"Part I" begins the album on an incredibly hypnotic tone. Softly sweeping resonant pads float like clouds in the distance, playing the core melodies of the piece. Bubbling arpeggios trick your ear into thinking the sound is moving upwards through physical space, a beautiful effect, especially with headphones. Soon the pads are reinforced by an eerily beautiful Theremin-like tone, with an exceptionally sweet vibrato. It's no wonder Jarre revisits these stunning atmospheric themes twenty-one years later in "Oxygene 9".

"Part II" is more lively but just as majestic. Harmonious pads, a sharp sawtoothy lead, tasteful sound effects, and what sounds like a heavily reverbed Mellotron all come together quite nicely.

For whatever reason, "Part IV" gives the very strong image of a beautiful day at an uncrowded beach. Maybe it's the sweeping noise that reminds one of the crashing surf, and the quaint, laid-back percussion.

Those elements reoccur in "Part VI", which is even more relaxed. The phasing of many of the pad sounds is rich and soothing, threatening to sweep you away to dreamland. One also wonders whether that birdlike sound is a recording or a stroke of marvellous modular wizardry. Oxygene is a remarkable album not only for its fantastic melodies and sounds, but for its surprising warmth. Jean Michel Jarre has created a work not of silicon and algorithms, but of sunlight and a warm breeze.

-C.S. Graves

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