Jimi Hendrix and the Experience albums
Jimi Hendrix was a rarity - a musician that was very popular but also very experimental. Usually this is not the case, but Hendrix had a knack for impressing people with his mesmerizing performances in and outside of the recording studio. His guitar skills, as unparalleled as they are, did not save some of his brief discography from being inconsistent and more reliant on "studio tricks" than "musical composition". Still, he rocked harder and meaner than anyone in the late 60's and that's why I personally admire him. On his most creative songs- "Third Stone from the Sun", "Still Raining, Still Dreaming", "Are You Experienced", "One Rainy Wish", "Purple Haze" and "Spanish Castle Magic"- he made the strangest noises sound almost normal. This was his great accomplishment to rock n' roll: mixing experimental techniques into popular music, rather than ‘playing the guitar really well’. Though yeah: he could play, and his rhythm section of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell is also one of the all-time greats. In all honestly, Hendrix died young at 27 before he showed us his true genius as an album creator.
Band Members:
Jimi Hendrix - Guitar, Vocals
Noel Redding - Bass, Vocals
Mitch Mitchell - Drums
Best Album:
Are You Experienced
Biggest Influences:
B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, Buddy Holly
Albums Chronologically:
1967 - 95% - Are you Experienced
1967 - 77% - Axis: Bold as Love
1968 - 83% - Electric Ladyland
1970 - 87% - Band of Gypsys
1967
Are you Experienced - 95%
1967 was a killer year for albums. In a way, you could say it was the year artists started trying to create records and there are 20-25 albums that would usually stand at the top of that heap for top albums of that year. Most people would agree that Hendrix's debut deserves a place somewhere up there. First off, each song on here is well thought out and crafted. You might even say these songs had been perfected by live shows and tinkering, from the instantly memorable "Purple Haze" through studio enhanced effects of "Are You Experienced", each song feels whole and distinct to some point. To talk about standout tracks is easy: "Purple Haze" is one of the most classic of rock songs and memorable riffs; "Fire" is a blistering rocker and some of the greatest drumming on a rock song ever; the nearly seven minute "3rd Stone from the Sun" is a groovy, purley psychedelic and experimental track, almost an instrumental with strange, psych vocals invading and made to sound normal but exploring quite a vast landscape never tackled before in rock music. The band ;The Experience’ itself is one of the great power trios around too, taking the model started by Cream the year before and expanding on it in many ways.
There is also a great potential for softer songs as the melodic "The Wind Cries Mary" is the band's Bob Dylan influenced, timeless ballad. “Hey Joe” is his take on a song covered by many in the mid 1960’s, and most people say it’s the definitive version- the only one I know of that rivals it is Love’s version made a little prior to this one in 1966. Even nit picking here and there, "May This Be Love" is probably the weak track that doesn't live up to the rest of thew record, and “I Don’t Live Today” is nothing too special besides a well-played blues song- then again there is that fading in and out at the end and that cry of ‘there aint no light nowhere’. The somewhat dated production can distract as it annoys at times but also amazes at other times, so it’s kind of a double-edged sword. Last but not least, “Foxy Lady” is almost a “Purple Haze” junior, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!
Whatever people say about this album, the bottom line is it’s a killer debut record, and it remains a popular example of rock brilliance in whatever time period. The USA pressing is the most common among the crowd I know, but songs on the British version has tracks that should be talked about as well: “Stone Free” is not my absolute favorite but makes fun use of the cowbell; “51st Anniversary” tells a fantastic story of a long lasting couple; “Highway Chile” is like a Chuck Berry homage and a harbinger of a later Hendrix masterwork; “Can You See Me” is an underrated guitar jam. In all, this album sounds like a collection of great singles, and which ever order the 11 through 16 songs on either version it is an all time classic debut record and the gold standard for Hendrix’s catalogue.
Best Songs: Fire, Purple Haze, 3rd Stone From the Sun, The Wind Cries Mary, 51st Anniversary
1967
Axis: Bold as Love - 77%
Not as stunning nor ambitious as the debut, Axis is still a great record. A lot of it is more of the same and it is still great - "Spanish Castle Magic" is the best song Hendrix ever cut in my opinion, it’s all tricky rhythms and sublimely catchy; "She's So Fine" shows off Redding's pop songwriting skills; "Little Wing" is the band at its most tender. “Wait Until Tomorrow” is pop music at its finest, the quite poetic "Castles Made of Sand" opens new avenues and finally "One Rainy Wish", where the guitar speaks in a language of its own. “Ain’t No Telling” is under two minutes but still makes an awesome impression. “If 6 was Nine” has its moments of blues addled glory, but meanders a bit too much for me to call it great.
That said, there are many things that make this record unnecessarily frustrating. There are a bunch of ‘production jokes’ that go nowhere and also some songs that merely warm up other tracks, see “Exp” as the opener that goes on far too long. Some of the songs are just weak ("You Got Me Floatin'", "Bold As Love") and others come off as unfinished like "Up From the Skies" and "Little Miss Lover". Still, for every kind of good track there is a great one to compliment it, even though as the second album Hendrix and co. released in 1967 it comes off a tad like B-Sides when compared the album that came before. There is plenty here for even the casual Hendrix fan, though it may not work as well or on as many levels as the debut.
Best Songs: Spanish Castle Magic, One Rainy Wish, She’s So Fine, Little Wing
1968
Electric Ladyland - 83%
With this ambitious double album, there is plenty to love and plenty to be fascinated by. Let me break it down like a mathematician: there are seven absolutely great songs, and seven more that have moments of greatness. In all, the 75 minute record has about 15 minutes of questionable music, which is just too much for me to give it a perfect rating. For the good, "Voodoo Child Slight Return” is one of the all time great rock songs, with the ability to show off Hendrix’s amazing contribution to guitar based hard rock seriously making it feels like his guitar is slicing a mountain in half; "All Along the Watch Tower" is one of the definitive versions of the Bob Dylan classic; "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" is some of the most bizarre blues jamming back and forth you will ever hear. There is a new epic quality in a couple of monumental length tracks, firstly "1983 A Mermaid I Should Be" takes experimental rock very seriously as there is a song within a song, and the production of experimental quality sets the standard for what should be done. It is a world class psychedelic masterwork an entertaining all the way through to say the least, a way to use guitars that make it sound like a journey under the ocean. It might be his greatest song, it is definitely his best produced song.
"Crosstown Traffic" is the first song to stun outright, and it sounds like a continuation of his famous single ready sound; "Little Miss Strange" is another Redding tune that fits in tone with his times, and "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" is another unique psychedelic jam that uses higher guitar lines to almost embark on a religious journey, like traveling through the Northern Lights. The second epic track “Voodoo Chille” is a bit more based in blues and a bit clumsier at times- it is a song that features highs and lows, and perhaps that is the point? In all, it has grown on me over the years so that I think I finally understand it….maybe it actually should have been the first song on the album, setting the tone for the double album feel that was already on its way? It helps for sure, that Jack Cassidy from Jefferson Airplane is on bass and Steve Winwood from Traffic plays Keyboards. Despite the moments of greatness here and there, I honestly feel about 6 or 7 minutes of this song would have been plenty.
However, the other songs fail a bit in actual song quality. Yes, I would say that this album is too ambitious and should in no way be considered one of the great double albums, as it falls to the curse of too much music just there for the sake of making the album longer. Songs such as – “Long Hot Summer Night”, “Come On”, “Have You Ever Been” could have been cut or used as b-sides – they make the entire record as a whole too inconsistent (“House Burning Down” might be another one that is too much of a good thing). Improvisation can be magical to a point, but there must be some structure in my mind to keep it entertaining. There is much to love on Electric Ladyland - rock music would not be the same without some of the songs contained on here - but it is one of the more overrated albums in rock history in my opinion as it is considered by some people to be Hendrix’s best record (that would be Are You Experienced) or one of the better example of what a double album should be (it has more of the hallmarks of excess that ruins double albums that should have just been singles). It didn’t NEED to be a double album, it merely wanted to be one.
Best Songs: 1983.. A Mermaid I should Be, Voodoo Child Slight Return, Burning of the Midnight Lamp, Crosstown Traffic
1970
Band of Gypsys – 87%
His final album, released around the time of his death as a live album full of original songs, and actually one of his best albums. Weirdly, it beings with the least interesting song, the new band members give the whole album a new vibe but “Who Knows” is far from a great demonstration of the new group; it’s more like a warm up song. “Machine Gun” comes in and demonstrates in the form of a great song- twelve minutes of pure energy that ebbs and flows and shows off the power of the full band at points- great drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox gel very well with Hendrix and his more soulful approach; check out those rapid fire starts and stops where the guitar or drums actually sound like a gun! “Power of Love” continues in a similar vein, exploring the sound of the debut record come full circle, with a song spinning in multiple directions but featuring a catchy guitar part. Lyric sample: “With the power of soul/ anything is possible.” Some people state Hendrix was going in a different musical direction in these new live songs, but to me it sounds like a natural progression.
“Message of Love” is the most upbeat number, sounding funkier than anything else he has done so far but totally working and featuring more and more melodic guitar, almost sounding like multiple guitars playing at once! “Changes” has its moments, you can tell they are really having a good time and guest vocals by Miles change things up, more like a Sly and the Family Stone vibe. This makes sense when you see Miles actually wrote this song and “We Gotta Live Forever”, a lovely way to close the album that has such a unity feeling. In the spirit of these jam based songs there is a sense of collaboration, yes it sets the album apart from Hendrix other releases as it is new songs performed live that never got a chance to be in the studio- no one can really know what the future would have held. I definitely view this as more of a collaboration record songwriting wise, although Hendrix always let others write songs as well on the albums (usually Noel Redding), and Miles is a superb drummer and not quite as genius of a writer- but this is Jimi Hendrix we are talking about so its all still pretty great.
Best Songs: Machine Gun, Power of Love, Message of Love
Sidenote: sorry, no posthumous or live recordings here kids! These four Albums are the Hendrix Discog in my opinion. There are many, many releases made by record company execs following Band of Gypsys, some decent live recordings that did deserve recognition ( ) and some plans for a double album never finished. The thing is, you cant just guess at what someone would have released- the possibilities are endless in how Hendrix would have changed and altered these recordings. Im not saying these records released after his passing should not have come out in some form but to view them as actual Hendrix albums is ridiculous.