Released: 1978
Tracks: Are You Experienced?; Third Stone From the Sun; Purple Haze; Hey Joe; Fire; Foxey Lady; The Wind Cries Mary; I Don’t Live Today; Little Wing; If 6 Was 9; Bold as Love; Little Miss Lover; Castles Made of Sand; Gypsy Eyes; Burning of the Midnight Lamp; Voodoo Chile (Slight Return); Crosstown Traffic; Still Raining, Still Dreaming; Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland); All Along the Watchtower; House Burning Down; Room Full of Mirrors; Izabella; Freedom; Dolly Dagger; Stepping Stone; Drifting; Ezy Ryder; Wild Thing; Machine Gun; The Star Spangled Banner; Gloria
Best track: Third Stone From the Sun
Tracks to skip: Little Miss Lover, Still Raining, Room Full of Mirrors, Stepping Stone, Wild Thing
Yes, I sadly admit that this is the only Jimi Hendrix I own…a compilation. I’m gonna get that fixed soon enough, trust me. Anyway, this particular 2-disc compilation is long out of print; ever since Papa Al Hendrix won back the rights to the catalog. This is released on the Reprise label and the back cover notifies us that the album was “released under the supervision of Alan Douglas”. If you don’t know, Douglas is the guy who initially held the rights over Hendrix’s music until Jimi’s father finally won the rights in the 90’s. Many people have an extremely low opinion of Douglas, as he issued MANY posthumous albums, getting every last bit of product out there, as well as overdubbing new tracks onto what Jimi recorded before he died. Yeah, basically sacrilege. Most of disc 2 contains these posthumous tracks that came from the albums Rainbow Bridge, War Heroes & The Cry of Love. I *think* that all these tracks (maybe only the good ones?) have been re-released on First Rays of the New Rising Sun and the JH box set.
Enough history lesson, I want to talk about the music. I was about 5 years removed from living at the same time as Hendrix so I am definitely approaching his music in a different way than someone who grew up in the 60’s. And although it will angrify some people, I have to be honest about all this music. A lot of Hendrix’s music I love. However, I think that the post-Experience material is really lacking. Lemme clarify, I’m not talking about Band of Gypsies here; mostly the posthumous stuff. In fact, I’m not too gung ho about a lot of the songs from Electric Ladyland. Everything I’ve heard from Jimi’s debut (Are You Experienced), both on here and in other places, is beyond excellent. More than a classic album, it’s a perfect example of how music should be made. I think at least half of …Experienced is on here (first 8 tracks) so you get a good example of what that album is about. I think that Third Stone From the Sun is probably the coolest thing Hendrix ever did. Maybe it was the over-exposure from Wayne’s World, but I’m sick to death of Foxey Lady. It’s an average song on it’s own, but it’s past the saturation point and I can’t stand hearing it anymore. Still, it’s not bad enough to put down as a ‘track to skip’ because on its own it’s decent. Most of disc 1 is one classic after another and the entire disc is a really enjoyable listening experience. Disc 2 is just barely held together by a few great songs; the rest are boring. All Along the Watchtower, Freedom, the gorgeous Drifting and the intense Machine Gun are really the only things to make disc two needed here. OK, Gloria’s not bad, and it’s pretty amusing, and The Star Spangled Banner is an intense and important track, but really disc 2 is mostly hinging on the other 4 tracks mentioned.
I think overall I prefer Hendrix’s mellower songs the most. Stuff like Third Stone, Wind Cries Mary, Little Wing, Bold As Love, Drifting. I can’t immediately recall what exactly is on the recent 2-disc compilation, but that would probably suffice for an introduction to Hendrix’s music. However, in that and this one, there are SO MANY excellent songs left off, especially from the first album. So, my advice is to just go in order, starting with Are You Experienced. As for this, it does the job and totally leaves me wanting more. It also gives me direction on what to avoid.
Rating: 86
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