Interestingly, this album was a project decades in the making. Jean-Michel Jarre had many interesting and unique musical tricks up his sleeve. After the release of the follow-up to the absolute classic Oxygene (1976) back in 1997 (which was released as Oxygene 7-13, the 1997 release that is), Jean-Michel Jarre composed a new and unique track shortly after the release of that album, which was elaborated on for this release. The direct intention for this album was to keep the instrumentation and sounds minimal, in line with the original Oxygene. Therefore, it was recorded on an 8-track recording device. Jean-Michel Jarre also stated that Oxygene 3 was intended to reflect the light and shade of humanity in different ways. Therefore, this is an unofficial concept album. Self-recorded and produced in six weeks, the album artwork was a 3D reinterpretation of the original Oxygene Michel Granger artwork. The album was released on Columbia Records on 2 December 2016 and runs for nearly 40 minutes. Some versions of this album also feature a continuous mix of the album, although this will not be covered here. Let’s listen to this album; hopefully, it will hold up well.

1. Oxygene, Pt. 14 begins with some dark and eerie electronic sounds that are very different. This quickly launches into a symphonic and futuristic set of sounds. This sounds dark and moody, and has an original and interesting sound throughout. This dark and unsettling piece of music is very different to listen to. A really unsettling tune, this is only going to appeal to some listeners out there. A digital, laser-sounding melody then enters as this tune progresses onwards. This is a dark and dystopian approach to EDM that sounds really suspenseful. It’s neither an easy nor a pleasant listening experience for the most part. Still, it is very good to hear. A very dramatic listen is present here, and this does sound deep and meaningful. All in all, a great listen. The second half of this tune has a deep and interesting build-up of digital Techno styled melodies, and it sounds really cool. This music deserves more credit than it gets, to be fair. It sounds interesting and amazing throughout. There is a light amount of relief towards the end, which sounds really quite nice. A very good and nicely textured listening experience that sounds top. Fantastic to listen to and to hear. It segues into the next track with some hyper digital melodies.

2. Oxygene, Pt. 15 continues on from before, with the stereotypical Oxygene melodies in the background, and some interesting liquid digital melodies. This is a strange listen, nonetheless, an essential listening experience. It does sound really great, all the same. The music and sounds are really futuristic and terrific. A deeply inspiring and interesting tune to listen to. Eventually, some loose drum machine beats enter, and this tune gets kicking along very nicely. The sounds settle down somewhat after a little bit. An awesome and deep listen throughout, this is quite a spacey-sounding piece of music. Nonetheless, it is very, very good. This tune is continuing the themes of a dystopian future, without either vocals or words. Very similar to Techno, in its own way. In the second half is a rush of stream of consciousness. This music would be perfect for that DMT trip that you need to experience, once in a lifetime. A really thoroughly fantastic and wonderful listen that beats all expectations of this music, it is a lot like freeform Techno Music, in its own original way. This is the darkest record that Jean-Michel Jarre has released as of yet. Soon enough, some liquid Roland TB-303 sounds enter, and this tune gets going nicely. All in all, a really amazing and adventurous listening experience. At the end is a meltdown of sound before some strange digital looping enters before seguing into the next track.

3. Oxygene, Pt. 16 begins with some digital melodies and bleeps, launching into more dark and spacey territory. The sounds are very excellently done and are surreal as well. This tune is wonderful in its own way. It sounds mind-blowingly fantastic, spacey and futuristic. The amount of attention to detail present on this track is absolutely amazing to hear, to this very day. Some cut-up electronic beats enter, and this tune continues to progress very nicely. An absolutely enjoyable, wonderful listening experience throughout. A truly spirited and amazing listen. This continues on very nicely throughout with dark, occasionally discordant and ethereal melodies to match. Jean-Michel Jarre is a genius, period. This is Oxygene for the 21st century, and it delivers when it does. A very sonically adventurous, deep and dark listening experience throughout. This sounds very fantastic to hear. Great music is present on this album, even if many of you out there may not appreciate the dark nature of this music. All in all, this is a spacey listen, set in the year 3000 when humanity can travel to other galaxies and far distant planets. In the second half of this track, things get rather weird-sounding. This is certainly unusual, and it will freak the likes of some listeners out, for sure. A really excellent and interesting tune to hear, this does sound very good for what it is. It finally begins to wrap up after nearly seven minutes of music. Not bad at all. It segues into the next track with whooshing noises.

4. Oxygene, Pt. 17 begins with some familiar-sounding melodies, and launches into what is essentially an updated version of some of the original music on Oxygene itself. It has some interesting cut-up sounds and beats to match. Nonetheless, this does sound really interesting and fantastic to hear. It quickly enters into a strange and weird piece of music that, although it is interesting, isn’t the highlight of this album. Even so, this is definitely not bad at all. The melodies and changes in sound throughout are original and fantastic. A very, very cool listening experience to hear. This sounds quite fresh and amazing in its own way, sounding very inspired and fresh. The music throughout is a real winner to listen to, and sounds really very cool. Absolutely awesome and mindblowing, this is a tune that will be very memorable for all music fans out there. It ends with more whooshing noises and the repeating melodies fading out. Neat.

5. Oxygene, Pt. 18 segues in from the previous track, and launches into some nice and ethereal sounds. This is the “lighter” half of the album. It does sound really smooth, however. The music and sounds are very different throughout. A really top piece of sound, this is expansive and extraordinarily good-sounding. The music present may be fairly minimalist, but it is a real winner to listen to. The awesomeness of sound, textures and music present on this track is a truly amazing arrangement to listen to. A real top tune to hear, this is explorational and cool as well. This is in a world of its own, and is a great synthesis of heavily imaginative and tripped-out sounds. Again, a fantastic tune. It segues into the next track.

6. Oxygene, Pt. 19 begins with some warm and interesting sounds, which are otherworldly. This does sound superb and fantastic throughout. A very interesting and amazing piece of music is present here, and it sounds fantastic. A superb and top tune. Soon enough, rhythmic melodies enter this piece, and it gets going very nicely. It is reminiscent of Trance Music in some sorts of ways. Still, it is very, very cool to listen to. A really exciting and decent tune to hear, this music is the equivalent of futuristic space travel, of which Jean-Michel Jarre has a glimpse of the future. A really great and smooth tune to hear, this music is sensationally top-class. Very much in a category and music world of its own, Jean-Michel Jarre is a true genius of sounds and textured melodies. This continues to flow nicely, sounding interesting, awesome and amazing throughout. The music definitely sounds sweet as well. Absolutely awesome to hear. It all stops in the second half briefly, before a singular beep emerges, and the music resumes. Bet you didn’t see that coming. A really fantastic and interesting tune to hear, this is exactly how minimalist Electronic Music should be made. This album is worth repeat listens, especially to those who are new to Electronic Music or hardcore Jean-Michel Jarre fans. It begins to wrap up, lasting a total of nearly six minutes. It ends with some piano-style melodies and whooshing electronics to match. Top. It segues into the next track.

7. Oxygene, Pt. 20 launches right into some interesting and warped melodies that are pitch-shifted and come in and out of the mix. Epic. This sounds totally awesome, and is creepy, like a satanic Church service on drugs. This is an eight-minute-long piece of music, so strap yourselves in. A really expressive and top tune. There are reversed sounds throughout, which sound really cool, alongside the sound of wind and thunder, followed by digital rain. Absolutely undeniably cool. The Oxygene main melodies return, which also sound very, very good. This has some incredibly intelligent music about it all. Soon enough, some dark melodies enter, pointing out that there are thorns as well as roses in the human spirit. Cool and excellent music to listen to. Keyboard and string-styled sounds emerge, pointing out a more positive future for humanity and no words are needed on this album. It definitely sounds very amazing, and is in a class of its own on this album. A top listen, especially if you love instrumental music that is very exciting to listen to. The sounds and textures throughout are extremely cool to hear. Surely Pink Floyd themselves would have loved Jean-Michel Jarre’s music? Regardless, most listeners will as well. This sounds very hopeful, bright and optimistic in the second half of the track, which is relieving. A really great tune to listen to, this does sound superb and stellar. Absolutely brilliant music is present on this album. Put simply, this is very much a decent trilogy wrap-up that deserves to be heard by all serious music fans and musicians. As we gradually approach the end of this all, this music sounds extremely interesting and expressive to hear. It is beautiful, and shows the best of the human condition, set to minimalist Electronic Music. The ending gradually approaches, and this fine piece of art is another classic album release by Jean-Michel Jarre. It wraps up with sustained notes and some crackling, followed by glorious wind sounds. A nice way to finish off a great release.

This is a must-listen and must-own album. It is seamlessly awesome from beginning to end, and the ideas and musical concepts behind this trilogy make perfect sense to the listener or music artist at hand. To be fair, this album and trilogy of albums are all totally underrated as such, and deserve to be cherished and loved. Definitely give this a spin, unless you dislike Ambient and Minimalist DMT trip style Electronic Music.

A genuine classic.

9/10