AERO

AERO is not a best-of. Jarre re-recorded the material rather than remastering it.

The classic pieces were performed again on the original instruments, then arranged spatially for surround — giving them, in his account, the space he'd imagined when he first wrote them, without betraying what they are. Four new compositions were written specifically for the format, and the album closes with a live "Rendez-Vous 4" from the Aero concert, played among the wind turbines at Gl. Vraa Enge in Denmark in 2002.

The pitch was straightforward: mono arrived in 1877, stereo in 1958, and surround is the next change in how music is heard. Jarre chose DVD-Video over the higher-fidelity DVD-Audio or SACD on the grounds that home cinema had made it the format people actually owned.

The DVD's visual side is the album's other idea. For 75 minutes it shows the eyes of Anne Parillaud listening to the record, filmed in a single unbroken take — a film about hearing rather than a film to watch.

Released 20 September 2004. Everything recorded at 96kHz/24-bit for 5.1 and "super-stereo". Mixed by Jarre, mastered by David Perreau, with Francis Rimbert on sound design and a guest appearance from Safri Duo.