Equinoxe
by Jean Michel Jarre

Equinoxe by Jean Michel Jarre
Year: 1978
Release date: 1978-12-00
Overall rank: 2,104th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 157 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1978 (37th)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (375th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,104th)

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Jean Michel Jarre bestography

Equinoxe is ranked 2nd best out of 33 albums by Jean Michel Jarre on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Jean Michel Jarre is Oxygène which is ranked number 929 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,874.

Jean Michel Jarre album bestography « Higher ranked (929th)
Oxygène
This album (2,104th)
Equinoxe
Lower ranked (5,907th) »
Zoolook

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Equinoxe rankings

Equinoxe rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,104th | 1970s rank: 375th | 1978 rank: 37th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 1 hour ago).

Equinoxe collection

Equinoxe ratings

Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 157 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 157 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 !
06/11/2026 09:21 Leonard  Ratings distribution  6,60070/100
 
85/100
 !
05/17/2026 07:55 zsolti  Ratings distribution  69281/100
 
30/100
 !
04/30/2026 16:59 Pavloss  Ratings distribution  48850/100
 
75/100
 !
02/28/2026 18:13 DaveH68  Ratings distribution  1,36376/100
 
80/100
 !
02/11/2026 17:02 RockyRaccoon  Ratings distribution  7,12884/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.9/100, a mean average of 78.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.4.


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Equinoxe comments

Showing all 8 comments |
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Rating:  
100/100
From 02/07/2024 08:17 | #301779
Almost 40 years ago when i heard this album for rhe first time i was left agape. Beautiful melodies created by a wizard on keyboard/synthesizer ...up to this day i still think Monsieur Jarre created a timeless masterpiece that sparked electronic pop-music forever.
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Rating:  
80/100
I think this and Oxygene sit in parallel. The synths JMJ was using at the time helped carve out the sound on both albums. Part 5 got a lot of airplay during late seventies and early eighties.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
Oxygene may have set the template but, in my opinion, Equinoxe was the pièce de résistance. Ambient, complex, melodic, mysterious, fun, fascinating - all these things and more. The LP starts out in a drifting fashion, complete with twinkling synth tweaks, but goes on to highly melodic pieces - the highlight of which may be the famous Equinoxe Part 5 (often appearing on those best-of-the-synthesizer cassettes throughout the 90s). An altogether stunning album and one which didn't deserve the criticism it gained upon its release.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 11/12/2019 21:41 | #244742
Incredible ??? 1978??? 5*
Masterpiece ... underrated
One of the best albuns ever
100/100
No lyrics
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
Not that good as Oxygene but still awesome.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
Just as good as Oxygéne in my opinion.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/20/2012 14:34 | #48889
Classical electronic music :)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
Équinoxe (English: "equinox") was the second major-label album release by French musician Jean Michel Jarre, released on Disques Dreyfus (with license to Polydor) in late 1978.

The album reflects a day in the life of a human being, from morning to night.[citation needed] Parts 1 to 4 (i.e. side A) and tracks 5 to 8 (side B) segué smoothly from one to the next.

Jarre had developed his sound, employing more dynamic and rhythmic elements, particularly a greater use of sequencing on basslines. Much of this was achieved using custom equipment developed by his collaborator Michel Geiss.

The release was followed by a concert on the Place de la Concorde, Paris on July 14, 1979. The concert attracted 1 million people, becoming Jarre's first entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest crowd for an outdoor concert.

Two singles were released from the album, "Équinoxe Part 5" first, and then "Équinoxe Part 4". Part of "Équinoxe Part 8" has been played live with different arrangements, including a version for an acoustic street organ, under the title of "Band in the Rain".

The album reached #11 in the UK charts and #126 in the US charts.[2]

During the 1980s, Équinoxe Part 4 was used in the opening credits of the TVNZ documentary series Our World. [3]

[WikiPedia]
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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