Essentials is a thoughtfully chosen selection of tracks from the Dreyfus period, covering the giant albums Oxygene, Equinoxe, Chants Magnétiques and more, digitally remastered in a care-applied way, by going back to the original analogue master tapes, and applying up-to date remastering technology. This system has bypassed the remastering mania of the 90 s, where often chunks of sound would be missed in a pixellated digital soup. The result is every bit as good as the original sound, carrying depth and range and conveying the excitement of Jarre s cutting-edge music as it was conceived. Rarities is a real find for any Jarre completist or fan. It covers mainly material recorded prior to the emergence of Oxygene, some never commercially released, and none ever seen on CD before. At the time, Jarre was a student under Pierre Schaeffer, the creator of Musique Concrète, and the man behind the idea of music moving away from traditional instrumentation, towards a sound-based appreciation whatever the source. Experimentation with sounds abounds on these recordings, which are again given the same meticulous remastering treatment.

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1 Souvenir of China

2 Oxygene 2

3 Arpegiateur

4 Oxygene 4

5 Equinoxe 4

6 Calypso 2

7 Zoolook

8 Magnetic Fields 1

9 Magnetic Fields 2

10 Equinoxe 5

11 Industrial Revolution 2

12 Rendez Vous 4

13 Gloria, Lonely Boy

14 Oxygene 6

15 Space of Freedom "March 23"

Disc: 2

1 Happiness is a Sad Song

2 Hypnose

3 Erosmachine

4 La Cage

5 Chanson des Granges Brûlées /Song of the burnt Barns

6 Windswept Canyon

7 The Abominable Snowman

8 Deserted Palace

9 Le Pays de Rose / Roseland

10 Rain Forest Rap Session

11 Black Bird

12 Music Box Concerto

13 Iraqi Hitch-Hiker

14 Les Granges Brûlées / Burnt Barns

15 La Cage Vitalic (remix)

16 Erosmachine Vitalic (remix)