ESSENTIAL ALBUMS (#33): Jean Michel Jarre - "Oxygene" (1976)

It was in November 1976, when the son of French film composer Maurice unveiled his third studio offering. While the likes of Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk blazed the trail, and Vangelis' Albedo 0.39 was a paean to natural grandeur, Oxygene was a template for otherworldly soundscapes, a synth-based parallel universe that inspired the electronica movement and sales of more than ten million copies.

Although it won praise and made UK No.2, Jarre had to shop around his magnum opus for months before securing a deal with an indie label. Sporting a futurist design (and photos by future wife, actress Charlotte Rampling), it drew on Jarre's group and screen work while offering a new and fresh perspective on the scope of electronic instrumentation—from Farfisa organ to Mellotron via ARP synthesizers.

Jarre used his classical grounding to formulate swirling, floating melodies, often in odd sequences, such as 34.5 bars. They range from the eerie (as per the opener) to the ethereal ("Part 2," which unintentionally connotes the space-obsessed times, from Mars Viking to Star Wars, with a crescendo of throbbing, burbling beats overtaken by cascading synths and laser-burst effects). Following the sea wash of the John Carpenter- esque "Part 3", there is the hypnotic vibrato of "Oxygene Part 4", with its memorable, ice-dance refrain—still a global TV theme staple—and its successor, mixing subterranean atmospheres with Bolero-like Twenties gothicism, before an expressive finale.