Chronologie

Time runs through Chronologie as both subject and structure. The concept came from Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, credited in the CD booklet — an eight-part piece tracing a life from beginning to end, on a scale that reads equally as a person, a planet or a universe.

Techno and classical music are both audible sources, and the album takes its rhythmic language from the wave of electronic dance music that had been building since the late 1980s. It's also finely made: the production is among the cleanest in his catalogue.

Parts 4 and 5 began life elsewhere. They were originally written for the Swiss watchmaker Swatch, who sponsored Jarre's 1992 Zermatt concert where they were performed; the beeping figure from Part 4 went on to appear in Swatch's Musicall watch in 1993. Michel Granger, by then a long-time collaborator, made the cover.

Released 24 May 1993 on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor. Recorded at Croissy studio.