French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre has announced that he will release a 50th anniversary edition of his breakthrough album, Oxygene, through BMG Records on November 20.
Jarre originally released the album in France in 1976, ahead of its international release in 1977, Oxygene helped bring electronic music to a global audience and established Jarre as one of the figureheads of the genre.
The album was recorded in the former kitchen of Jarre’s then Paris apartment using an eight-track tape machine, a homemade mixing desk and a small collection of synthesisers and electronic instruments; the album went on to sell more than 18 million copies worldwide.
“When I created Oxygene, I was working directly with analogue instruments and tape, and the sound had a particular depth, movement and life of its own,” he recalls. “For this anniversary edition, we returned to the original tapes with the aim of preserving that character rather than changing it”.
A Dolby Atmos version has been mixed by David Kosten, Steven Wilson and Jarre for Distant Swimmer, the new immersive-audio partnership between Kosten and Wilson, with Oxygene its first project.
The release includes a 180g black-vinyl edition, half-speed mastered and cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios; CD; limited-edition coloured eco-vinyl; digital editions; and a deluxe Blu-ray mediabook featuring Oxygene in Dolby Atmos for the first time, alongside a new 5.1 mix, the 2026 stereo remaster and selected archival material.
Jarre will also publish Machines: A History Of Electronic Music through Thames & Hudson on November 24. The book draws on Jarre’s own collection of electronic and electro-acoustic instruments, and presents 130 machines, specially photographed, that trace more than a century of electronic music, from the first electrified machines of the early 20th century to artificial intelligence algorithms.
And Jarre will also appear on October 21 as Guest of Honour at Amsterdam Dance Event, where he will present the sold-out immersive concert Oxygene & Beyond: A Sonic Journey Celebrating 30 Years Of ADE at AFAS Live. His wider ADE program will also include three exclusive panel discussions at ADE Pro, bringing together the history of electronic music with the ideas, emerging technologies – including AI – and artists shaping its future.
Pre-order Oxyegen (50th Anniversary Edition).
(Image credit: BMG)
(Image credit: Thames & Hudson)
(LouderSound)
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