I am a devoted fan of Jarre and couldn't wait to get my hands on this new CD/DVD of Oxygene.

Was I disappointed? Well, yes and no.

I had heard the CD was a re-recording of the 30 year old original and expected a massive improvement in sound on my hifi. I was sadenned to realise it just sounded a bit clearer in the higher frequencies department and only by comparing it with the original do you realise the difference.

The CD is mastered in high definition 24 bits/96khz so maybe on a top hifi the difference is more noticable.

The 5.1 stereo DVD was a bit disappointing for myself.

Here Jarre and his 3 chums dust off the old original analogue synthesizers and perform Oxygene Live in supposidly one take.

I expected Oxgene to be played note-for-note perfect, but sadly it's not! The sound effects have been altered and sound worse, to even sounding amaterish in parts.

The tracks also have been slowed down/lenghtened which I feel also spoils it, as it take ages to get going in parts.

To make matters worse, extra tracks have been added in between the orignal ones which are very dull and uninspiring and not memorable at all... why ??

I hate to have to diss the DVD, but it's my honest opinion and I was very disappointed with the end result. I suppose the only 'positive' side is it's FREE with the CD.

Overal, if you have the original and want an improvment in sound, don't waste your money unless you have a top-spec 24bit hifi as you will barely notice a difference.

If you want the the album to see Oxygene performed live, then I guess it's worth buying, but don't get your hopes too high.

The overal feel of this release is just a 'cash-in' and no doubt Equinoxe will be the next LIVE performance to add to Jarre's bank.

His best ever album ! The guy is pure genius. Even at the  grand old age of 59, he breathes more new life into this fantastic album. The DVD gives us insight as to how the original was concieved. His love of these Analogue Instruments shines through !

Oxygene is Jean Michel Jarre's best known album (but not his best work). The album is 30 years old this year and he's decided to record "Live in your living room" a live performance of the album bundled with a re-recording of the original album on CD.

The DVD is an enjoyable performance of the music. 4 musicians on stage surrounded by every 70s analogue synth known to man. As these are ye olde instruments the original sound of the album cannot be reproduced exactly (within a reasonably amount of time anyway) so it's an approximation (or an interpretation) of the music.

It's almost as if 70s Tangerine Dream had remixed it. The problem is that it's not as polished as it should be. The lead sound on Oxygene 2 is diabolical. No doubt I'll get used to it but it spoils an otherwise pleasing version of the track. Oxygene 3 and 6 are quite different too. Nothing wrong with them although the seagull sounds in part 6 seem to have been replaced by mice. The new tracks are pretty good too, especially "Variation 3"

The documentaries are OK. Jarre has to talk about Stradivarius again...

Overall pretty good. Not a storming, brilliant performance but at least it was live and a some effort was put into the music rather than the visuals.

Regarding the CD. This is touted as a re-recording but honestly, recreating the exact same analogue sounds 30 years later? Really? Sure, the recording is a bit brighter, and there are some slight changes in the mixing but otherwise it's identical. It is not, however, the leap in sound quality you'd expect from a re-recording 30 years later. Even the DVD sounds brighter and clearer and that's compressed sound.

So 4 stars for the concept. Again Jarre is about concept (5.1 albums, 3D concerts, the first person to [insert something]....) rather than reclaiming the quality of his earlier music by hard work. I'd have preferred a HD release of the Merzouga concert instead!

Firstly I bought this for the DVD only.
This is not the great showman Jean Michel Jarre you see in his concerts, this is the real guy playing analogue instruments with 3 other guys in a studio.
This is like watching Tangerine dream in the 70s and it's just brilliant. (If only Tangerine Dream would do the same!) Lots of banks of equipment - Moogs etc.
The visual and audio quality are both excellent. It might seem a bit weird to your average Jean Michel Jarre fan but really good for a TD fan of the 70s!
Oxygene too me has always been his best album so I really appreciate this. Thankyou Jean Michel!