Customer Reviews

First Rays of the New Rising Sun CD/DVD

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

*First the Album is awesome, a true 10! This review is on the cheap advertising attempt to get the general public to buy a new CD. This album first came out in 1997, it was REMASTERED using EDDIE KRAMER and working with the Original mix down tracks (one step deeper than just using the Orignal Master tracks, but going one step beyond those and getting the original mix down tracks. I don't think technology has advaced to such a degree that warrants a brand new rematering. You wont notice any difference. You will get a small mini-documentary DVD, but is it worth the price of buying this all over again? NO. If you dont own this CD, then certainly buy this edition.
THE ALBUM REVIEW............This was supposed to be the next studio album after Electric Ladyland. Jimi worked on this project for 2 years, recording, remixing, over dubbing, recording again, you name it! He at a few times wanted his next album to be a 3 album set. He died before this album was finished, infact Drummer Mitch Mitchell came back in the studio and layed down some final over-dubs for a few songs ("Angel" for one) and also co-produced the final product. Buzzy Linhart was brought in the record vibes and "Drifting" after Jimi's death. The album was originally released in Jan 1971 in a shortened 1 album set called "The Cry of Love" where it reached #7 on the Billboard top 200 album charts and "Freedom" was released as a single but failed to chart. It became out of print in 1995 when then owner of Hendrix estate (Alan Douglas) released the re-packaged CD as "Voodoo Soup" in which he HEAVILY RE-MIXED the songs (which angered many of Jimi's fans). The songs selections were different. In 1996 when Al Hendrix (Jimi's father) won a lawsuit and once again re-claimed all of his sons estate, "Voodoo Soup" was immedialty deleted from the catalog and released a later as "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" This album captures more of the true aspect of what was to be Jimi's next studio album, tho a few songs made it on this CD that wouild Not have been included (My Friend fro one) and a few songs were left off that surely would have made it (Poly Gap, Saving My Love for Linda, Valleys of Neptune). But what you have here is a amazing collection of songs that shows much deeper arrangement texture and pain stakingly percise overdubs that make up the most personal and complex album ever by Jimi Hendrix. Whats gone are the flashy show-man style songs like "Foxey Lady" but songs written on social commentary ("Straight Ahead") songs also of peace and understanding (Hey Baby, new rising sun). Had this album been released in Jimi's lifetime, it would have garnered the attention of many and would have put him in the realms of John Lennon, songs of SUBSTANCE. It is therefore sadly Jimi's least popular album because it's not a acid rock and roll album complied of songs about partying, women and having fun. Listen with your mind and see the vision Jimi was heading. I can fully understand why he took 2 years on this album and it still wasnt finished, it would had changed the entire perception of this man and headed Jimi into a completely new direction of music.

Quick Note on the REMASTERS:

Jimi has been "remastered" now so many times its a joke! The catalog first came out on CD in 1990 on reprise records and they sounded like shiet! Then they were very quickly re-mastered in 1991 using some system called "sonic solutions" not a true remaster but just a way to remove static and such. Then in 1995 when Alan Douglas moved to the MCA label, they were agian re-mastered and given new CD covers (dumb idea) they all looked liked the "Voodoo Soup" ill fated CD cover. Those were true remasters and said to use the original mater tapes. Then in 1997 Al and Janie Hendrix wins there lawsuit over Alan Douglass and all the CD's were once again remastered, just 2 stupid years later! The gimmick this time was they went back to the original mixes and remastered from those as well as brought back the original artwork. Then now they move to sony/legacy and what do they do.....??? REMASTER the songs......get real!

I think it's important to understand that this is the closest thing to what Jimi had intended to release in 1971 as the follow-up to the seminal Electric Ladyland album of 1968...

Having said that I have to say that I think this is the most impressive material of his career. These are the tightest batch of songs he recorded in that none of them are too long and all have tremendous hooks and content. The performances here are considerably better than past recordings due in part to the fact these are musicians who have played and toured together for successive years and are litterally at the top of their game. AND IT SHOWS!!! Hendrix's vocals are more controlled and less gimicky and he displays a lot more vocal range in general than before. His guitar parts are more structured and intricate. His solos less sloppy and more developed. His overall aura more tightly defined. And let's face it. Noel Redding wasn't the most impressive bass player (he was actually a guitar player by trade) and hearing Billy Cox on bass here makes you realize that Hendrix's material is far more fluid and soulful w/ him in the mix. Also, the production quality of the overall sound is better than his previous efforts. So much of it was recorded at his newly built Electric Lady Studios the Summer of 1970 and the fact that they were able to utilize the most state-of-the-art and up to date recording equipment is obvious when you hear the results.

It may be silly to say since Jimi Hendrix has become a bigger rock star since his death, but had he lived and kicked-off the decade w/ this release he would have owned the 70's. Zeppelin? Sure they were huge then but he would have been THE rock star defining the decade, Im sure of it.

Just have a listen to "Freedom" w/ it's locked-in beat, searing, white hot guitar licks, and Jimi's soulful vocal delivery. THAT is rock n' roll. "Izabella" continues right where "Freedom" leaves off and that's a good thing because "Freedom" seems way too short. "Dolly Dagger" and "Ezy Rider" are just pure ear candy. "Stepping Stone" has some of the hottest guitar licks ever recorded. Period. Just listen to the outro solo. "My Friend" is a pleasant surprise w/ it's Dylan-esque vocals and overall vibe. "In From The Storm" slams you over the head from the first notes of the guitar riff w/ it's dramatic hard rock delivery. The CD ends w/ the mellow blues of "Belly Button Window" and it's incredibly creative and sensitive lyrics from the perspective of drummer Mitch Mitchell's then unborn child.

I realize this was originally compiled and released in CD form back in 1997, but this is is the first I'm hearing it and I have to say I'm completely blown away....

When Jimi went in to his Electric Lady Studios he produced some of his most tantalizing work. This was Jimi doing what he liked to do best. Hungry fans waited a long time until these tracks were assembled on this CD in 1997. Now the tunes are remastered with 2010 technology and sound better than ever.

Way to rip off true fans. These are the 1997 remasters (which do sound good) in new packaging with a worthless DVD. It's a 17 minute DVD with producer/engineer Eddie Kramer talking about Jimi and playing a snippet of a few songs. We've already heard the songs and know he's good. Nothing interesting or new. The albums should have gotten a fresh remaster for 2010 and the second disc could have been better utilized as bonus tracks, such as outtakes or live stuff. Even the booklets and disc labels themselves look exactly the same. If you bought the last remasters you don't need any of the main 3 studio albums, Band Of Gypsys, or First Rays. 5 stars for the album itself but, zero stars for the disc. This 2010 reissue is not a remaster and is definitely screwing the public.

Jimi Hendrix' three proper studio albums were three of my favorite records in high school. They remain so today, strong as ever, because I have a brain. So when Legacy decided to reissue said albums with a bright new mastering job and accompanying DVDs, I was sold. Just like the recent Beatles reissues, these discs were a no-brainer must have. When I got to the record store I saw the three familiar beauties lined up, shining bright, next noticing a fourth reissue, titled First Rays of the New Rising Sun. I'd seen this disc before, many times, but always figured it was a hits or live collection or something. Hendrix, when alive, was known to be a man of taste with notably great album art ... but damn, Rays, released posthumously, is a very unsightly looking album. But, considering that Legacy decided to reissue it over Hendrix Blues or Band of Gypsys, I figured I needed to do some research on the ugly.

Sure enough, Rays wasn't the budget-priced, truck-stop-ready release I'd written it off as. Not even close. Instead, I learned that it's actually an almost proper fourth studio record - the album he was finishing when he passed in September of 1970, held aside until 1997, at which time it was compiled by Hendrix historians to the best of their ability. Now knowing this, I sped off to the store, bought it immediately and devoted what had to be at least a solid week to the very long, sometimes frustrating album.

And, sure, maybe most Hendrix fans already know about this hideous gem, but I didn't, and I suspect many don't. So I ordered the original release from Half.com, anxious to compare the mixes before writing a review (I'd originally planned to review the reissued of Are You Experienced, a record that changed my life). I found that, yes, if you own the original, you still need the reissue. It sounds twice as full and come with a stellar DVD, an essay and extensive notes on every track. It's absolutely worthwhile, especially for the hardcore Hendrix set. And if you're like me and have not yet heard Rays, get out to the store ASAP. If nothing else, you'll get a handful of classic Hendrix studio cuts and what are maybe his best recorded vocal performances ever.

I've read where some critics have called Rays a "logical successor to Electric Ladyland," Hendrix's final proper studio release. I disagree. If anything, Rays feels like it could've been his second record, feeling more like a logical progression from the blues-rock pop of Experienced than the psychedelic and experimental sounds of Ladyland. A few songs here - notably "Angel" and "Dolly Dagger" - will be instantly familiar to many. Opener "Freedom," despite maybe going on a bit longer than need be, sounds instantly classic. Some songs, like "Izabella," are almost unreal. Shockingly complex enough at times that I wonder if it could even be played live. Is it possible to play guitar like that while singing? I've not seen such a thing in my 30 years.

I feel it essential to note that this isn't a perfect record. We have no idea how Hendrix would've sequenced it or what songs he may have left off or continued to tweak and perfect. Maybe he would've added songs, we'll never know. What we do know is that four of the 17 songs were finalized, including "Dolly," "Night Flying Bird," "Ezy Ryder" and "My Friend." All these are fantastic - classics, even. The other 14 cuts sound, compared to the average song, pretty damn final. But who's to say with Hendrix, a noted studio perfectionist? A few tracks aren't quite at the A+ level we've come to know Jimi for, but there's a very solid 10-11 song set here that fits nicely with his other proper studio records. And damn if the new mastering job isn't wonderful, as are the essays and DVD. Essential stuff, made perfect for falling in love all over again with one of the all-time greatest.

Jimi Hendrix / First Rays of the New Rising Sun (CD): Through the huge number of older posthumous releases, we have heard nearly everything on this CD already, but with this CD, we finally get a true idea of what that next Hendrix album MIGHT have consisted of. That is not to say that this CD does not have problems, indeed, they purposely do not attempt to `blend' the songs into an album (as the previous "Voodoo Soup" album attempted to do) but leaves the finished and unfinished cuts as they are. This gives us a sense of the theme Jimi had in mind, and at the same time, it gives us an accurate sense that, if Jimi had lived, the album would have gone through several more changes and would not have been exactly what we have here. If you are a fan of Hendrix's music, but are not one of those who are looking to buy every note ever released, this may be the one album to buy after you have bought "Are You Experienced" (1967), "Axis: Bold as Love" (1967), and "Electric Ladyland" (1968). As an album, this CD rates five stars.

Back in the day I had a lot of these songs on The Essential Jimi Hendrix LP's. It's great to finally hear these songs again for such a great price. I watched the DVD once already...probably won't watch it again anytime soon although Eddie Kramer offers interesting insight to Jimi's music and creative genius. It's cool hearing the guitar tracks seperated one by one and then everything coming together. Jimi's songwriting and playing was at a different level and the melodies of his guitar will stay with you and never grow old. The music is timeless!! If you don't have these songs already do yourself a favor and buy this! Jimi's music was a gift for us to enjoy!!!

Jimi Hendrix was by general agreement the most inventive, original and prolific musician/performer of his era, and carved out new territories for what could be done with an electric guitar. He composed and recorded more great material in five short years than do most musicians in a lifetime career ten times as long. He was imitated by thousands, but equalled by none.

Following Jimi's untimely death in September 1970, a great volume of his hitherto unreleased material was put out first by Track Records, and later by Polydor. The first major posthumous release was `The Cry of Love' vinyl album (CD format didn't arrive on the market until the 1980s) released by Track Records in 1971 which contained, in running order:

Side 1
1. Freedom
2. Drifting
3. Ezy Ryder
4. Night Bird Flying
5. My Friend

Side 2
6. Straight Ahead
7. Astro man
8. Angel
9. In from the Storm
10. Belly Button Window

`Cry of Love' can still be found on both the original vinyl and a later CD format, but good copies command high prices.

`First Rays of the New Rising Sun', thought to be Hendrix's own chosen title for his planned 1971 album, contains all the above tracks, some digitally re-mastered (though it's hard to tell the difference) plus several bonus tracks originally released by Polydor in the mid-1970s variously on the albums `Rainbow Bridge,' `Experience' and `War Heroes':

* Izabella
* Room Full of Mirrors
* Dolly Dagger
* Beginnings
* Stepping Stone
* Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
* Earth Blues

All these pieces with the exception of `My Friend' (a kind of late-night studio oddity from 1968 which didn't make the `Electric Ladyland' album) were composed and recorded in the spring and summer of 1970 and feature Brit-drummer Mitch Mitchell from the original `Experience' trio and Jimi's old army buddy Billy Cox on bass, who worked with Jimi in place of Noel Redding following the `Band of Gypsies' period and, it has to be said, was a more sensitive and just plain better musician than Redding. Overall it's pretty much the definitive collection of Hendrix's late-period material and a fine complement to his earlier finished products `Are You Experienced', `Axis Bold as Love' and the seminal 1968 epic `Electric Ladyland.'

This late offering from the Sony `Legacy' collection claims to be "re-mastered" yet again, but it's hard to tell the difference and there is certainly no discernible improvement on the Polydor mix. As a "bonus" you get a 17-minute DVD, mostly of Eddie Kramer talking to camera between sound bites of Jimi playing. Basically, it's a waste of time and something of a gimmick, to make the Hendrix family "re-mastered re-release" of the re-mastered re-release of the re-release seem like something new and different. Please forgive the cynicism, but the music ain't better, it's the same. The music is 5-star and always will be, but somehow you just can't give full approval to a marketing gimmick like this which asks you to pay a lot extra for a short and crummy DVD, so because of that, the rating drops a star.

However, back to focus on the actual music: if you want to know why Jimi Hendrix is so highly revered by other rock musicians, listen to this collection and you will begin to understand. It's amazing to hear how fresh these recordings are: after 40 years they might have been recorded yesterday, they sound so contemporary; whilst so much music in the intervening period - especially from the 1980s - sounds old and dated. The musicianship here is exemplary, the compositions innovative, exciting and complex, the arrangements tight and disciplined, production values on the whole very high. What wonders Jimi might have produced as a more mature musician and composer we can only speculate: he was a true musician's musician, a one-off.

BTW if you want to listen to `Cry of Love' as originally released in 1971, just mix the 10 tracks into the 1-10 order above and miss out the extra seven, crank up the volume and press `PLAY'. Isn't technology wonderful?

Over the years many people,namely Alan Douglas had tried to compile this material by adding other musicians and altering some of the sounds. This album presented a good chunk of that material the way Jimi originally recorded it. All throughout his career Jimi was always looking to find a new place to take rock and the blues to new places and how to restructure his sense of harmony and rhythm. And with Electric Ladyland and especiallyBand Of Gypsys Jimi was really make big inroads in that area,concentrating more on groove and musical invention as opposed bled together psychedelic sounds that were creating moods for a spesific things. All it's going to take is one listen to songs such as "Freedom",Izabella",Dolly Dagger","Ezy Ryder","Stepping Stone","Astro Man","Straight Ahead" and "Room Full Of Mirrors" that Jimi has in a sense come full circle. As a veteran of R&B session bands backing up the likes of the Isley Brothers he was carefully laying down rhythms now that had less to do with loose psychedelic guitar solos and down to chunky vamps and tight grooves with the likes of Billy Cox and Buddy Miles,both of whom were on the same wavelengh at the time. Funk author Ricky Vincent once pointed out that Jimi's songs such as "Purple Haze" and such weren't exactly catching on with the black R&B audience of it's day because the blues oriented end Jimi was exploring was somewhat removed from the emmerging Afro American music culture of the day. So here you find that Jimi is now in an environment with Norman Whitefield and Funkadeleic/Eddie Hazel who were both taking their groove in the same direction Jimi had started them out on by bringing the newer funk music closer into sync with rock elements and showing them how,in the right hands they could survive together. The songs "Angel" and "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun" don't really have anything to do with the more psychedelic sounds of "The Wind Cries Mary" and are more straight forward,soulful romantic swells of melody and harmonic invention. If your a fan of funk,R&B and soul music as opposed to fusions of psychedelic hard rock this will be the kind of Jimi Hendrix music you'll find easier to get into. If you like both...well your in for a treat. My favorite song on the album is actually "Earth Blues",heard as the theme song to Rainbow Bridge-a film featuring Hendrix and showcases this sound even better than the fantastic proceedings with it's gospel/rock female backup vocals and socially aware conciousness. If you listen carefully Funkadelic would later mine a similar groove on the title song to their 1976 album Hardcore Jollies. There are a handful of songs here that point more to Jimi's blues oriented past but they are also different,pointing more at the singular wit of the genre as opposed to clished whininess,showing he has a very full understanding of the genre culturally than some others even at that time. Perhaps this album says more about Jimi's true musical heard than any of his albums with the Experience and in this addition this music should be a cornerstone of anyone whose music collection crossess bridges between classic rock and 70's funk music.

Hello my friends! So happy to see you again! I could talk for hours about this album/CD But I won't. I will say this is the CRY OF LOVE Album,PLUS A WHOLE LOT MORE! GO BUY IT NOW! YOU WON'T BE SORRY. THIS IS A ALL TIME CLASSIC!!! LONG LIVE THE MASTER OF THE STRATOCASTER! PEACE!