reviewed by C.S. Graves

Having only been able to track down a few Jean Michel Jarre CD's in the humble metropolis of Saint John, I had grown accustomed to thinking Jean Michel Jarre made instrumental music with a central theme (e.g. Oxygene, Chronologie, Calypso). JMJ's latest disc, Metamorphoses, was a bit of a surprise in several ways.

"Je Me Souviens" starts off the disc, sporting guest vocals by none other than Laurie Anderson. Soothing piano melodies are coupled with subtle pads, and occasionally reinforced by a whistling timbre. This track doesn't jump out and grab you, but it certainly will creep up on you later on. "C'est la Vie" is touted as the disc's "hit single", which makes me wonder how a song that clocks in at over seven minutes became a hit with the impatient masses. Anyway, the highlight here is the performance of Natacha Atlas, whose voice often takes on an Islamic quality... a rather erotic one at that. The strings add further to the eastern atmosphere. "Millions of Stars" sounds like it should have been called "Oxygene part 14", but somehow didn't make it on JMJ's 1997 release. There are the unmistakeable themes from the original Oxyegene of 1976, such as the bubbling arpeggios and the general progression. It sounds like someone else trying to get the impression of the former pieces without getting sued. It's not all self-derivative though, and about halfway through there's a very interesting vocoded voice. "Tout est Bleu" is a nice enough track with a good chorus, but six minutes is a bit long and the whole thing can get repititious. "Give me a Sign" is probably my personal favourite on the disc, in spite of some of the dance music conventions present. The vocal melodies have an anthemic quality, and Veronique Bossa's voice is heavily processed to interesting effect.

Though this outing is a little bit repititious than some of Jean Michel's other works, there are still lots of nice melodies to be heard on Metamorphoses, which is just what fans will be looking for.