice mood for working. I always thought it was newer than 1970s, that is the most amazing part of this album

It’s a pioneer in electronic music so yes it belongs. The album is amazing - iconically used in Peter Weir's Gallipoli. Given some of the crap we’ve had - another repetitive d and b anyone? - this restores my faith in the synthesiser. 5 stars

One of the early essentials. You need to let this one grow, and build so hang in there. Its a full compositional experience. Track one is for presence. The MDMA feels really kick in on track 2, so such a blissful intelligent lift. To be discovered alongside other classic and timeless works like Kraftwerk, Brian Eno (music for airports, ahhhhhhh ) , Vangelis (another Maestro! Check Bladerunner & Chariots of Fire). I must go get on education and listen to Wendy Carlos (1968 - album Switched-On Bach), Tangerine Dream for the "Berlin School" of electronic music, and Isao Tomita, (1972 release Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock & Snowflakes Are Dancing. From Italy there is the well sampled Giorgio Moroder the "Father of Disco" and EDM - do go and enjoy Donna Summer's "I Feel Love". These all paved the way for everything from New Order and Daft Punk among others Back to oxygene - Maybe its time for this to be remixed, given the way current techno music is going with ravishing large soundscapes - even Openheimer has been set to massive danceable beats. Would love to hear him on the airwaves in updated form so he is heard by the modern ear. Sweeping atmospheric soundscapes is on apt cliche here. Analogue and digital mastery and creation by an uncompromising and influential Master on innovator . I wonder though - is the kaleidoscopic and even more original and seminal but also quite NAFF (its just too boringly British to work) album “Music to Moog By” by Gershon Kingsley credited on his album - this is SUCH a rework of his ideas, its uncanny (but Jarre improved on it. Sooo well. He stood on a shoulder for this catch!). a bit slow at times for me, but I'm rounding it up to a 5 for track 2 & 4 alone. essential.

Worth noting deadbeats that 2 and 5 have a special place in the hearts of Australians due to their placement in Gallipoli, by the way how fast are you going to run? The overall soundtrack is quite eclectic but Peter Weir uses this very post Space Odyssey 70's era sound to great effect, especially as Archie and Frank run across the desert, good grief I love that film! This is a masterpiece, Jarre created an astonishing and beautiful landscape. An absolute stonking pleasure to listen to deadbeats, highly recommend.

Oxygene Part II features prominently in the climactic scene of Gallipoli, which is a 1981 film little known in the rest of the world, but an important and ubiquitous part of Australian culture in the 1980s. Do people still watch it? It felt like a cornerstone of our national identity at the time -- fuckin' Pommy bastards drank tea on the beach while the ANZACs died! Died for nothin', mate, for nothin'! I'm sure either Gallipoli or maybe hearing Part IV on the radio was my initial exposure to Jean-Michel Jarre as a child, and it would be fair to say that I became a fan. I own most of his 70s and 80s albums, usually purchased mail order from the World Record Club catalogue and then obsessively played. But my interest started waning in my mid-teens as I discovered more rock. I don't think I have spun this album -- or any Jarre record -- in over 35 years. They just collect dust in the backwaters of my collection. History seems to have relegated him to the "naff" bin. Tangerine Dream and Eno and Neu! are all cool, but Jean-Michel Jarre is not. I suspect that is because he was popular. He sold a lot of records and he played some very big concerts. He wasn't afraid of comprehensible harmonies (there is a strong classical influence in his work) and catchy melodies or exploiting the novel sounds of the synthesizer. Listening today, I kind of wish he hadn't leaned so heavily on the tweedily-deedily-deedily noises or the whooshing sounds or fake waves or birds or the LFO sweeps. But I found the listening experience holds up. Oxygene sounds of its time but still sounds great. It is a now quaint idea of what the future would sound like -- although, in fairness, people are still producing electronic music with cheesy drum machines, big washy synth pads and LFO sweeps. And it has some cracking tunes and it aims to please. It gave me a nostalgic buzz. Maybe it was too popular to be cool, much the way that Mike Oldfield isn't cool. It's an instrumental, ambient synthesizer album that lots of people liked -- improbable, but it happened. More power to him. 4.5 stars, rounding up.

I appreciate influential albums. For me they’re like an historical document where I can look back and see how they influenced future artists. Much like Kraftwerk these are not albums that I would listen to again.

Lots of synthesizer and I can see how this inspired early house and EDM

Interesting sound, but it's just not my genre

It’s like if Wii menu music and geometry dash music had a baby I kinda really liked this album Favorite: part 3 or 5 but it’s all kinda the same 4/5 Bonus points for album cover

I achieved ear-gasm on part 5. That should tell you all you need to know. Great meditative album. I love the textures

me when I'm an alien and I wanna chill tf out

Part four seems the most popular but this might even be my least favourite track. I loved the whole album.

Weird Music from the Hearts of Space stuff—seems like early New Age music, and very enamored of electronic capabilities. Sounds like an arcade. So bad … the cheap synth with fake bird sounds. Good lord. No one would listen to this except as a piece of history.

I needed a cosmic concerto in my life today. My first encounter with Jean‑Michel Jarre wasn’t through these recordings at all — it was a chiptune cover of “Oxygène II” on my Commodore 64 in the late 80s. It came from one of those floppy‑disk music compilations kids traded like contraband. And unlike the usual pop‑song transcriptions, this one was Oxygène II. Hearing Jarre’s cosmic glide rendered through the SID chip’s buzzing waveforms was a revelation. It wasn’t disposable; it was architecture, melody as machinery, space rendered in square waves. Oxygène is weird, floaty, semi‑ambient — but not in the “new age wallpaper” sense. It feels more like chamber music reimagined as electronica, a suite of movements that breathe and expand like a living organism. Jarre’s analog synths wobble and shimmer, giving the whole thing a tactile, human warmth. This isn’t essential listening for everyone, but it’s absolutely key to electronic music. It’s one of the albums that taught the world what synthesizers could feel like, not just what they could imitate. My Rating: 5/5

this is the third album by french composer jean-michel jarre, and it's a very fascinating early electronic record. the whole thing was recorded in his own home, pretty much making a studio in his home and surrounding himself with all sorts of synthesizers... sounds like the dream. it released in france in '76, and released internationally a year later. the record is composed of six movements. this is arguably his greatest and most famous album. holy cow, we wanna talk about groundbreaking stuff? this is up there. this is another one of those albums where you gotta sit down, put on headphones, and immerse yourself in the soundscapes. synth music, especially around this time tend to sound really tinny and dated, but this record is quite the opposite, at least for the most part. the steady drum-machine beats and the REALLY wide, almost galactic synthy symphonies put on display throughout the record's runtime... i think this record is amazing. it's super ambitious and futuristic. to put it plainly, this is a record you definitely want to keep in your collection if you like electronic music in any capacity.

Un asco

Fantastic electronic music maestro! Great LP.

It’s so cool to me how this album is from 1976. It sounds so futuristic. From the first moments of this album it felt like I was transported into a sci-fi movie. The soundscapes are really pretty and dream-like, but can be tense at moments as well.

Wouldn’t say it was a spiritual experience but it was definitely a mental one. It challenged my instant gratification. I felt a different sensation in each song, super cool, loved the experience, probably will tell people about it, won’t do it again.

I wish I had gotten this album during a weekday. This is great music to listen to while focusing on a task. For casual listening, not my cup of tea and hard to get into.

Maso

feels like im playing osrs

beeps and boops

Never heard of this artist but interested with it being electronic. Very atmospheric than anything else. Cool stuff.

Nice electronic music.

It takes a while to warm into this - the first few tracks sound very basic and almost comical to 21st century ears - but as we go on you can hear just how much music of the last 50 years used this as its template.

6/10 VERY atmospheric. I'd say some awesome backround music for maybe gaming or even reading

Really brilliant. Incredible sounds for so relatively kind of early in popular synthesiser use. The compositions feel very classical in parts, and prog rock in other parts. Really compelling and beautiful throughout

I originally rated this a 4.... I thought it was a 3 but added an extra star for influence and historical significance. But I keep coming back to this album and listen to it when I need something relaxing (which turns out to be often!). So I'm coming back to change my rating to a solid 5.

I’m not at all surprised that this guy was a soundtrack composer before this album. Despite how much the 70s loved to imagine it, it’s a bummer that the actual future hasn’t contained more synth organ (yet).

Garbage

mo chevere importante para entender la musica electronica como la conocemos hoy en dia

not my kind of electronic music

buena música de ambiente, pero no más que eso. son todas iguales ademas loco basta 3/10

Well, this isn’t really the type of album I can go back by track. It’s something that needs to be listened to as a complete experience. So many interesting instruments and sounds , it didn’t feel as long as it was. I definitely need to revisit this and listen to it with a better set of headphones to really appreciate it. 4/5 ⭐️ 177/1089

One of the very first CDs I bought but now a bit ho hum

This is intense for the ambient genre while sober. Imagine showing this to the Beatles

Not really listening music but I actually liked it and will save for when I meditate.

I've never heard of Jean-Michel Jarre or this album, so this is all new to me. It's described as electronic music, which it definitely is, but it's not the dance electronic music that you think of. I had the Brian Eno album a few days ago that basically created the genre of ambient music. This is a step up from ambient music as far as pace goes, but very similar. This particular album has a very outer space kind of vibe to it. Like other albums in this genre, I just don't know it well enough to say whether it's good or not. For me personally, fine as background music but nothing I would listen to regularly.

Of course everyone knows 'Part 4' from the massive European hit and from those concerts where he projected stuff onto buildings. The rest is ok. Pretty chill. And very good on noise cancelling headphones for a 50 minute tube ride across London! (Listens : 2)

Its nice. 3/5.

Es wirkt heute wie ein minimalistisches Zukunftsmanifest aus der Frühzeit der elektronischen Musik. Die sechs Parts bauen eine kühle, aber zugleich organische Atmosphäre auf – Synthesizer, die nicht protzen, sondern atmen. Besonders die schimmernden Sequenzen in Part II und die weiten, fast kosmischen Flächen in Part IV zeigen, wie visionär Jarres Sounddesign damals war.

Music was relaxing but boring

No takie normalne. Fajne plumkanie w tle, ale nic się z tego nie zapamięta.

Artiste connu, et album qui fait partie de mes préférés. Ce disque fait partie des 2 premiers albums que j'ai eu sur cassette (le second étant 'Équinoxe' du même artiste), et que j'ai écouté en boucle à l'époque. Une vrai pépite, très différente de tous ce qui passait à la radio : complètement instrumental, avec des sonorités totalement nouvelles et des compositions vraiment originales. Une invitation au voyage : il suffit de fermer les yeux et se laisser emporter. 50 ans après j'aime toujours cet album, et je l'écoute encore avec plaisir. =>5/5

Synth music

I liked the Moscow concert video

Sounds like a YouTube AI generated album now

Kinda Stranger Things vibes at certain points. It would’ve been better if he stayed with the spooky electronica throughout the entire album.

Weird ambient nonsense that was enjoyable enough. Not sure I'd spin it up for my own personal glee by I sure didn't mind it on a rainy summer morning.

Right off the bat, the cover art is awesome! I do wish the music matched the intensity of this first impression, though it's a refreshing injection of electronic experimentation after a long string of more traditional genres like rock and jazz. Ambient music doesn't hold my attention too well, but this album was successful in building a cold, spooky and brain-tingling sci-fi atmosphere. Like an explorer spotting the foggy blue glow of an alien spaceship in the distance, as they trudge across a barren icy planet lightyears from Earth. Jean-Michel Jarre's synthetic playground is regarded as ahead of his time, and I'm delighted to understand why!

Interesting enough without ever really hooking me for a second listen. RYM: N Saved a song: N

What..

Häftigt och inflytelserikt, men inget jag slår på spontant sådär

Riktigt cool musik som verkligen bygger upp en värld!

En av dom största electronica-pionjänernas bästa album. Helt magiskt fin atmosfär <3

Rätt cool bakgrundsmusik!

Fun album, but haven't really done a close listening this time. I will be saving it for a later time, though, so that's a good sign.

Mostly inoffensive as background noise, but it never grabbed me. Fairly boring, to be honest. 2.2

Early electronic music. I can dig it. There’s nothing that’s mind blowing about it but there’s a groove to some of it. What’s missing is a pulsing beat to make it better. But this is good in an elevator Muzak kind of way. Put it on in the background it doesn’t interfere with anything. It’s like a the for father to Vangelis.

First listen

Okay Geometry Dash! I will probably never listen to this again, it started out as 2 stars for me, but I think it rose to 4 honestly. It sounds like the Stranger Things soundtrack, or any 80's movie for that matter. I really got sucked in and focused. Thanks random French guy!

Alien abduction crap. My personal favourite was oxygene number 3, or was it number 4. At least it was short

Jean-Michel Jarre is a fraud. When I was in college, a fast food place called Supermacs was a meeting point before and after nights out. We'd often sit at one of the tables out the back, for what felt like hours, as our friend group would assemble one by one. Right next to the tables was one of those claw machines. You know the type of thing: you direct a metal claw to grab a stuffed animal, only for it to lose its grip and drop it just before it reaches you. Well, every five minutes, it would play the same few seconds of music to remind you of its existence. That music was Jean-Michel Jarre’s “Oxygène, Pt. 4”. It'd play that music over and over, and I'd utter “Jean-Michel Jarre is a fraud”. Why? Because of the comedian Bill Bailey. In his show “Bewilderness”, a show that we watched on repeat back in those days, he plays a version of this song on his famous keyboard, but using a vocal sample for each key press. At the end of the song, you realise the phrase being played is “Jean-Michel Jarre is a fraud”. I'm still to this day not 100% sure why. Maybe it was just a take on the early misconception that electronica musicians were just playing pre-recorded material on stage, and how JMJ was one of the first to be accused of the same. Or maybe, as I believed, it was a reference to how JMJ’s most popular piece, “Oxygène, Pt. 4”, the song that propelled him into the mainstream, was actually a reworking of an older song, “Popcorn” originally composed by Gershon Kingsley. Really though, I was just saying it for the same reason Bill Bailey said it. It was funny. I spent the majority of today absolutely wrecking my head, wondering where I know “Oxygène, Pt. 1” from. About nine hours later, when my fiancée came home from work, she got it right away. Falconhoof!! Limmy’s iconic sketch “Adventure Call” was a late-night fantasy phone-in RPG hosted by Falconhoof, who introduces himself as “your guide on your quest”. And it was exclusively soundtracked by Jean-Michel Jarre pieces from Oxygène. It starts off with a snippet of Part 4, but the majority of the sketch is made up of Part 1, acting as a bed under Falconhoof’s anguish dealing with callers. Phew. If I hadn't figured that out, I would have cracked up. Every moment of this album is hypnotic. Hypnotic and also very relaxing. My dog loves ambient electronica. He immediately goes to sleep when it comes on. After a sleepless night, I was tempted to do the same. But there are too many interesting musical movements and sonic exploration to keep me fully mesmerized (and awake) throughout this absolute masterpiece of early electronica. Evolving from the world of minimalism and Musique Concrète, “Oxygène” feels like it could fit in perfectly with a number of different genres: the twentieth century classical minimalists like Steve Reich or Philip Glass; early synth pioneers like Wendy Carlos; German electronica like Kraftwerk; or even the ambient concept artists like Brian Eno. Oxygène is lush, melodic, atmospheric, and spacey. It's intellectual, experimental, but also oddly accessible. I guess that's why “Oxygène, Pt. 4” became so globally popular in the mainstream. And how it ultimately ended up as the looping soundtrack of a claw machine in Supermacs. Jean-Michel Jarre wasn't a fraud. 4.5 stars

I am not really a fan of ambient music, not that I dislike it or anything, I just listen to it and say: "This sounds good." and that is mostly where I stop thinking about it. However, with this album I think: "This sounds pretty good." and that is really all I can say about this. Low 4.

Timeless ambient classic

Resisting the urge for my written reaction to just be “bleep bloop beep beep.” It’s pretty and atmospheric, clearly the result of great skill, and not really for me. I will acknowledge that this was way ahead of its time and would make great, say, video game soundtrack music. Overworld themes, perhaps. Love the album art.

A little conflicted with my feelings here. On the one hand I can appreciate how game changing this must have been in 1976. It still sounds spacey and futuristic now. However I found the first half really boring. It wasn’t until part 4 that I started to enjoy myself. Will need further listens to appreciate more I suspect.

Never listened. Expectations: None - Verdict: Very Good - It's certainly very pretty. This album comes at a perfect time as I am just falling down the rabbit hole of synthesisers. This is a great early example of what can be achieved with them. This album has too much going on to be considered ambient but it definitely has elements of that otherworldly beauty. I really enjoyed this one.

Cool synth songs, would be great background music for an aquarium

Recorded 50 Years ago (!!!) this year. Great album, it`s esoteric, psychedelic and electronic at the same time. Never heard an e-Album, that sounds so organic. Fav: Oxygène, Pt. 4

At least now I understand a joke on Peep Show.

Cynical response: this feels like Jarre bought *Wish You Were Here*, was really into the "Shine On" suite, and decided to make his own, only longer. Less cynical response: this feels like Jarre is using similar tools to make something more alternatingly ethereal and dancefloor-focused; *Tubular Bells* is as big an influence here. Nothing about this really reached out and grabbed me but I respect its historical value and found it generally enjoyable.

Boring

It reminded me of donkey Kong a little

6/10

Pretty cool album. Oddly reminded me of video game music. Parts 3 and 5 were my favorites. 6.1/10

#963. 39 minutes of various noises. 2/5: meh

De franskmænd og deres electronica, der er sgu noget der

Nok den mest cool CD i min fars samling da jeg var barn

Lounge techno

I didn’t even mind that it was instrumental. I grew up on classical music because I spent so much time with my grandma, and I often enjoy it/it gives me a happy nostalgic feeling. This was boring and it felt largely ignorable.

Classic aber auf albumlänge ohne Pandas Anlage Lampe

Not an everyday kind of album. Sounds like Bladerunner and apocalypse now.

Like cars, the germans did it better (especially Kraftwerk) Definitely, not bad. It's atmospheric and moody and shit, but not exciting.

Wow, synth galore. A lot warmer than Kraftwerk for sure, with more gentle soundscapes. Like video game music in a way... driving and energetic but full of focus. Wikipedia said there was some influence on Hans Zimmer which I can totally hear in some of the larger synth-style strings orchestrations. Not something I'd return to but neat to listen to once.

More of this

This is terrible. Where's the progression?

Not worn out by age, it remains an expansive and lush album, serving as a "background music" that takes up enough space to push to the front, but still serves the background's role of making you emote It feels almost like some kind of soundtrack but if every soundtrack could sound like these tracks then I'd be a cinephile

You know what? I enjoyed it a fair bit. Always considered JMJ a bit of a novelty figure but there’s some genuinely terrific synth work in here. A rare surprise in this journey so far.

I still dream of the future, of space, and of the sea.

No

If Kraftwerk’s vision of the future was icy and robotic, Jean Michelle Jarre’s music had a uniquely Gallic sensibility that was more like the comics created by French artist Moebius with curvaceous spaceships floating in the sky over impossible landscapes. We also get more Earthly concerns with the ominous cover of a ruined planet and the synthesised sounds of crashing waves and electronic bird song evoking fears of environmental doom. This soundscape was created in Jarre’s kitchen studio using a mix of wonky, cobbled together synthesisers with effects created with magnetic tape loops and the innovative technique of taping down certain keys on the keyboard with sticky tape. The overall effect is rather charming and certainly caught the public imagination at the time - parts of this album were a regular feature on TV themes and even background ambient music for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Needless to say this was hugely influential, notably on bands like The Orb, Air and System 7 who built on these warm and squelchy sounds to great effect. Frog-tastic!

It sounded like video game soundtrack music. I think what stands out the most is that it has aged incredibly well. It doesn't have that "highly experimental gimmick" sound that plagues a lot of early electronic music or even just music that is a pioneer for its genre. It's genuinely good electronic music today, if a bit underwhelming.

A fun demonstration of a synthesized sound: not unpleasant but, for me, not especially compelling either. It reminds me of Mort Garson’s contemporaneous work, Plantasia, although reading about the influence of Oxygène, I can see this album made it onto the list. I can hear the influence of other artists I love, including YMO and later works by Brian Eno, even if I don’t love Jarre’s music quite as much.

Unfortunately I think the “ambient” genre loses merit the further we are succumbed to AI created music or AI assisted production software. That being said, it was good to listen to this older release. I enjoyed the whole thing. It’s nice to have another ambient artist besides Mike Oldfield to look for in the record store now.

Evokes the 1980s educational laserdiscs that we watched in public school in the 90s. Felt cheesy then, still feels cheesy now!

Extra-terrestrial booty call music. Fun beeps and boops. Like an extended version of the intro to "To The Moon And Back" by Savage Garden. I liked it, is what I'm saying. Prolly 3.5 stars.

Let’s stick to actual music

me likey

I got abducted by aliens for 40 minutes

Now that’s ambient electronica I can get behind.

Para otro momento de mi vida

My understanding is that this album is quite influential as a 70s electronic act. It was interesting, but didn't do much to engage me as a first time listener in 2026.

🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 Really interesting and fun—not to mention referenced so many times by artists I love that it felt instantly familiar—but not something I see myself returning to. As dynamic as the musicianship is, the music itself doesn't feel all that dynamic to me. If I were to return to it, I'd check out 4, 5, or 2, though—maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for them. 1: Bad | 2: Okay, No Desire to Revisit | 3: Good, Conditionally (OR Inconsistent Mix of Qualities) | 4: Great (OR Technically amazing but missing the sauce emotionally) | 5: Amazing

Pleasant and ponderous

A symphony written for the 20th century. It's OK but sounds of it's time. Personally I think it a little boring

It’s not bad but it just makes me want to put on Brian Eno. Too cheesy, World of Tomorrow energy

Worth it for part 4

Oxygène has some great sounds on it and the production is fantastic but I feel the songs lack a bit of excitement. The compositions are a bit "new age" for my taste so I can't give it a full 5 stars.

Я не знаю що написати про цей альбом. Напевне, в свій час це був дуже впливовий альбом в своїй ніші футуристичного прогресивного ембіенту. Але зараз, мені особисто, це слухати просто нудно. Оцінка: середня-висока 4

amazing chill

I have had zero interest in this genre, and after listening I still don't. 1 star or F.

Good for what it is but not something I’d regularly turn on

Thoughts before listening: I don't know. Maybe some sort of new agey techno thing or something. Or maybe new agey jazzy thing. Or maybe a new agey techno jazzy thing. Review: Replace jazzy with ambient and I nailed this. This sounds like a sci fi movie score or maybe some sort of RPG video game background music. Its synthy and ominous and dramatic, and not really my thing. I especially don't like the ambient parts, but whenever they pick up the pace a bit with more a of a driving beat my ear perk up a little bit. I typically get bored quick as nothing happens, but its at least something. I can't totally hate on something like this just cause its not in my wheelhouse (I get annoyed at all the 1-star reviews dismissing country and punk albums on principle alone), but the best I can give it is 2-stars.

Good vibes for my cycle to work

brain liked

This is not for me.

Oxygen.

Almost 500 albums in I just don’t have the patience for this type of shit anymore

Enjoyed

What a great experience. Felt like I was falling through a tunnel on a journey. Super easy listen and for the time something very different. Need to be chilling watching the world go by with this one, leaves you with your thoughts.

boah

Fuck this guy. Why? And why do these songs have so many streams?

Very interesting

One can only imagine the audiophiles of 1976 popping this on their turntables for the first time and immediately creaming their pants. Burbling bases, whooshing filter sweeps, light speed arpeggio sweeps - all made with peculiar synths like the EMS VC3. It was truly the future, and it created the template for science documentary sountracks well into the 80s. Unfortunately, the album is light on tunes, with Part IV, the one everybody knows, having a strong motif. Amazing as it was back then, a bedroom producer could bash it out over a log weekend these days.

Nice relaxing listen

This should have been some sort of movie soundtrack. Nothing too exciting here, I preferred Kraftwerk.

Blind album and artist. I really dont think i was in the mood for this but I tried to listen to it with an open mind. 2.

This is good, definitely cutting edge at the time. Not my type as much but I caught the vibe of it. Might get up to a 4 if I listened in the right circumstances

Relaxing parts I and II. Familiar part IV. Superior to muzak but not that interesting and does sound dated. 2.7.

Where would montages be without No 4? I was wrong to think the rest of the album would be a dull. Quite an interesting listen although can't picture me having another listen

The 2nd album so far my 'rents owned! Albeit an Oxygene/Equinox 2 for 1 cassette. Surprisingly I preferred this to, and thought it aged better than Kraftwerks Autobahn, so an extra star. Although since it seems to be Eurovision week, Germany nul points, France douze points. Influence of Wish You Were Here on this?

Is it wrong to enjoy this as much as I did? Easily preferred this to last weeks Kraftwerk offering. Haven’t heard it for decades, and was surprised how much Air sounded like this

Solid ambient album, enjoyed it a lot, will come back to it.

# Album Name: Oxygene # Artist: Jean-Michel Jarre # Rating: 3/5 # Comments: For the time, id imagine people were blown away by this. Not a bad listen. Couple of decent tracks. # Top Tunes: IV # Would I listen to it again? No

***An easy listening, instrumental album

Interesting and atmospheric, but not something I would probably listen to again.

Like listening to a movie soundtrack about alien abductions. Chill ambient music, had it on while working. Must have been very cutting edge in the 70s. Put it on again later in the evening and slipped into a flow state so good shit

Makes me feel like I'm in a spa

Jika anda mendengarkan album ini di era sekarang, musik yang diproduksi terdengar medioker, cenderung ambient dan tidak unik (any bedroom producer can make it lah). Tapi, album ini keluar di 1978. Asumsi saya tahun segitu teknologi produksi dan mixing musik saya yakin tidak se tersedia dan mudah dibuat seperti sekarang yang dimana itu layak di apreasiasi. Sebagai penikmat musik instrumental, album ini memang cenderung ambient dan complementary. Akan tetapi ada nuansa nuansa perjalanan dan storytelling yang begitu airy dan dreamy jika didengar secara seksama. Such an enjoyable album.

Klassiker der elektronischen Musik. Yes! Qui!

interesting, nice for background music, propably won't listen to again

Review - love a bit of early electronic with all the bubbly synths and the weird attempts at synthesising "real" sounds like waves and chirping birds. Every song here has bits that are really good, but often they're also a bit overlong and have slogs, or less interesting bits that last a while. Still worth sticking with. Score - 7.5/10 Need to listen? YES

This was likely pioneering at the time but it sounds dated and I can’t help but categorize it as ‘keyboard sounds’. Some pretty good sounds near the back half. I would have thought it was sampled frequently in hip hop but nothing I recognized.

I kept waiting for the song to begin. Then I realized it's just background music. It's not something you actively listen to. You do other shit while it's on and it just fills the room with what I imagine a computer getting high sounds like.

His "first album not intended as a soundtrack", and yet it's perfect 70's sci-fi soundtrack music. It's an interesting, trippy and moody record, but certainly requires a specific setting to thoroughly enjoy.

What in the 1970s Syfy adventure action montage scene music is this???

Day 264 IV is excellent and the last one is ok but the others all felt like intros to songs that never got started. Highlight Oxygene IV

Nice ambient music (love it!) still has a 70's electronica vibe, but is cool.

Really enjoyed it, perfect for laying in the sun and resting

Didn’t think I’d like this over the whole course of the album, but it was actually very creative. Part four is particularly appealing.

Of it's type this is one of the best. This is more than background sound. Really like Oxygen IV, the single. This has rhythm and melody.

Hmm…ok. Maybe not quite in the mood for this one. Great as a sci-fi soundtrack while reading a pulpy comic book or sci-fi novel. Or just chilling and spacing out. Pioneering, especially now knowing this was made in the 70’s. Will revisit in the right moment.

I get how it fits into the history, both of electronic music, and the pop music of the 80s and beyond, and I get how it inspired so much that followed, but there’s a slightly cheesy pomp and extravagance to Jean-Michel Jarre that you don’t necessarily associate with the likes of Kraftwerk, Vangelis, Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream, etc. His music seems to lean more into the smooth, pop direction than the experimental dabblings of his peers, but I guess that’s what makes this an influential record in that it kind of bridges a gap. I don't feel compelled to listen to anything else by Jean-Michel Jarre, but I'm glad I listened to this.

It does seem incredible that this album came out in the late 70s. As such it is undoubtedly innovative. Parts of it I really love, it also makes me want to re-watch Gallipoli. Not an album I would necessarily choose to listen to but it's hard not to listen all the way through once started, which must say something.

Love this!

No es mi estilo

Meh.

An electric meringue; lovingly crafted & it's killing me where I just heard him as a soundtrack. Wish I'd been around for the lasers and pyrotechnics.

Oxygene, Pt.4

4.6 3x cool old school electronic. it's timeless and feels modern. edited this up to 4.6 from 3.8 on initial listen. listened several times since + Max really likes it as well

I just don't get it.

One way road to a shape I have rarely heard before.

not my thing but i respect where this was coming from in 1976 and it's importance in electronic music history

1. 3 2. 2 3. 2 4. 3 5. 2 6. 2

Like it but not sure how often i need to hear it.

I know I'm predictably easy to please when it comes to this genre, but seriously, even if this isn't your thing, you've still gotta have respect for that 1976 release date. The "I Feel Love" vibe on the 5th track predates Donna's hit by a year, and the smooth, almost house-like trance on track 6 is decades ahead of its time. The new age space chill of side A had me feeling 4ish, but side B cliched the deal.

When I was a kid I used to like to stare into the old 90s screensavers for a really long time. I had hoped if I watched long enough I would get of that silly maze and into a new realm. Or the crazy floating shape would untangle itself. For better or worse that’s what I got when listening to this album. Very relaxing under the guise of endless monotony.

Fue una experiencia rara la verdad, al principio no me gustó pero el viaje psicodélico que me pegaron se sintió genial.

cinematic

Honestly hasn't aged too well but an early electronic banger! 3/5

Vor 50 Jahre innovativ. Heute bewegt es nicht mehr die Welt.

I don’t think I can judge this album. It was ambient, transcendental, futuristic….and the entire time I was hearing HAL 9000 asking, “what are you doing Phil?” …and I was afraid the airlock was going and I was going to be sucked into Jupiter. Again, context is everything: this was France in the 1970s (man, Europe in the 1970s!!) This was pioneering stuff. The song Oxygene was good; but the song Oxygene was a little too mellow for my tastes. Luckily the song Oxygene kicked it back up again before Oxygene took me home. I legit don’t know how to judge this one. Historical: yep. Different: yep. Listen again: I don’t know.

Random thoughts: * Part meditation soundtrack for a massage at the spa. * Part early electronic music with depth emotion and shifts. * Of course, he is french too. The french have a way with electronic music (see Daft Punk). * He "is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanied by vast laser displays, large projections and fireworks." I want to see the laser displays! * For the right mood and time this is a good listen. Glad to be exposed to this.

4 stars

Ta muzyka mnie przerasta. Mam wrażenie, że lubią to tylko nasi rodzice. To, co nadrobiła dla elektroniki Bjork, stracił Jarre. Nuda, powtarzalność i brak duszy. 5/10.

Not interested in electronic noise, thank you.

its a good sound, but to make 6 tracks named so similarly and that sound so similarly as well is incredible. it works BECAUSE its michel jarre.

Fantastic! Really groundbreaking electronic work for its time

Feels like I’m in a movie or a video game. Don’t love it, but I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would. Makes me confused sometimes

I really only cared about 1 song. Giggled at them using a theremin on the first song though

Ah yes, from Pure Moods.

Interesting, but much of the same, although I’m sure that was the point

Cool vibe. Enjoyed it Standout songs: Oxygene P5

not for me :(

porra achei incrível escutarei no meu cometa leito cama indo pra BH da próxima

o mano gravou tudo na cozinha que doideira eh bem atmosférico e na real mto legal. dá pra imaginar tu ouvindo esse num saritur semi leito depois de pagar 20 reais num pao de queijo + coquinha no graal. ambient de qualidade, hein.

still a phenomenal album

Good

Futuristic sounding even now

Mais non, merci

Flashbacks of when this had mini revivals in the 80s and 90s and everyone (apart from me) thought this was the future of music. Before soon realising it was rubbish!

Confusing isn’t it, listening to what the future sounded like in the past. Are we now in that future, with bombs raining down on Iran it certainly doesn’t feel like this album? Maybe it sounded like this on Artemis. [NB: This review will age as badly)

Honestly gave me a bit of a headache.

This is some kind of outer-space music but I weirdly like it because it feels relaxing in a way and and put in me an unusual state of hyperfocus.

My sister said this sounds like robot birds singing and I kinda agree. Maybe I have a thing for French EDM as this is the second of this style of music that I have liked way more than I initially thought I would. This is weird but in a pretty cool way, like the sound millions of neurons firing in the brain would sound

This probably sounded futuristic at the time, but now sounds dated, which I think makes it more charming - like watching an old sci-fi B-movie.

Much better than the other ambient electro on here (I’m looking at you Eno and Aphex Twin). A pleasant listen, hangs together nicely on an album and is wrapped up in 39 minutes. Surprised to find I knew one of the tracks - part IV I think.

Favourite Songs: Oxygène, Pt. 1 Oxygène, Pt. 2 Oxygène, Pt. 4 Oxygène, Pt. 6

For my money, there’s a fine line between vintage synths that sound charmingly retro and ones that sound dated and corny, and unfortunately I found a lot of the lead synths on this album to be the latter. I did like this album overall.

Thought I was going to hate this and I can now say that I did not hate it. Pt. 4 is a banger

The retro-spacey synth thing is definitely right up my alley.

Unimaginative titling, but ok.

Electronic music before electronic music.

like a vampire in outer space

Bon. Franchement album très moyen voir calamiteux. Honnêtement, ça n'est pas le pire des albums electro et pour l'époque, on ne peut pas lui enlever qu'il sagit d'une sacrée révolution. Néanmoins, et ça fait du mal de le dire en tant que français mais l'album est très chiant, les sonorités y sont extrêmement vues et revues en plus d'être extrêmement lourdes passé les deux premiers sons. Je peux comprendre que ça puisse plaire à des gens, mais pour ma part ça reste très peu pour moi.

The soundtrack to floating in space.

This album was definitely ahead of its time. Really crazy this came out in 1976 but sounds newer than that. Interesting throughout, but with a completely clear identity and uniqueness.

This must have been impressive at the time and still is now. Still a 2/5 only because I don’t listen to music without vocals.

Through its description I wanted to give this a higher rating, but the new age lean made some of the moments a bit cheesy. The high pitched synth, the bossa nova claves... It's just all a bit dated now. But still nice to put on when working. 3.3/5 -> 3/5

Pretty basic electronic music. I can only assume this got popular because it's old and was probably ahead of its time.

It's ambient music, and it's not very interesting.

Decent album but slightly annoying at times. 2.5/5

Pleasant French ambient noodling that probably deserves another listen or two. Preferably with a Gitane, a glass of wine and a supercilious attitude.

Groovy space music

This album could be released today & it would still sound wildly ahead of its time- imagine how it sounded to listeners in 1976 (France) 1977 (internationally)? I can't begin to imagine other than imagining minds being blown just as they are blown today by this majestic album. To me it sounds like Star Wars music. I can see the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2D2, C3P0, Obi Wan & the whole gang while this album plays. I had a wonderful time with Oxygen- so far (and by far) my best discovery in the 1001 project- an album I likely never would have heard if it wasn't for the book/generator 1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die. Here's to more great discoveries in the months to come!

1.33

This album really calls into question how the criteria for inclusion are weighted on this list. As a synthpop fan so much of the music I love simply wouldn’t exist without Oxygene to pave the way. But it’s experimental and quite dated. All of the theremin and bloops and buzzes make it sound like 50’s scifi.

This reminds me of Gabe’s soundscapes in The Office. I could go on a drive in a hover car with this on repeat

One review on the 1001 Albums site calls this “fancy hold music,” which is funny and not entirely unfair — and also undersells what Jarre actually accomplished here. Oxygène is six continuous pieces of almost entirely synthesized atmosphere, built in 1976 from analog equipment that had barely existed a decade earlier. The fact that it holds together as coherently and musically as it does is genuinely impressive given the tools available. What stands out most is the architectural layering. Individual parts surface, claim attention, and then recede back into the broader texture in a way that feels compositional rather than accidental. Jarre is treating the mix itself as an instrument — a kind of interplay that rewards close listening even in the absence of drums, guitars, or any conventional song structure. For a record with no traditional groove anchors, it moves with surprising intention. The production is immaculate, which perhaps becomes slightly easier when you’re not wrestling with a live rhythm section. But that observation doesn’t diminish the craft — it just reframes it. This is a different kind of musicianship, patient and architectural, more concerned with atmosphere and space than momentum and feel. It’s not a record that generates deep personal connection, and the “fancy hold music” joke lands because there’s a kernel of truth in it. But there’s a difference between music that recedes into the background and music that was thoughtfully designed to breathe. Oxygène is the latter — and that’s worth acknowledging even if it doesn’t quite earn a four. A high three. Respected, admired, and best appreciated on a good pair of headphones with nowhere urgent to be.

The sound of the Futuroscope. Listened a lot in the 80s but not really since. In retrospect sounds like a real synth pioneer rather than just twinkly electro symphony. Was this a step on the way to New Order?

As electronica goes, this is certainly very accessible. And I imagine it was quite innovative in its time, which is probably why it still holds up today.

Boah ich würd sogar 4 sagen. Legende.

When I read the information on this album before hitting play, I was sure I wasn’t going to enjoy it. Turns out I was wrong, and this album was really good. Definitely a nice surprise this morning. 3.75 / 5

What an odd but interesting album. I enjoyed it but it was different in a good way

This was a great work soundtrack. It is a lovely electronic soundscape.

I'm sure this guy is very talented, however I did expect something more. The album just felt like a whole load of nothing - like a huge buildup for something that never comes.

I got good JM Jarre vibes from the early 80s. It’s why CDs were invented.