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Équinoxe (Music)

 Équinoxe (Music)
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TVTItem
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Équinoxe (Music)
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Equinoxe
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Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Équinoxe, released in 1978, is the fourth studio album by French electronica musician Jean-Michel Jarre. The follow-up to the highly successful Oxygène, this album both continues and refines the spacey, ambient sound of its predecessor. Emphasis on dynamics and rhythms is considerably increased compared to Oxygène, basslines take up a much greater presence than before, and the airy soundscapes are traded out with more watery textures. Like its predecessor, Équinoxe is considered highly influential in the development of Electronic Music, and its more rhythmic approach in hindsight acts as a noticeable prelude to the mainstream emergence of Synth-Pop the following year. This is perhaps no small coincidence, as the album released just seven months after Kraftwerk opened the doors to the genre's potential with The Man-Machine.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })With Jarre's commercial potential having already been established by the success of Oxygène, Équinoxe marked Jarre's shift from the small-time label Disques Motors to the newly-established and larger-scale Disques Dreyfus, onto whom he would remain signed all the way into 2002. Combined with his newfound clout as a successful artist, the move to a bigger label gave Jarre the opportunity to make use of a much wider array of synthesizers and sequencers, including custom-built equipment developed by collaborator Michael Geiss. With this, the scale of Jarre's work would take a major leap upwards from Oxygène and would only continue to grow with each successive album.Compared to its predecessor, Équinoxe performed much lower from a commercial standpoint, peaking at No. 11 on the UK Albums chart and at No. 126 on the Billboard 200, missing the French Albums chart entirely. That said, it wasn't a total flop; it was later certified gold in the UK, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands, and became the 55th best-selling album of 1978 in Britain. Like Oxygène before it, Équinoxe was also critically maligned in the Anglosphere, again due to it standing too far off from the Punk Rock and Post-Punk scenes of the era. Nevertheless, it has since been thoroughly Vindicated by History, and ranks alongside Oxygène as one of Jarre's best works, so much so that for its fortieth anniversary in 2018, the album received a sequel in the form of Équinoxe Infinity.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })Équinoxe was supported by two singles: "Équinoxe Part 5" and "Équinoxe Part 4".TracklistSide A "Équinoxe Part 1" (2:33) "Équinoxe Part 2" (5:01) "Équinoxe Part 3" (5:11) "Équinoxe Part 4" (6:52)Side B "Équinoxe Part 5" (3:54) "Équinoxe Part 6" (3:15) "Équinoxe Part 7" (7:24) "Équinoxe Part 8" (5:02)
 Équinoxe (Music)
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2021-03-11T11:15:51Z
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2021-03-11T11:15:51Z
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Dropped link to M83: Not a Feature - IGNORE
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Ambient
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_1c3b2513
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Ambient: Side A and the latter half of Part 8 both delve just as much into this genre as Oxygène previously did.
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New Sound Album
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_22093e9b
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New Sound Album: Rhythm and dynamics become more prominent, especially on the album's downright danceable second side, and the music is given a more "watery" feel to it.
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Concept Album
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_34f6774c
comment
Concept Album: Coming after an album about air and the environment, this record focuses primarily on the water and seasons. Water-themed sounds prominently feature throughout the record, from the wave-like warbles throughout side A to the thunderclaps that open Part 5 to the rainfall that opens Part 8, with this first section of the final track being appropriately titled "Band in the Rain" in concert, and the structure of the album mimics the passage of spring, summer, fall, and winter with its marked differences in both tempo and tone from track to track.
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Stylistic Suck
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Stylistic Suck: "Band In The Rain" was made to sound as if it was played on a then-common electronic home organ. It probably helped that Jarre did have a few electronic organs at his disposal.
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Song Style Shift
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Song Style Shift: Part 8 opens with an Organ Grinder tune punctuated by the occasional synth hit, only to fade out halfway through and fade back in as an ambient piece more in-line with side A.
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Synth-Pop
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_48df825a
comment
Synth-Pop: Parts 5 through 7 are early precursors to the genre, being groovy, danceable synth pieces tucked within an otherwise ambient-oriented album. The synth-pop scene had already been developing for some time before Équinoxe released, but compared to the likes of the statuesque Kraftwerk and the mock-Oriental debut album of Yellow Magic Orchestra (who would move away from the image on proceeding records), it more vividly showcased the more freeform and fast-paced elements of the genre that would come to greater prominence in the 1980's.
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Ominous Music Box Tune
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Ominous Music Box Tune: Part 5 was reduced to a few seconds of this on Aero.
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Performance Anxiety
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Performance Anxiety: Invoked by the album cover, depicting a sea of anonymous "Watchers" gazing upon a performer on the stage with binoculars, as seen through the point of view of the performer.
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Epic Rocking
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Epic Rocking: Part 7 clocks in at, somewhat appropriately, 7 and a half minutes. Part 4, meanwhile, falls just short of the 7-minute mark.
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Siamese Twin Songs
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Siamese Twin Songs: Each half of the album acts as a single, unified suite, to the point where it becomes difficult to separate any one track without losing a good deal of context behind it.
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Signature Style
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comment
Signature Style: Along with Oxygène, Équinoxe is credited with codifying this trope for Jarre; even after he shifted away from the sound, the template these two albums established would remain in place for a significant chunk of his work.
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Repurposed Pop Song
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_979ca348
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Repurposed Pop Song: Just like pieces of Oxygène were used for Gallipoli, pieces of Equinoxe make up the soundtrack of Die Hamburger Krankheit.
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Title by Number
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Title by Number: Each track on the album is differentiated as a numbered "part" of the whole album.
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 Équinoxe (Music) / int_a64359d5
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Organ Grinder
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_a64359d5
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Organ Grinder: The first part of Part 8 (also known as "Band in the Rain") is commonly played on a barrel organ in live concerts.
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Evolving Music
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_ab5d5d86
comment
Evolving Music: Part 7 has been cut off before the long ambient ending ever since 1986 (Rendez-vous Houston). From 1995 (Concert pour la tolérance) to the mid-2000s, another chunk was cut out (it came back with reinforcement a few years ago), and a filter modulation was added to the bass. The first half of Part 8, also known as "Band in the Rain", has been played on a barrel organ on stage ever since 1993 (Europe In Concert). Ever since the release of Electronica Part 1, Jarre has mashed up Part 4 with "Glory", his collab with M83, at concerts, and Part 7 crosses over into the Gesaffelstein collab "Conquistador".
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Distinct Double Album
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_b134a27d
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Distinct Double Album: A single-disc variant: side A is a more atmospheric, ambient-oriented suite in line with Oxygène, while side B's suite consists mostly of proto-Synth-Pop.
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The Not-Remix
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_ba4fd8c2
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The Not-Remix: Part 5 was given this treatment just in time for its CD release, with some parts of the track re-recorded and the rest simply remixed, to a degree where it doesn't sound dramatically different from the original, but still nonetheless has some noticeable deviations. In particular, the string sound playing along with the leads was eliminated entirely, the hi-hat now plays over the entire piece save for the first two bars, and some of the effect sounds were redone. This version, which was also included on later cassette copies, has become better-known than the LP mix with the passage of time, to the point where many folks who snag an LP copy are left puzzled by how different Part 5 sounds there.
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One-Word Title
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One-Word Title: The album and individual tracks are all called "Équinoxe."
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Performance Video
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_d9761a10
comment
Performance Video: The video clip of "Equinoxe 4" mostly shows Jarre in his studio. While he didn't record the music itself on camera, he does mime in sync with the music at least when he plays the keys. It has got more distraction from the music-making than "Oxygène 4", namely close-ups on the machines, some video animations on a screen in the background and a wind-up toy robot.
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Unplugged Version
 Équinoxe (Music) / int_e01e757e
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Unplugged Version: Live performances of the "Band in the Rain" portion of Part 5 are typically played on an actual barrel organ rather than a synthesizer imitating one.
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Design Student's Orgasm
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Design Student's Orgasm: Like its predecessor, this album's cover sports an elaborate painting by Michel Granger.
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Fading into the Next Song
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Fading into the Next Song: Done liberally throughout the album, to the point where the only distinct break is between the two sides of the record.
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 Albums Index
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 Fading into the Next Song
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 French Media
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 Progressive Rock
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 Stylistic Suck
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