Electric Ladyland

I thought I really liked Jimi Hendrix but it turns out I really like The Best Of Jimi Hendrix. There’s some sublime stuff here but it’s buried under endless jazzy noodling.

I love Jimi Hendrix on so many levels. However I do think this album suffers from being a bit unfocused due to its length. Love many individual tracks and the psychedelic effects in the production. Love the way certain tracks flow into one another. This may sound crazy but I actually prefer something like the wandering soundscapey "1983" to something like the bluesy "Voodoo Chile" - Its funny cause if they were played live I'd probably prefer it the other way around, but on record (especially on headphones) I lean towards the more experimental, and the face melters don't do as much for me. One of my first CDs was a Jimi Hendrix compilation so many of these songs run deep with me due to nostalgia.

The GOAT. If you look up 'psychedelic rock' on Wiki it has a picture of Jimi. From an electric guitar standpoint, Hendrix will knock your dick in the dirt. With the exception of Edward Van Halen, everyone else who has ever picked up a guitar is playing second fiddle to his creative genius. I'm not just throwing out hyperbole either, for my money this is the greatest double album of all time. Pure magic. Funny things is, it's not even my favorite Hendrix album. I listened to this a couple times and now I'm on Songs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts. Four sets from the Band of Gypsys. 5+ hours of pure live music magic.

There's a classic game theory experiment where you agree to meet someone tomorrow in NYC but you don't discuss a specific time or location. The experiment has been repeated many times + overwhelming majority of participants end up successfully meeting (spoiler alert: they meet at the clock inside Grand Central at noon). My wife knows about this project and asked me what the album of the day was and I told her it was the greatest album ever made. She thought about it for a minute and said Ziggy Stardust. I told her this album is older than that. She thought about it for another minute and correctly guessed Electric Ladyland. She's not even that much of a Hendrix fan, too. On the first Experience album Jimi asked Have You Ever Been Experienced? And here on the last Experience album he asks Have You Ever Been To Electric Ladyland? He really wants to know if have you ever been this or that! Electric Ladyland was a studio that Jimi built with his own money and then used to record this album. This whole album has a feel has a feel of a musical playground. It is unusually sequenced - very few albums would have a 10 minute jam on side one. Meanwhile, The pacing of sides 3 and 4 keep building and building and building. It's really quite incredible. If you've only listened to this record all the way through, suggest you give it a shot from the middle to the end sometime. It's really spectacular, not just the pacing of the tunes but how they all fit together and themes come back and forth, culminating in a performance of all along the watchtower that I dare say even its songwriter Bob Dylan would probably admit is far beyond and more compelling than anything Dylan himself could do. I have to also mention that the guitar playing on this record is outrageous. There are things he's doing on this that still no one has been able to reproduce. Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Jaco Pastorius...these are the rare stylists on their chosen instruments that are unique to the point that they practically create their own genres. It's a level of artistry I find incredibly inspiring. Back at the beginning of the album, Jimi sings "Make love, make love, make love"...he means this literally and universally in a way very few people do. Did you ever hear about the Plaster Caster Girls? Groupie/Artists who made dozens of plaster replicas of male rock stars' penises. Legend has it that when Hendrix was given the mold he "made love" to it until, errr, completion. Also, in concert he would describe his song "Manic Depression" as a story about a guy who wished he could make love to his guitar - given that he was known to sleep alongside his guitar fairly frequently, I am pretty sure it's straight autobiography. May sound strange but it's of a piece with the story of when his dad Al knew he should buy Jimi his first guitar - he asked child Jimi to sweep up their apartment while Al was at work and when he got back, the floor was covered in loose broomsticks because Jimi went wild playing the broom like a guitar. After he finished whipping Jimi, he went to the guitar store. Thank you, Al!

Look, we all know Jimi Hendrix is a rock god and his contributions to guitar are legendary, but this album is meandering and a bore. Boy, does it end strong, though! All Along the Watchtower and Voodoo Child (Slight Return) are a monstrous one-two punch.

It's going to be a bit difficult for me to review this record impartially. I was around when it came out and I pretty much accepted it as a masterpiece along with the rest of the world at the time, but here goes. ...And the Gods Made Love starts out the album with some primitive slowed down speech, flanging, stereo effects and the like, but even here, a high level of artistry and imagination is apparent. The first proper song, Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) blends rock, soul, and psychedelia seamlessly, with a flowing melody and changes which are as surprising as the seem inevitable. Cross Town Traffic gives us a jolt of pure pop. The low tech and inspired use of a comb and a piece of cellophane provides the vocal effects. Hendrix and Stevie Winwood (on organ) provide a master class in electrifying the blues on Voodoo Child that hasn't been approached, much less equalled since. I'm also amazed by how the musicians, seemingly communicating telepathically, improvise much of the music, building and building the drama and intensity throughout the 15 minute run time, without a wasted second. Hendrix's phrasing and tone are phenomenal on this live in the studio track, and Winwood comes close to matching him. Finally, with Little Miss Strange, we get a tune which is merely very good. Noel Redding's lead vocals are a little wimpy here, but it's a charming tune nonetheless. With Long Hot Summer Night, Hendrix is back to combining soul and rock in his unique way. Don't let the ease with which it goes down blind you to the complexity and taste of the composition and arrangement. Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) is a straightforward blues tune, good but nothing special. Hey, they can't all be great! Gipsey Eyes and Burning of the Midnight Lamp are accessible but wholly original, a neat trick. Midnight Lamp features Hendrix's mastery of the wah-wah pedal. The next suite, which took up a whole album side in the days of vinyl, gives us a demonstration of Hendrix's studio wizardry. It's been a long time since I've listened to this album. I've forgotten how effortless and soulful Hendrix was as a singer, composer and guitarist. Rainy Day, Dream Away gives us a stoned paean to rainy days, which drifts into the groove of the lyrics on 1983...(A Mermaid I Should Turn Out To Be). It meanders with a purpose, if that makes sense. It's blissed out meditation, pure music. I could go on, but I think y'all get the point. I haven't even talked about the incredible tango psychedelic rock hybrid House Burning Down or the definitive version of Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, the album's big hit yet. I don't know what drugs Hendrix was taking, but I want some! He does more with a primitive studio, standard rock trio instrumentation, and an occasional sax or organ than almost anyone has since, and this without the benefit of anyone blazing his path for him! The studio trickery, his approach to the guitar, his arrangements, all of it is unique to him! And he reached these heights in a scant few years! Electric Ladyland is more flat out astonishing with the benefit of 50 years of hindsight than it was at the time and that is saying something. 5 out of 5.

Jimi Hendrix on his worst day is still an unchallenged musical legend. That said, "Electric Ladyland" is not his best work. It's a bit of a disconnected mess. At times, the songs seem to lose track of their own melody and wander off into unplanned directions. Despite having some of Hendrix's biggest hits ("Voodoo Child" and "All Along the Watchtower") the overall impression is ... addled. Confused. Unfocused on the music. I suppose this is to be somewhat expected given Hendrix's mental state at the time but it's still a damn shame given his sheer, unbridled talent. It hurts to give this album 4 stars. While "Electric Ladyland" lacks the intensity and fire of "Are You Experienced" it still delivers the goods and absolutely deserves its place on this list. But it's not Hendrix's best work by a long shot and, sadly, it's not quite 5-star material.

13/1089 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience is definitely the Ocarina of Time of psychedelic rock. Both revolutionized the landscapes they were a part of and also Jimi and Link are both left-handed. Great improvisations, catchy melodies.

I have little patience for 75 minutes of just pointless jamming but this has All Along the Watchtower so it gets two stars.

Normally, I’d give a double album like this one the business for being self-indulgent, overly long and unnecessary….and I won’t lie, it is a bit of those things. Electric Ladyland, for me, is buoyed out of that category because of the relatively small amount of material we got from Jimi Hendrix during his lifetime. Sure, we’ve gotten countless compilations of the material he was working on at the time of his death and plenty of live shows, etc. over the years since his passing, but the fact of the matter is there were only 4 records of original music that he officially released as “Jimi Hendrix” during his lifetime: The three Jimi Hendrix Experience records and the Band of Gypsies live record. So I’ll take as much as I can get, because he is without a doubt the most influential guitarist of all time. Electric Ladyland is bursting at the seams with ideas and sounds that were unlike anything that had been committed to tape at the time. Hendrix was trying to bridge the music in his head with what the technology of 1968 could accommodate and we’re lucky to have this vibrant, electrifying and expansive document of it to take a glimpse into his mind and wonder what else he could have possibly come up with. Electric Ladyland can be scattershot, experimental, overly long and, as I said earlier, a little self indulgent, but isn’t that kind of what you’d expect “genius” to look like?

He was obviously extraordinarily talented, but god this album felt like it would never end.

Day 40 of Albums You Must Hear Before You Die!! Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the last week or so, I’ve been able to discuss so many iconic artists in music. Some I know more about than others before hearing their records, but the ones that really leave a lasting impression on the culture are the ones that follow their own intuition, the ones that fight to take their deserved spot at the top of the hill, and the ones that are self made and aren’t willing to negotiate one single bit when it comes to their vision. Jimi Hendrix paid his dues by making other amazing artists sound even better. Before he was Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy James played for legendary acts such as, The Isley Brothers, Ike and Tina, Sam Cooke and Little Richard. His flashy and flamboyant ways would sometimes infuriate the stars of these acts (Little Richard), and it became more and more evident that Jimmy James was meant to become Jimi Hendrix and blaze his own trail, like a shooting comet in the sky. Jimi Hendrix is as pure of a blues guitarist as you can get. He made a reputation for himself by playing his Stratocaster electric guitar unlike anyone else, as if he was possessed by his instrument and was just a mere medium used to convey messages from another realm. Before Hendrix, amplifier feedback, fuzz and distortion was unwanted and frowned upon, he would however, use these sounds to convey even more emotion into his instrumentation. He also played his guitar upside down (he was left handed), he would play with his teeth and behind his back. When Jimi would go off on a long solo, he would close his eyes and seem to drift away into the music. This may be because he couldn’t read music, and instead of identifying musical notes on a sheet of paper, he saw the notes as colors in his head. I love that. Electric Ladyland would be Hendrix’s final album before his premature death in 1970. It’s a double LP and would be his most successful album of his very short career, and would reach the number one spot. Have You Ever Been To Electric Ladyland is an R&B introduction into his final experience. Crosstown traffic is one of my favorites on this album, with its upbeat tempo and unique riff. There are two completely different versions of Voodoo Chile, the second of which is much more known and a little bit better, but they are both great. Long Hot Summer Night is smooth and cooler than a polar bears toenails. House Burning Down is a great example of Jimi’s guitar being its own member of the band, it’s as if the instrument is singing its own lyrics. All Along the Watchtower is probably the most well known of all tracks on the record, and is another example of a Bob Dylan song being made better by someone else. Watchtower is one of the most iconic 60’s songs ever, and if there is a film or show about the war in Vietnam, you can bet your ass that this song is in there somewhere. Now, to be honest and fair, I do feel that this album is a little bloated in places and there a few songs that I didn’t particularly fall in love with. With that said, this is a must hear for sure, and a classic without doubt. I have to admit, I did not go into this album knowing a ton about Jimi Hendrix or his life. I found for myself a deeper appreciation for him, because he made his own way, and had fate not intervened, the possibilities of his potential were endless. I’m sure there were no shortage of people who attempted to discourage his desire of being his own man and fronting his own band. Some of the best artists to ever create, spend their lives being the back up to another person’s act, and live out their lives relatively unknown. If that’s what they want, that’s totally okay, but I tip my hat to those that break the chains that bound their creativity and forge their own path. Please share your thoughts, memories and opinions!!

Damn. Never listened to one of his album before and I was blown away. I wonder which guitarist can say they haven't been influenced by Jimi Hendrix...

Just. Great. A magnificent example of the breadth of Hendrix's styles and interests. And one of the longer albums on the list so far as well. Worth every minute!

I can't argue that Jimi Hendrix is an icon, a virtuoso guitar player and all around peace seeking good guy. This was the first time I put this album on in full and enjoyed it. Cross Town Traffic sounded like a guy who's lived in New York City too long and has to get some lyrics down on paper before the recording session (my one hot take, even though the tune is great).

Hendrix was a singular, enthralling talent. Unquestionably the greatest ever electric guitar player, his gift for crafting iconic hooks out of snappy catchphrases, twisting licks into memorable choruses and constantly innovating across generic lines puts him among the 20th century’s greatest songwriters. “Electric Ladyland” is embarrassingly good. It’s the record I’d hope – a billion good years from now – the aliens find at the top of the stack. Having dug through however many miles of anonymous human-made detritus, they’d see it glinting there – yeah, just over there, poking out the inner tray of an old Audi station wagon’s in-car media centre. They’d revive the engine, give the interior a quick dusting out (that musty smell immanent to the cars of working men who occasionally cart around ripe bags full of football boots and shin pads would linger) and feed that glinting disc into the CD player. What would follow would be a radical confrontation of any previously held opinion on what’s sonically plausible; an expansion of their musical vocabulary that would entirely recalibrate their expectations. A whole new alien world suddenly under them, ahead of them. Incredible. And in that moment, they’d have a lot in common with the eleven year old boy who’d sat in that passenger seat a good billion years before them. That’s how good Hendrix is.

Holy Crap Jimi is an insane guitarist. There is no other like him. I really can't express enough how sad it is that someone with his skills passed away so young. The world of guitar would be so much more advanced had he lived longer. As for this album specifically, I liked the shorter songs on sides one and four particularly, but I also quite enjoyed the two longer tracks and hearing all of the technical stuff that Jimi does with his guitar. I didn't dislike a single song on this album, it isn't too long, and the songs are creative and varied enough that its length is justified. I love this album so much it's just incredible. Favorite Song: Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Least Favorite Song: Moon, Turn the Tides...Gently Gently Away

Do you want to listen to some music that has a bit of rock and a bit of guitar? Well in all along the watch tower you can!!! I rate the song ⭐⭐⭐⭐! I recommend this song. Do you want to listen to some music that has a lot of guitar? well in voodoo child you can! I rate this song ⭐⭐⭐⭐! I recommend this! Do you want to listen to some music that has a lot of electric guitar? well in long hot summer night you can! I rate it ⭐⭐⭐⭐! I recommend this song!

Electric Landlady Big Durham vibes. I listened to this a lot back then, and probably over listened to it, as I haven’t felt the urge to revisit it that frequently since then. Which is a shame as it is an absolutely fantastic record. Dense, meandering, abrupt, spooky, exciting, throwaway, melodic, weird, this has everything, all tied together not only by the guitar, but also by Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, and Jimi’s fantastic, laconic, laid back voice. It is definitely unfocused though and you can’t help but think what an amazing record a 12 track single album would be, but I think in the end, rather like the White Album, it’s length and weird corners are what give it its charm, and as an immersive psychedelic rock experience I don’t think it can be bettered. In anyone else’s hands this could be unlistenable, but Jimi manages to tread that line and keep you engaged. Also in modern terms 73 minutes isn't actually that far off many far inferior single albums. The sounds on…And the Gods Made Love have always given me a slight sense of vestibular hyperacusis, but I love how it leads into the laid back charm of Have You Ever Been (to Electric Ladyland). Crosstown traffic is a classic and then I love the astral hippy woo woo bollocks lyrics on Voodoo Chile, as well as, of course, the song itself. Imagine being off your tits in 1968 and putting this psychedelic space blues on the turntable. Little Miss Strange, Long Hot Summer Night and Come On is a great little trio, Long Hot Summer Night’s loping groove is great. Gypsy Eyes has that effortless sounding rhythm and lead playing and great bass playing. And then Burning of the Midnight Lamp is so good, one of my favourite Hendrix songs, absolutely superb with the harpsichord and the choral backing. The jazzy organ and piano on Rainy Day Dream Away gives it a nice feel, a bit of a break from the guitar pyrotechnics and a bit of a breather before 1983 (A Merman I Should Turn to Be), which is also one of my favourite Hendrix songs, an amazing spaced out 60s psychedelic jam. I love the sound effects, backward guitar, shifting times signatures, jazzy bits, flutes and the bass and drums. Great vocal too. It may be 13 minutes long but it is a monumental banger. House Burning Down sounds like it could be on their first album, really great bass and drums. All Along the Watchtower and Voodoo Child get played so much it's easy to tune them out, but they really are superb and rightfully endure. I’ve always loved how the drum pattern matches the opening riff on Voodoo Child and All Along the Watchtower is, obviously superb, really amplifying the old time spookiness of the original. It’s an easy 5, it may be long and slightly unfocused but I love it’s swampy, soupy, hippy vibes and I happily listened through 5 times today, frequently picking up things I’d missed amongst its density. 🧜‍♂️🧜‍♂️🧜‍♂️🧜‍♂️🧜‍♂️ Playlist submission; Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and All Along the Watchtower are the obvious ones, I really love Burning of the Midnight Lamp, but I’ll go 1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be).

LOVE

Not my favorite Hendrix album, but still genius. I’ve been listening to this for 30+ years and it’s still incredible. Five stars.

This is one of the best albums thus far on 1001 albums. It hits hard, beginning to end, though All Along the Watchtower is obviously the most famous one on here (for good reason.) Truly a great album.

Fantastic album full of classic Hendrix

Excellent

This is strange collection of so songs. Little Miss Strange could have been a Beatles show by. Burning of the Midnight Lamp pulls out some mid 60s British invasion psychedelia. There's jazz, there's blues rock. And there are the stone cold classics everyone loves. Hendrix as a guitarist and vocalist is amazing. Especially in his most focused moments. But a lot of this feels unfocused. What the fuck is 1983? For as long as the track is, almost nothing happens until the very end. This is a tough one. That final three song run is really good. And All Along the Watchtower still stands as one of the greatest songs of all time. But the album as a whole is kind of a mess with glimpses of genius.

I don't think that I can add anything that hasn't already been said. One if the most iconic and influential musicians in the history of rock. It still holds up today. Not a single bad sing in the album.

Jimi Hendrix really stretched out and expanded himself creatively on Electric Ladyland, which is probably one of the finest double LPs of all time. It’s got everything you could want from Hendrix: psychedelic guitar-rock wizardry, of course, but also a generous helping of blues, soul and funk, an excellent Bob Dylan cover that surpasses the original, concise and well-crafted rock songs, and extended jams. He also made excellent use of the studio as a kind of fourth instrument augmenting the formidable Experience. It’s this album in particular that leaves me wondering where else he would have gone musically had he not died so young.

#DÍA 15: 1001 Discos Que Hay Que Escuchar Antes De Morir (English Translation Below) Un álbum legendario, ya lo había escuchado así que no me ha pillado de sorpresa, pero una escucha detenida me ha ayudado a tener una imagen más completa de este huracán psicodélico. Ya dejé entender en la reseña de Stephen Stills que con que Hendrix toque tres notas yo ya estoy con la mandíbula en el suelo, es algo exagerado pero desde que escuché este doble LP me he vuelto un fan de cómo tocaba este señor. Tenía ganas de que en el desafío me tocase pronto un proyecto suyo, qué casualidad que es uno que ya he oído pero bueno… Me conformo por ahora. La energía y pasión de este disco es de otro mundo, mundo en el que entramos de cabeza con la espeluznante intro y el tono fantasioso, como entrando a un rito bacanal en Have You Ever Been. Todo ello para que después nos suelten dos de los mejores temas de blues y rock que he escuchado en mi vida: Crosstown Traffic, con el riff tan salvaje y casi motorizado y Voodoo Child, una extensa experiencia de blues que deja hipnotizado con sus solos. El doble LP, pese a su extensión, no pierde prácticamente dinamismo en todo lo que dura, desde las armonías a lo Beatles de Little Miss Strange, la energía tan saltarina de Gypsy Eyes, el viaje subacuático tan progresivo por el que te lleva 1983 o la chispeante House Burning Down. Hay mucha experimentación en este proyecto tan masivo, principalmente moviendo los instrumentos de lado a lado en estéreo, o distintos pedales, como el wah-wah o el octavia. Es de admirar sin duda, pero pienso que en algunos momentos las canciones se vuelven demasiado caóticas, como Burning of the Midnight Lamp. La experiencia es alucinante, no me extraña que decidieran nombrar así la banda… Favoritas: Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland), Crosstown Traffic, Voodoo Child, Gypsy Eyes, 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be), Still Raining, Still Dreaming; House Burning Down, All Along the Watchtower, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Menos favorita: Burning of the Midnight Lamp #DAY 15: 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die A legendary album. I had already listened to it before, so it didn’t catch me by surprise, but a more focused listen helped me get a fuller picture of this psychedelic hurricane. I already hinted in my Stephen Stills review that all it takes is for Hendrix to play three notes and my jaw is on the floor—that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but ever since I listened to this double LP, I’ve become a fan of the way this man played. I was hoping that one of his projects would come up soon in the challenge—what a coincidence that it’s one I had already heard, but ok… I’ll take it for now. The energy and passion in this record are out of this world—a world we dive headfirst into with the eerie intro and the fantastical tone of Have You Ever Been, like entering a bacchanalian rite. All of this just to be hit with two of the best blues and rock songs I’ve ever heard: Crosstown Traffic, with its wild, almost motorized riff, and Voodoo Child, an extensive blues experience that hypnotizes with its solos. Despite its length, the double LP hardly ever loses momentum, from the Beatles-like harmonies of Little Miss Strange, the bouncy energy of Gypsy Eyes, the proggy underwater journey of 1983, or the sparkling House Burning Down. There’s a lot of experimentation in this massive project—mainly moving instruments from side to side in stereo or using different pedals, like the wah-wah or the octavia. It's undeniably admirable, though I do think that at times the songs become a bit too chaotic, like Burning of the Midnight Lamp. Still, the experience is mind-blowing—no wonder they chose that name for the band… Favorites: Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland), Crosstown Traffic, Voodoo Child, Gypsy Eyes, 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be), Still Raining, Still Dreaming, House Burning Down, All Along the Watchtower, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Least favorite: Burning of the Midnight Lamp

Its Jimi Time. Electric Ladyland, by Jimi Hendrix, is fucking fire. Oh my god the guitar could not sound any better. I love the beginning riff on Voodoo Child (Slight Return), it gets me so hype for the outro of the album. In its whole, this album has very little to no flaws. I consider most of these tracks perfect. Talking about perfect, Crosstown Traffic is a top 5 rock song that I have ever heard. Just like Voodoo Child, it features some insane riffs. Along with those tracks, my I also loved Gypsy Eyes. All in all, Electric Ladyland is a perfect album. Best Song: Crosstown Traffic Worst Song: Rainy Day, Dream Away

I probably overheard this album in my adolescence. I know I had a Hendrix Experience compilation, and this album on my iPod. I don't remember why I chose to download this one, but when I did, I realized immediately this is one of the records you take with you to a deserted island. It's so versatile and full of talent. I know Crosstown Traffic was a heavy rotation track because I know all of its twists and turns, but now find it a little excessively pop, a little dated. Miss Strange follows through like that too, and then everything else is exquisite. I don't know a lot of this track list by name, but once the sound starts, I pick up where I left off. Every time. The way Jimi takes hold of ideas and couples them with music is the key factor here. Emotion as sound is easy to understand but so incredibly difficult to achieve. I really appreciated listening to the project today with fresh years. I found it curious how on tracks like Voodoo Chile I could hear a live audience when this is a studio production. A little reading and you realize the studio was a party. That this is an album where the concept of the project is the Jimi Hendrix Experience's groupies, the electric ladies. The muse IS that rock and roll free spirit, of course you want your friends at the conception of it. Frankly, Jimi got away with so much here, I'm surprised the label didn't work more with his vision for the artwork. The birthday suit fits the emotion of this effort better than the beautiful reds and yellows of the official artwork. This is an odd album because even though it's been saturated through my ears and I know I won't be playing it frequently, I also know I'm going to keep listening to it for the rest of my life, if time permits the urge to creep at its own pace, as has been happening for years. 4.65/5

Good Hendrix covers are rare as songs like these are wedded to his expressiveness, his deft use of guitar, studio and that soft, saintly voice. More than most of his contemporaries, he put these sounds into the foreground as the message rather than the lyrics, the songs, which was the right choice as they blaze and excite. Half the songs are almost sonic anecdotes on bare bone structure; “Voodoo Chile (Slight return)” abandons the idea of return, choruses and verses too restrictive. There are lulls, and though “Little Miss Strange” is not as disastrous as I remembered. The long “Voodoo Chile” is a slow mutter for the first two thirds before it takes off; I also like this more than when I last visited this album. “1983…” is a post-rock epic and maybe the best demonstration of band and studio, for once the latter not eating the former. The second time my dad saw him, at a larger venue than the first, Hendrix halted the band mid-song when an attractive woman walked down the aisle, and wrangled a distorted, long wolf-whistle out of his guitar. Naughty not nice, but expressive. I was not expecting to rate this as highly, but it’s consistently enchanting.

[EDIT - total rewrite] Well, it turns out the CD I bought around 1990 is sequenced completely wrong. Of course "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" shouldn't come *before* "Rainy Day, Dream Away"; likewise the "Slight Return" is perhaps too slight when only 4 songs later! No Wikipedia back then, see. In its proper order Electric Ladyland makes for a well-paced, excellent double, one I have substantial affection for, but have only really appreciated as intended today. Even "Little Miss Strange" sounds decent in its proper place (kinda). So many great tracks, from the bangers ("Cross Town Traffic" (UK edition); "..Lamp.."; "..Watchtower") to the augmented blues exercises ("Come On"; "House Burning Down") to the psych wigouts ("1983.." (prob. my fave Hendrix); "Voodoo Chile" (the OG)) and everything in-between. Love the genuine "live in the studio" vibe of CTT (final "yeah, look out"s and applause) and VC, esp. with our recurring utility player Stevie Winwood on organ (which I didn't know, again, until reading the details today). Others, elsewhere, have called Hendrix the "only perfect rock star", given his tragically-short timeline and bountiful accomplishments. I would interject with a "Buddy Holly also/instead" but generally agree based on this evidence. Really requires the '60s tits cover for full marks, fortunately my copy did reproduce that accurately, at least.

Not having listened to this since maybe high school, I'm a little floored. Guitar, yes, of course, but goddamn Steve Winwood again, on organ on "Voodoo Chile", takes it Valhalla. The variety on this record! 60s baroque pop vs blues workouts vs Tom Waitsy-hipsterism vs studio interstellar excursions. I love an album that feels like it could be a radio station. And "All Along the Watchtower" deserves every play it's ever gotten.

I accidentally put on Band of Gypsies instead of this one. But does that matter? No, not really. It's Jimi. Anyways, I listened to that album and then put this one on. I don't think there's much to say about any of these that haven't been said already. Hendrix is always worth a listen. I will say, while all Hendrix is great, Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) might be the single greatest guitar riff ever recorded. It's at a level that very little can compare to. And his version of All Along the Watchtower is up there with Cash's Hurt. Both took an existing song and made it theirs. No longer just a cover, but now their song.

Absolute fire from beginning to end!

Very Influential album. That Intro to Voodoo child (slight return) with that wah wah sounds. I think so many guitarists have that pedal because of that intro. All along the watchtower is one of the greatest cover ever. And other guitar wizazzardy. Maybe its not enough and 2 for someone l. But for me it’s a 5

What isn't there to love about one of the greatest albums of all time by one of the most transformative geniuses of all time. This is a must-listen.

What a good album

This is a really great album throughout and I don't think there was a single track that I didn't at least somewhat enjoy. Sometimes less is more, but this is one time where I'm glad to have one-and-a-quarter hours of listening. Favorite tracks: "Voodoo Chile," "1983," "All Along the Watchtower" (Although I still don't understand why it was in Battlestar Galactica)

finally some good music

Feels almost autobiographical in its incorporation of classic 1950s rock (Little Miss Strange, Let The Good Times Roll) with experimental / psychedelic wanderings, though not all the tracks shine. Still, like the pie in the movie "Hitman," all Hendrix is good Hendrix, and I've already listened to this album three times since it was served up in this project.

Brilliant. It's a sonic journey and an assault on your ears.

Probably the Hendrix album I've listened to the least in full, although clearly chock full of classics and a fair argument for being his absolute best. Hendrix is generally an odd mix - witness the epic, early prog behemoth version of Voodoo Chile dissolve into the relatively straightforward 60s Beatles-esque beat group jangle of Little Miss Strange. He also makes odd decisions sometimes, 1983 could be way more epic but they just stop as it's really taking off on that marching beat. But again, it's 1968. It's REALLY early for this sort of music. And then there's noodling for 6 minutes or something haha. Honestly, it's great. Burning of the Midnight Lamp is just incredible, I've always wished the production was better on the somewhat muddy middle section. I generally consume Jimi via the mixtape my friend made me in the 90s, but if I was going to stick a full album of his on it would be this, nowadays.

Kind of a pivot from the psych-pop of the Jimi Hendrix Experience to the psych funk of the Band of Gypsies, this album is Hendrix in transition and captures the full range of his powers. Voodoo Chile is an extended jam over a deep base groove with a virtuoso guitar performance while Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) tames the wild exploratory song into a straight-forward rock single, a successor to Purple Haze. The fuzzed out guitar sounds so damn good, even on cheesy tracks like Noel Redding's Little Miss Strange, which has the unfortunate job of following Voodoo Chile. His playing-style -extended pentatonic blues with constant embellishment - remains distinctive despite being universally copied. The solo on Come On is fast and chaotic blues rock guitar taken to its logical conclusion and the wah-pedal wild panning and multi-tracked parts on Rainy Day and Still Raining show how he was incorporating emerging tools into his playing. There's also some late 60s studio experimentation with reverse tape effects, delays, overdubs, and stereo effects features JH as a creative song-writer and recording artist not just an exhilarating performer. The songs don't reach the heights of the Axis album's gems or the perfect pop singles of Are You Experienced, but even so songs like Long Hot Summer Night, Crosstown Traffic, and House Burning Down show his ability to craft a radio-friendly hits. And Watchtower obviously rules. I prefer both the looser live BoG albums that would follow this and the tighter psychedelia and pop songs of the preceding studio albums, but this is far more experimental and has so many unexpected ideas throughout it that it is still an exciting listen.

There's an easy narrative to identify linking all his previous albums as steps towards this, the realization of all his creative faculties that were previously held back by producers and bad backing musicians. I don't know if it's all that serious. I think he's just having fun with pedals in a way that happens to sound fucking awesome

Incredible. The two longest songs are exceptional and deserve to be every second as long as they are, not a single track feels like a miss, and Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower" is phenomenal. 10/10.

5*...how can you not

Absolute classic! Love this album so damned much and shmoke to it very often

Class album. Play it loud!

A true musical experience. Just all around great album from one of the greatest guitar players ever.

Easy 5 here. Jimi absolutely must be heard before you die. Great, great album

"You cant hear jimmy...!"

Fun and wild for such an amazing guitar savant. Not many as good since. 'Are You Experienced" is the better album, but this has classic Jimi. Listen to again and again

I’m obviously familiar with a lot of Hendrix’s songs, but have never listened to a full album of his. Goes without saying, but the guy had some chops. There are some outright bangers on this thing and some surprisingly long winding jams. Unlike most other double albums, this one didn’t feel like it overstayed its welcome.

Chas Chandler, the producer of this album, quit half way through the recording, and it really shows. There is a great album here, possibly one of the greatest rock albums of all time, but there is a lot of meandering before you get to the killer ending of All Along the Watchtower and Voodoo Chile (Slight Return). In some ways, I wish we could have a Get Back style documentary of the recording process to appreciate the work that went into this.

Jimi hendrix is a cool guy

Jimi Hendrix was obviously an incredible guitarist who I don’t think gets enough credit for how distinctive his voice was too, and when this is good, it’s amazing. But swathes of it are kinda dull.

This is a masterpiece of electric guitar and creative freedom. However that’s all it is. The lack of lyrics and track dynamism made me feel bored despite the incredible guitar.

This album has a lot of elements to it. Sometimes Al Green sometimes the Beatles (“Little Miss Strange” was a shock). The classic Hendrix tunes shine among the others, “all along the watch tower” and “voodoo chile”, but I struggled to bond with much of the rest. Hendrix’s signature wailing guitar, virtuosic to be sure, just wafted over me. Perhaps I’ve been over-exposed through years?

This was definitely an interesting one. I like the song "1983...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be). I didn't realize this is the album "All Along the Watchtower" is from. IT IS ABSOLUTELY NEWS TO ME THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY A COVER OF A BOB DYLAN SONG! I THOUGHT THE SONG ~WAS~ HENDRIX! OH MY GOODNESS. wow. I see why everyone was on drugs. You had to be to listen to Voodoo Chile. I do love that the song is like 15 minutes long haha.

The god of guitar. There's some impressive musicianship here, and I was happily suprised that there are also proper songs in the mix of the guitar solos. I had only listened to a greatest hits album before. This is the first time I hear a Hendrix proper album. Not bad at all. Just not my style, specially since I don't play guitar. A guitar player would probably appreciate more this album.

i think i judge single instrument noodley virtuosos on a 2 axis matrix. they're all really good at their thing by definition, so from there it's: are they cool, and are they just technically skilled and making masturbatory music or is there artistry involved so for instance: yngwie malmsteen... one of the least cool people you've ever seen in your life (and also a dickhead), and he's just up there noodling for noodling's sake to prove that he can. your enjoyment and even your presence is irrelevant to him. jimi hendrix, one of the coolest people you've ever seen in your life, and he's pouring himself into it. 0 stars for yngwie malmsteen on principle if he ever pops up on this list, 3 stars for this particular jimi album

An enjoyable, if unfocused, electric blues dream but very much the average Hendrix fare. Carrying a lot of weight at the end of the album are Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and Hendrix’s cover of All Along The Watchtower - one of only a few covers to become the definitive version. Hearing Watchtower again was quite incredible, it really is a beast of a cover although it’s quality does stand in stark contrast to the rest of the album. I don’t think I’d listen to this again but I’m glad I’ve heard it.

Yeah yeah i'm the guy who shits in the punchbowl. Mr. iconoclast. Hendrix (Experience) kind of bored me. Bores me. I don't think any of it is bad at all, and it/he is definitely historic for how different it was to most/all rock before it. But I just sat through this album again for the first time in maybe a decade and it was cool but I don't really remember a lot of it. Yeah yeah the big singles <yawn> I mean it's all fine and like what you want and sure Hendrix was a genius but .... ? Do we say this just reflexively? Overall the songs here were/are not.that.good. Aside: I remember discovering Band of Gypsys many years ago and THAT was mind-blowing. So much better. This is a long and meandering album; it's very welcomed in the context of me closing up a long dry spell of borderline-unlistenable albums, but I'm still not walking away from this with chills - many songs start out interesting then don't go anywhere amidst a sea of blues-based wanking. Turning it positive - there's obviously excellent musicianship here and as a guitarist, I appreciate and enjoy Jimi's (still) unique playing. He was the first of his kind, I don't need to go into it you know you know. A+ and I love listening to him play. I just want a few songs that became all time favorites and nothing has ever come close. maybe that's not the point, maybe I'm holding him to a higher standard. Possibly. 3 stars for definite talent that was to that point unfulfilled. It's just too long and without many great or even good songs to latch onto. Notable exception/s are the last 2 songs which are the best tracks on the album; of course one not even being his own ("...Watchtower" then the better/kickass version of "Voodoo Child..."). Double albums have to have some purpose to them, other than throwing everything against the wall and letting it stick. Probably could/should have filtered this down to ~7/8 songs. And maybe some jazzy instrumentals to round it out. Ehhh Band of Gypsys filled that need. 6/10 3 stars.

Monsieur se permet de mettre ses plus gros tubes à la toute fin de l'album, comme pour nous signifier de bien aller nous faire foutre. Rien que pour l'attente j'enlève une étoile. Et t'as de la chance d'avoir été un ami de Cat Stevens car dans le cas contraire j'aurais mis 2.

Une première mi-temps cataclysmique, néammoins Jimi est revenu des vestiaires avec de bien meilleures intentions. Délaissant sa voix de merde pour se reconcentrer sur ses fondamentaux, à savoir le maniement de la denommée "gratte" comme aime à l'appeler mon compère Robwurt pour se donner un air de guitariste de feu de camp, Jimi enchainera les dribbles chaloupées entre les cordes pour venir arracher la victoire dans le temps additionnel

I know this is a historical masterpiece and all but necessary to make a song 15 minutes long and snort and sniff into the microphone? I think it’s way better as an album as than individual songs and is meant to be listened to like that. Overall I think it’s one of those things that I needed to listen to for historical context, but it’s not easy listening.

Detta ändlösa jammande över ett helt dubbelalbum, det är mer än jag tål. Lundells dubbelalbum känns korta i jämförelse även om dom rent tidsmäsdigt är längre. Voodoo child är 15 min, 1983 dryga 13 min! Jimi är säkert skicklig och t.o.m. innovativ, men det ger mig absolut ingenting. Det finns några låtar som är mer renodlade och en av dem har han inte ens skrivit själv, även om han gör den till något annat än Bob. Närmast doo-woop-liknande andra spåret funkar också liksom ett par slå till, men sen är det gäsp monumentalt. Jag har inte mycket till övers för "duktiga" musiker än mindre för gitarrhjältar. Framförallt borde dom aldrig tillåtas breda ut sig, särskilt inte över dubbelalbum. Debuten med mer tydliga låtar och som mer har ett groove är milsvid bättre. Hade han skurit ner det till ett enkelalbum, fokuserat på låtar hade han klarat ett godkänt betyg. Men det gör inte den här tröstlösa jamsesionen. Lyssna hellre på The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are you experienced?, Dinosaur Jr. - Farm, Hansson & Karlsson - Monument

Super chill Pacing problems

Hendrix is probably the coolest guy to ever hold a guitar and easily one of the best to ever play one too. This album just oozed cool from start to finish and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The way that guitar sang from track to track was as varied as it was gorgeously executed, and Hendrix's vocals are smooth and cool too. Favourite tracks were: "Crosstown Traffic", "Voodoo Chile", "Long Hot Summer Night", "Gypsy Eyes", "1983...", "All along the Watchtower" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)". Will be listening to a lot more of this guy.

Really enjoyed this start to finish. Listened to it multiple times over the weekend. Rare I find I can find an album just to completely switch off to.

So many great tracks on this and all just so raw. Just an iconic album, what a legend. Generational run of are we experienced, axis bold of love and this.

easily one of my favorite albums of all time. jimi, ily favorite song: gypsy eyesssss

Beautyyyy

Excellent showcase for one of the best to ever pick up a guitar. The other members of the band also get their own time to shine here. Just a fantastic double album. The extended songs feel meaty. And who can forever his version of All Along The Watchtower.

anything jimi hendrix = masterpiece

Sprawling, amazing, impossibly ahead of its time.

Will put this on again and again. Legend of an album.

Best performer of his time, best album he ever made. I always use Hendrix as the example for the ultra-accelerated evolution of rock in the '60s. From "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" to "Purple Haze" in a mere 3 years. Thank you, LSD!

I've never really listened to Hendrix and god I'm torn between 4 and 5 here. On one hand, this truly is the best guitar noodling I've ever heard..but it is over an hour and it really doesn't need to be quite that long. Fuck it, All Along the Watchtower is currently playing.

This album is just out of this world. In fact, it creates a word of its own, the Electric Ladyland. Jimi really puts the sex & drugs in sex, drugs, rock&roll. I can only imagine the amount of substances he was on while making this. There is one thing that ties this album together, makes it work: the incredible guitar work. If aliens ever come to earth and ask what a guitar is, I'm playing them this album and we become best friends. Really, the guitar tones are so incredible, the solos are so memorable and they really bring the sound to the next level. There is even two 13+ minutes long songs to really flex his guitar muscles. This is such a crazy and trippy listen, one of the wildest music adventures one can go on.

In this listereners humble opinion the best psychedelic albums balance out their conceptual noodles with tight songcraft, so that the listener isn't just assaulted with one 14 minute wander after another, but rather gets to enjoy a few 14 minute wanders among the collection of bobby rock songs. That's exactly what this is. The noodles are noodly, which, when you are listening to arguablty the best ax man to ever do it, is great fun. Even more so the shorter songs are by and large fantastic - Crosstown Traffic, Burning of the Midnight Lamp, and of course the final two absolute classics. All it makes for an album that is sprawling but never fristratingly so, as it's ambition remains tethered as a collection of good to excellent songs. Special mention to my favourite drummer OAT Mitch Mitchell cutting absolutely sick all over this album. Out of sight.

This album had been with me for the last majority of my life. I listened to it again. Still great. 1983 A Merman I Should Turn to Be is an all time classic, to say nothing of Voodoo Chile, Have You Ever Been, Watchtower etc

Probably Hendrix’s magnum opus, and certainly one of the very best psychedelic rock albums of the genre’s 60s heyday, this is a fantastic double album that shows the full range of his talents, not just as a guitarist, but also as a songwriter. There’s tracks pointing towards genres including prog (‘1983’), funk (‘House Burning Down’), and metal (‘Voodoo Child’), but also poppier numbers like ‘Crosstown Traffic’, ‘Long Hot Summer Night’ and ‘Burning of the Midnight Lamp’. There’s also his fantastic reimagining of ‘All Along the Watchtower’, surely one of the best covers ever recorded. The whole band sounds phenomenal throughout.

lo escuche mientras leia Arlt y entre en un trance del que sospecho voy a salir el lunes

It's easy for me to fetch some of my top Hendrix tracks. *Axis: Bold as Love* is an album that gets frequent spins, and both *Electric Ladyland* and *Are You Experienced* I have great familiarity thanks to the indoctrination by my father, with the hits appearing frequently in my digital shuffles. Simply put, this album is perfect. This is an album full of musicians that are incredibly talented, gifted, and light years ahead of the rest putting every ounce of their being into crafting the best sonic experience one can possibly have. It's well known that Blues, Jazz and R&B are grandfathers to Rock n' Roll— and this album feels like the bridge. A few tracks I do think are weaker and forgettable. The album doesn't really feel like it "starts" until we hit "Crosstown Traffic", where the prior tracks really just feel like an introduction to the album. "Voodoo Chile" is absolutely peak, and is truly a great showcase of the trio's abilities as well firmly establishes that blues & rock n' roll relationship. "Little Miss Strange" feels like the most poppy entry, mainly due to the lyrical presentation, but still chalked full of great guitarwork. "Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)" has a great blues rock feel to it, that almost feels like it alone spawned artists that followed like ZZ Top. "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" has some fantastic, hypnotic guitar tone that shimmers and wobbles all around you in some peak psych-rock fashion. "Rainy Day, Dream Away" is a great jazz leaning entry, even if it wasn't the most impressive standalone track. "1983...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" feels like a track that is criminally underdiscussed in terms of Hendrix's discography. The second track on the album to crest over the 10 minute mark, but in contrast to "Voodoo Chile", this one feels much more like a psychedelic balled. The guitar & vocal work here truly takes me to another time, space, world & dimension as we journey through the highs and lows of this near 14 minute track. "Moon, Turn the Tides... Gently Gently Away" feels more like an outro to "1983...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" then a standalone track, partially due to it wrapping up side C. "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" has some great psychedelic guitar work as well, but lyrically is super weak for me. "House Burning Down" has a great bounce to it, and I love the squealing hit on the 1s. Lyrical work is much stronger compared to the prior track, and the solos are killer once more. Of course, "All Along the Watchtower" & "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" are both all time classics, and are the tracks that get frequent replayment and are some of the tracks that you think of when you think about Hendrix's discography. I think what's so intoxicating about Hendrix's playing on this album, is that there are so many micro-moments— little quick licks & solos that last only a handful of bars that are so magical & other worldly. Like I could imagine entire hours, filled up with these brief moments on loop, or expanded into a full track all on their own. And he seemingly drops them as quick as they are introduced, and bringing the listener into the next one. His tone & the way he bends the guitar to his will is so beautiful— and to do it with such ease is mind boggling. The frequency and execution in which he does it gives off this feeling of effortlessness. It's easy, and seemingly nonchalant for him to execute playing to such a degree— meanwhile I, the listener am getting absolutely blown away and few have even come close to touching the excellence that is Jimi Hendrix.

Iconic, groundbreaking. Listened to this all the time in high school, still amazing.

At this point everything has been said that can be about Jimi's guitar work. What I took away from this time around was his singing was amazing as well. Sure there's All Along The Watchtower that he made his own, but Have You Ever Been was a great contrast to his louder hits. And if nothing else, going through the entire album taught me that Voodoo Chile and Voodoo Child are 2 very different things.

I have no other words other than this is simplyyyy perfection of course it's 5 stars. some songs are a bit long yes but when i really think about it, why is that actually a problem? the vibes are there and it works and why am i in such a rush? i'm not actually in a rush so i'm going to enjoy every minute out of the 14 minutes and 59 seconds that is voodoo chile and then enjoy every second of the rest of the album

While not my favorite Hendrix album, and as others said, it could be improved if it was made into a single disc, it is another demonstration of a living force, extremely inventive, and trailblazing guitar music today.

What a wild ride! These insane guitar skills, creating such a consistent atmosphere - like being high in a trance, moving yourself in a smokey club.

Top

Not my favourite Hendrix but pretty damn up there as a classic amongst many many other classics of the time. As a power trio the Experience are unbeatable (Cream an exception, maybe). Incredible that it hits you with an intro, a couple of songs and bam - 15 minute blues. And doesn't lose you. Phenomenal. Maybe it is my favourite.

Como siempre Hendrix es un Dios, segundo disco que me toca y de principio a fin es una delicia escucharlo. Burning of the midnight lamp, Crosstown traffic y All along the watchtower son una genialidad.

I ignored Hendrix for so many years basically because the metal-leaning guitar-wanker types in school all liked him. I still remember the first time I actually listened to this album and was blown away by it. Very psychedelic very cool.

Based on the 2 albums to date, like Hendrix quite a bit more than I would have expected, maybe a little less guitar solo virtuosity and a little more...far out, man. Enjoy that the "slight" return to Voodoo Chile is still 5 mins+. Including the Stone Roses (received later, reviewed earlier) on an epic run of 7 4/5 star albums - I like a wide variety of music/I have no critical faculties (delete where appropriate...)

C'était certain qu'il y aurait du Jimi Hendrix, on fait difficilement plus influent en ce qui concerne le rock. Je connais un peu, sans être fan, mais je ne m'étais encore jamais penché sur cet album en particulier de sa courte carrière. Comme j'aime le dire (enfin, quiconque connaît un peu le sujet pourrait en dire autant), dans la guitare rock, il y a un avant et un après Jimi Hendrix. Chacun de ses albums est caractérisé par une audace et un avant-gardisme qui faisait de Jimi Hendrix une sorte d'OVNI et de prophète à la fois. Il a été parmi les premiers à expérimenter plein de choses qui sont devenues standards par la suite, à commencer par la distorsion, mais pas que. Electric Ladyland poursuit dans la même veine que les deux précédent, en poussant encore plus loin le style. Cette fois, il n'hésite plus à faire de très longs titres souvent planants en plus de titres plus courts et plus directement accrocheur. Le fait est que cet album transpire le talent, la personnalité et l'envie d'essayer de nouvelles choses. Entendre ça en 1968, ça devait rendre complètement fou. Un des personnages les plus importants du rock tout entier et un album classieux qui mérite très largement sa place dans cette liste.

An incredible blend of blues, funk, soul, hard rock and psychedelia. Extraordinary playing and not only from Jimi. I can only imagine what this sounded like at the time... otherworldly! AlsoGypsy Eyes is a proto-Black Keys song I'm tempted to go with the full Voodoo Chile as my fave but I cant ignore the infectious hooks and all-timer riff of Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Just an amazing album that ends with two bangers that easily brings it to a 4.5 at least. The guitar is so abrasive but also mesmerizing and smooth somehow.

Just such an epic album not only in how influential and ground breaking it was, but just the sound is so raw and unabashedly experimental. Does a great job of being both musically captivating and a far out psychedelic trip out soundtrack, where most of the time it's one or the other. Really cool to bring it all home with watchtower and voodoo child (again). A perfect example of an album where you wish you were around for the release to take it home from the store and listen for the first time over headphones in your bedroom with a joint.