AERO is a 2004 album of electronic music

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 by Jean Michel Jarre

Jean Michel Jarre

Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...

. It is composed of previously-released tracks re-recorded in 5.1 surround sound

Surround sound

Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...

 plus three new tracks and a bonus live track. All tracks are sewn together through surround-sound "Scenes".

The album includes a CD and a DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

; the DVD-Video features Dolby Digital

Dolby Digital

Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...

 and DTS audio, whereas the CD is in stereo

Stereophonic sound

The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...

, mixed to give a more spacious impression than usual.

On the release of AERO, Jarre commented that he had always envisioned his music in surround; with the advent of the DVD, he could finally release his music the way he wanted. He claimed this to be the first recording specifically designed for 5.1 listening (this claim has been rebuffed by lesser known artists with prior releases).

Jarre chose the DVD-Video format instead of the higher-quality DVD-Audio

DVD-Audio

DVD-Audio is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio is not intended to be a video delivery format and is not the same as video DVDs containing concert films or music videos....

 or SACD

Super Audio CD

Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...

 because he claimed that DVD-Video was the most widespread format, with the generalization of home cinema

Home cinema

Home cinema, also commonly called home theater, are home entertainment set-ups that seek to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood with the help of video and audio equipment in a private home....

 setups. However, DVD-Audio discs are normally authored to provide surround sound compatible with DVD-Video players.

The sleeve notes contain an introductory message by Jarre explaining how the included photos, sent in by fans from around the world, inspired his work. An extended 48-page version was sold exclusively through the Carrefour

Carrefour

Carrefour S.A. is an international hypermarket chain headquartered in Levallois-Perret, France. It is one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world...

 chain in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

The images accompanying the music on the DVD show the eyes of Jarre's then girlfriend, French actress Anne Parillaud

Anne Parillaud

Anne Parillaud is a French actress, who has appeared in 30 films since 1977.She is best known internationally for her role as Nikita in the movie of the same name.-Biography:...

, listening to the music for the full length of the album. The eyes on the album cover are Jarre's own. http://www.jarreuk.com/aeroalbum.htm

Track listing

The DVD contains "Scenes" as separate tracks, while on the CD they are part of the track after which they follow.

CD

1. "Aero Opening / Scene 1" – 0:50
2. "Oxygene 2 / Scene 2" – 7:41
3. "Aero" – 3:09
4. "Equinoxe 8" – 1:24
5. "Oxygene 4 / Scene 3" – 5:05
6. "Souvenir of China / Scene 4" – 4:46
7. "Aerology / Scene 5" – 3:40
8. "Equinoxe 3 / Scene 6" – 6:33
9. "Equinoxe 4 / Scene 7" – 6:46
10. "Last Rendez-Vous / Scene 8" – 5:08
11. "Zoolookology / Scene 9" – 3:54
12. "Aerozone / Scene 10" – 4:56
13. "Magnetic Fields 1 / Scene 11" – 5:59
14. "Chronology 6" – 4:55
15. "Rendez-Vous 4 (Live Version)" (hidden bonus track; featuring Safri Duo
    Safri Duo
    Safri Duo is a Danish percussion duo composed of Uffe Savery and Morten Friis . Initially classically oriented, by 1999 they were discovered by a label executive working on classical music. After being signed, a track mixing both tribal sound and modern electronica was set to be released in 2000...
    
    ; recorded at the 2002 AERO concert) – 7:34

DVD

1. "Aero Opening" – 0:16
2. "Scene 1" – 0:33
3. "Oxygene 2" – 7:12
4. "Scene 2" – 0:31
5. "Aero" – 3:09
6. "Equinoxe
   Equinoxe
   Équinoxe was the second major-label album release by French musician Jean Michel Jarre, released on Disques Dreyfus in late 1978....
   
    8" – 1:26
7. "Oxygene 4" – 4:16
8. "Scene 3" – 0:32
9. "Souvenir of China
   The Concerts in China
   The Concerts in China is a live album by Jean Michel Jarre, recorded in 1981 and released in 1982 on Disques Dreyfus...
   
   " – 4:13
10. "Scene 4" – 0:50
11. "Aerology" – 3:02
12. "Scene 5" – 0:37
13. "Equinoxe 3" – 6:08
14. "Scene 6" – 0:26
15. "Equinoxe 4" – 5:40
16. "Scene 7" – 1:06
17. "Last Rendez-Vous" – 4:41
18. "Scene 8" – 0:27
19. "Zoolook
    Zoolook
    Zoolook is the fourth overall mainstream studio album by Jean Michel Jarre, and released on Disques Dreyfus in 1984. It makes extensive use of digital recording techniques and sampling. It is considered by many fans as one of Jarre's most experimental albums to date...
    
    ology" – 3:34
20. "Scene 9" – 0:12
21. "Aerozone" – 4:51
22. "Scene 10" – 0:16
23. "Magnetic Fields
    Magnetic Fields (album)
    Magnetic Fields is the third mainstream album by Jean Michel Jarre , released on Disques Dreyfus in 1981...
    
     1" – 5:42
24. "Scene 11" – 0:17
25. "Chronology
    Chronologie
    Chronologie is an album by French electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre, and was released on Disques Dreyfus in 1993. It is his eighth overall studio album. It is inspired by Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time...
    
     6" – 4:54
26. "Rendez-Vous 4 (Live Version)" – 7:35

External links

• AERO at Discogs
  Discogs
  Discogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
  
  
• AERO at JarreUK