Welcome to the pond

Well, I've had a day now to listen to my new Jimi Hendrix CDs and get a good feel for them. I love them both a lot so far. They both have a lot of songs I had never heard before, so it was cool hearing stuff that was new to me. Of course, I have some thoughts about each album and I'm going to give them here.

Initial Thoughts About Axis: Bold As Love

Axis: Bold As Love seems to be a completely new direction for Jimi after the nuclear bomb that was Are You Experienced. That album was Jimi's introduction to the world, and his first chance to show his abilities on electric guitar. Axis, on the other hand, is an album that's more focused on songs, melodies and riffs. "Spanish Castle Magic" is one song on the album that would definitely fit on Experienced. Most everything else points in a new direction.

Jimi doesn't have as many freak-out solos on Axis. Instead, many of the songs are straightforward r&b-influenced rockers. When he does take a solo, it's usually more restrained than what he did on "Purple Haze" or "Manic Depression." One great exception is "Bold As Love," where Jimi's guitar gets more and more intense as the song progresses.

Axis sounds like a real showcase for the tightness of the Experience as a band. Instead of "look what Jimi can do!" it's "look what the Experience can do together!" Noel Redding even wrote and sang a song on the album.

Basically, I think this album is a more musical, "normal" album compared to its predecessor. The songs might not grab your attention during the first listen, but by the fourth or fifth listen they start to grow on you. To appreciate this album, the listener has to put aside expectations of flashiness on the part of Jimi and accept that the songs show another side of Jimi. That side may not be wild and psychedelic, but it can still write a great lyric and punch out a great riff.

Initial Thoughts About First Rays Of The New Rising Sun

I can't really judge this album as an album, because an album it is not. It's actually a collection of songs that Jimi was working on when he died. Some of them were basically finished, others were works in progress. No one knows what these songs would have sounded like on a completed LP, nor do they know which songs would have ended up on that LP. What we have here are 17 clues about Jimi's future direction and sound. Thankfully, they are 17 clues that will knock your socks off and make you want to jam along.

First Rays makes it apparent that Jimi was, indeed, going in a new direction. Many new directions, in fact. The first direction (well, possible direction, because the finished songs may have sounded completely different) involved a lot of electric guitar! After listening to the restraint of Axis (I haven't heard Electric Ladyland yet), it's great to hear some really rockin' and loud solos all over these songs. I think this reflects his live shows a lot more. Maybe he wanted to translate those amazing performances to the studio. Whatever the case, there's a lot of guitar on this collection and that's a good thing!

Jimi was also experimenting with "black" sounds. The best example of that is the presence of backup singers, bringing a soul/gospel sound to the music. "Earth Blues" sounds like a morning in church. There are also hints of funk here, which I'm sure Jimi didn't even realize he was doing because he basically laid the foundation for that music style.

There are also a few really good ballads like "Angel" and "Drifting." I think songs like these show the influence of soul and Motown on Jimi's songwriting and playing. The man wasn't a rocker all of the time.

This is a great collection of songs with many different styles and moods. They're all beautiful and powerful, and I think Jimi's next LP would have been his best ever if these songs are any indication of how it would have sounded. I'm sure that several of these songs will end up favorites of mine. A couple of them already are. I'm very glad that I bought this one, and I recommend it to any Hendrix fan.