- Magnetic Fields (album)
-
Magnetic Fields 
Studio album by Jean Michel Jarre Released May 1981 Genre Electronica, synthpop, ambient Length 35:53 Label Disques Dreyfus Producer Jean Michel Jarre Jean Michel Jarre chronology Équinoxe
(1978)Magnetic Fields
(1981)The Concerts in China
(1982)Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]Magnetic Fields (French title: Les Chants Magnétiques) is the third mainstream album by Jean Michel Jarre (his fifth album in all), released on Disques Dreyfus in 1981. The album was one of the first records to use sampling as a musical element and represents a departure from the sound of Jarre's previous efforts, although his distinct style is instantly recognizable throughout the duration of the album. For this album Jarre was partly inspired by the works of Andy Warhol and a fascination with the reproducibility of digital sound.
The long first track consists of three distinct movements, the slower second movement being heavily laden with sample work, foreshadowing the sound of Jarre's 1984 album Zoolook.
The album reached #6 in the UK charts and #98 in the U.S. charts.[2]
Contents
Album title
The album has official titles in both French and English. The French title, Les Chants Magnétiques is a play on words. Literally translated into English this means "Magnetic Songs"[3][4] or "Magnetic Singing"[4]. Spoken aloud however, it sounds as "Les Champs Magnétiques" (literally: "Magnetic Fields"), due to the French words chants (songs or singing) and champs (fields) being homophones. As this is not the case in English, such word play could not have survived translation, and the more straightforward title "Magnetic Fields" was chosen instead. In the caption for picture 5 on the album's inner sleeve, the word "champs" in "champs magnétiques" is crossed out and the word "chants" is written above it.
Track listing
- Side 1
- "Magnetic Fields Part 1" – 17:49
- Side 2
- "Magnetic Fields Part 2" – 3:59
- "Magnetic Fields Part 3" – 4:15
- "Magnetic Fields Part 4" – 6:18
- "Magnetic Fields Part 5 (The Last Rumba)" – 3:30
Equipment
- ARP 2600
- Electro-Harmonix Echoflanger
- Elka 707
- Eminent 310U
- EMS Synthi AKS
- EMS Vocoder 1000
- Fairlight CMI
- Korg KR 55
- Korg VC-10
- MDB polysequencer
- Moog Taurus Pedal Synthesizer
- Oberheim OB-X
- EMS Synthi VCS3
Footnotes
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r171689
- ^ Les Chants Magnetiques (Magnetic Fields)
- ^ Babelfish, altavista.com, French to English translation carried out 2006-11-05.
- ^ a b 1989, The Collins Pocket Reference French Dictionary, William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., ISBN 0-00-433255-5
Jean Michel Jarre Studio albums Deserted Palace (1972) · Les Granges Brûlées (1973) · Oxygene (1976) · Equinoxe (1978) · Magnetic Fields (a.k.a. Les Chants Magnétiques) (1981) · Music for Supermarkets (a.k.a. Musique pour Supermarché) (1983) · Zoolook (1984) · Rendez-Vous (1986) · Revolutions (1988) · Waiting for Cousteau (a.k.a. En Attendant Cousteau) (1990) · Chronologie (1993) · Oxygene 7–13 (1997) · Métamorphoses (2000) · Interior Music (2001) · Sessions 2000 (2002) · Geometry of Love (2003) · Téo & Téa (2007) · Oxygene: New Master Recording (2007)Live albums The Concerts in China (a.k.a. Les Concerts en Chine) (1982) · In Concert / Cities In Concert, Houston-Lyon (1986) · Jarre Live / Destination Docklands, the London Concert (1989) · Hong Kong (1994) · Jarre in China (2005) · Live from Gdańsk (Koncert w Stoczni) (2005) · Live Printemps de Bourges 2002 (2006)LP - 7'' single only La Cage / ErosMachine (1971)Compilation albums The Essential Jean Michel Jarre (1985) · Images – The Best of Jean Michel Jarre (1991) · AERO (2004) · Sublime Mix (2006) · Essentials & Rarities (2011)Remixes by other artists Related articles Categories:- 1981 albums
- Jean Michel Jarre albums
- Concept albums
- Electronica albums
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