Jean Michel Jarre was the first western musician to be invited to play within the People's Republic of China in October 1981. The concerts were not a huge success: the Chinese audience were unfamiliar with the format and the style of music, and they only warmed to the laser show (which was very impressive at the time). The music was largely underrated, which is a shame as I feel that this CD remains one of Jarre's most impressive works. It collects together excerpts from five concerts that played in Peking in Shanghai.

What makes this album stand out over his other material is the beautiful compositions he wrote to bring his western electronic style in harmony with a traditional oriental symphony orchestra. This is no better illustrated than on the track 'Fishing Junks at Sunset' which is completely mesmerising. Other new tracks he wrote for the concerts include an upbeat track 'Orient Express' and a fascinating piece called 'Night in Shanghai' which really does conjure the mood of walking through different parts of a hot sticky city at night, from the bustle of restaurants to the peace of sitting by the harbour. The final track, "Souvenir of China" is very moody, a slow burning track that suggests weariness, punctured with the incessant click of the Nikon. It's the most autobiographical track JMJ has ever produced.

The rest of the album is mainly taken from 'Magnetic Fields' including a magnificent live version of 'Magnetic Fields 2' (which has since been re-used in many of his live performances). The first track "Overture" is a little bit of a cheek--it's actually a slowed down version of Magnetic Fields 1. There are also a couple of 'Equinoxe' tracks, but there are no versions of Oxygene on this album even though it was his most well known music at the time. The only track that lets it down, and one I have never really liked is 'The Last Rumba (Magnetic Fields 5)' which felt tacked on to the end of the Magnetic Fields album, and still feels out of place here.

Overall this is an excellent album, and if you're a Jarre fan who doesn't already own it, or if you like classical oriental music, I urge you to make the purchase.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A respectable Souvenir of China, 18 Dec 2000

By	"dazcpaz" - See all my reviews

The best thing about this album is the fact that it has several new compositions... but not as many as you may be lead to believe from the track listing. "Band In The Rain" is simply the first section from "Equinoxe Part 8", "The Last Rumba" is another name for "Magnetic Fields Part 5" and "The Overture" is more-or-less "Magnetic Fields Part 1" played at half speed. The track detailed as "Magnetic Fields Part 1" is sadly only 21 seconds long and bears no relation to the original album version.

Some of the new compositions written for this album have obvious Oriental influences, most notably "Fishing Junks At Sunset". These new tracks are respectable, although not Jarre at his most spectacular.

A good album, but it's probably more worthwhile to buy his studio albums first before investigating this release.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jarre Live... Excellent!, 11 April 2001

By A Customer

The Concerts in China was Jean Michel Jarre's first ever live album, released in 1982, the year after his China Tour. For the tour, Jean Michel wrote some new compositions...

Fishing Junks at Sunset, Orient Express, Night in Shanghai, Laser Harp, Arpegiator, The Overture and Souvenir of China

My personal favourite from these are Fishing Junks at Sunset, Orient Express and Souvenir of China.

Anyway, overall I give this album a well deserved 5 stars... just what I would give to any other Jarre album... they are all unique masterpieces.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Historic concerts
Jean Michel Jarre was the first western contemporary musician to perform in communist China and this live album is a chronicle of those historic concerts that took place in Peking... Read more

Published 3 months ago by PRTM

2.0 out of 5 stars Makes the concerts sound better than they were
I was at the concerts in China. They were awful; the Chinese audience didn't understand the music and kept talking through them (the only bit they liked was the laser show, which... Read more

Published on 17 Nov 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Jarre's 5 china concerts on his first live double album
This recording is of great cultural diversity, mixing old ethnic oriental instruments and the synthesizers of 1981. Read more

Published on 2 Feb 2000

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