Customer Reviews

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

30 years almost to the week of the death of legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix, MCA & Experience Hendrix release the first 4 disc box set "The Jimi Hendrix Experience". Almost immediately after removing the set from it's wrappings and feeling the velvet textured purple box cover you can tell that this set was done with an exacting attention to detail. All of the four disc's jewel cases are loaded with rare photo's of Jimi and the band. The 79 page book that is provided with the set is filled once again with rare photo's and unique perspectives into the magic that was Jimi performing. The 56 songs included in the set are all either previously unreleased studio versions or unreleased live versions all have been lovingly remastered by long-time Hendrix studio engineer Eddie Kramer. The sound was like these recordings had just been made, not 25 to 30 years ago! There is a great deal of Jimi's playful spirit in the studio shown throughout the disc's as he jokes with band members and studio crew and all of this is captured in the set. If you currently have none of Jimi's recordings in your collection, I strongly recommend that you start with this set! Musical highlights of the set are the Hendrix "modified" version of "Purple Haze", the live 1967 version of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", Jimi's cover of the Beatles "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and the amazing unreleased version of the classic "Little Wing". My hat is off to Jimi, MCA and Experience Hendrix, 30 years later he is still the best!

4 c.d.s , 56 rare or unreleased recordings, an 80 page color booklet with great photos and liner notes. All wrapped in a purple velvet box fit for the King of the electric guitar. This is the Gem of the Hendrix posthumous releases. The early live cuts from only the 4th live appearance show that the chemistry was there from the start. The cuts from the long out of print In The West L.P. alone make this an essential purchase. Little Wing live from the Albert Hall tops the studio version. Red House live from San Diego is as close as there is to a definitive version of Jimis' blues classic. Voodoo Child(slight return) live with no studio gimmicks is Stunning. The Chuck Berry classic Johnny B. Goode is given a royal workout by the Experience. I was amazed when I saw the live concert film Jimi Plays Berkley to see it was Jimi alone. It just doesnt get any better than this. A great studio cut of The Star Spangled Banner, a rousing Hear My Train A Comin' and Spanish Castle Magic. The stirring instumental cut of Little Wing. I could rave on and on about the treasures in this box. Jimi is the Master of the amplified six string , and his music sounds just as fresh today as it ever has. You can't miss with this one.

'South Saturn Delta' was the first disk of Hendrix rarities released by his sister and Eddie Kramer in their effort to restore the Hendrix catalog. Here are four more disks in a similar vein. While critics often scorned posthumous Hendrix releases after 'Cry of Love', most Hendrix fans could name tracks on those releases that were big favorites. I would consider "Like a Rolling Stone", "Star-Spangled Banner", and "Message of Love" essential Hendrix recordings. Tracks I hadn't heard that really knocked me out include an early version of "Little Wing", an instrumental early version of "Bold as Love" and a long blues improvisation "Country Blues". Nearly all the live tracks included in the set are of high quality, from the late 1966 show in Paris to 1970 Isle of Wight and Maui.

Hendrix dabblers should stick to the "Experience Hendrix" set and serious listeners should have the three studio disks released while Jimi was alive plus the "First Rays" set. But for those like me who think he may have dropped in from outer space this set is a must. I'm docking it one star for including too many inferior soundalike alternate takes. I don't mean to include several alternate early versions on the final disk, such as "Astro Man" and "Freedom", which are very different from the eventual releases.

Of course the guitar playing is astonishing. The man thought with his fingers and he's the most harmonically interesting guitar player I've ever heard in any genre.

As mentioned, this is not for the person new to Hendrix. There's plenty of 'greatest hits' packages for that. With that said, if you are a fan you absolutely MUST have this box set. I just got it and it blew me away! Some really incredible guitar as you'd expect from Hendrix. Several tunes that I had not heard before, but are already favorites. An instrumental "Bold as Love", a scorching version of "Room Full of Mirrors", "Catfish Blues" and "Come Down Hard on Me" are just a few of the incredible songs on this set. Like I said, this is for Hendrix fans. Much better than the other collections of odds and ends that are available. This one has mostly polished numbers and great live cuts. I dumped it into my IPod and have been in Hendrix heaven since getting it in the mail. Buy it!! Read the other reviews for more details. I think everyone gave it 5 stars... should be 20 stars since all 4 discs are incredible.

I'm a big Hendrix fan, and when I first heard of this box set, my expectations were huge. I waited months for it to come out, the anticipation growing so high it seemed impossible for anything to fullfill it. Then it finally was released and I bought it.

On just the first look at the outside of the box, you already know it's gonna be great. It's covered in some kind of rich, purple velvet that looks and feels fantastic. Inside is an 80 page booklet with an essay by Dave Marsh, tons of photos, handwritten lyrics, and at least a paragraph about every song. Each of the four CD's come in it's own CD case.

The music on this set is a treasure trove for any Hendrix fan. Lots of great live tracks, but what steals the show are the amazing alternate takes and never before heard songs. The tracklisting goes pretty much in order from 1967 to Jimi's last recorded song, "Slow Blues", in 1970. Which only reminds you of how much Jimi did in so little time.

Highlights:

Disc One. Outtake of "Third Stone from the Sun". You can hear Jimi and Chas Chandler coming up with the spoken intro, as well as the rest of the song. First ever recording of "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" with Jimi working out the harpsichord part. Live covers of "Rock Me Baby" and "Like a Rolling Stone" are also fantastic.

Disc Two. Instrumental live in the studio "Little Wing". Live cover of "Gloria". Long never before heard blues song "It's Too Bad". And the live in-studio instrumental "Bold as Love", which to me is the best I've ever heard Jimi play. This track alone is worth the price of the set. I can listen to it on repeat all day. Disc two is the one you'll come back to the most along with...

Disc Three. This disc is all live. It feature the best live recordings of "I Don't Live Today", "Roomful of Mirrors", and "Spanish Castle Magic" ever. As well as a "Red House" that is up there too.

Disc Four is where the nonstop greatness falters a little...a VERY little. Highlights are a live "Hey Baby/In from the Storm" medley, some live covers, and all the extremely rarely heard studio recordings of Jimi trying to work out songs for his fourth album.

Overall this box set is nothing short of revelatory to any Hendrix buff. It not only groups together great rare live performances, but shows Jimi's inner working of songs in studio and offers a few original songs never before heard. All thrown into a great box which really isn't expensive as box sets go. You'll be delving through this stuff for a long time. Here's hoping Experience Hendrix continue with their line of quality releases. Now if only Pink Floyd were to give us something like this...

James Marshall Hendrix has been the unfortunate victim of sleazy merchandisers, cultural waifs seeking a hero, and misbegotten 70's wanna-bes with too many Marshall ( coincidence ? ) stacks and not enough talent. Now, with this mesmerizing box set, he is unleashed on the world a second time, weeks before the 30th anniversary of his death. Let's hope the pretenders and rip off artists get the message and Hendrix' legacy can be etched in granite and left alone.

Every true Hendrix fan knows his performances were usually sloppy and occasionally out of tune in the most ear grinding way. A detail man, he wasn't. But that's because he left the I- dotting and t-crossing to imitators who had all the style and none of the substance. Hendrix' unpredictable and sometimes frustrating performances were due to his race track mind that wanted to do everything now..and that's how he played.

This box set features a hefty dose of material from the long deleted "Hendrix In The West". That's good..very good. But early club show performances from 1966 show his skill, imagination and soul were just starting to trickle. A year later, the dam would burst and he would flood a befuddled and awe struck world with his magic fingers and psychedelic machisimo. He had balls, baby, huge ones..and they can be heard almost cut for cut here.

Simply put, you need this box and you need it now ! Hendrix collectors will see that this pup is sold out by the weekend. The late comers will do what they always do: cluelessly ask what the fuss is all about and wonder what people were thinking in 1967. I can tell you what we were thinking: we're hearing this Hendrix fresh outta the box, and those coming behind us will never understand what is taking place. So, Excuse me while I kiss this guy !

There have been a ton of releases lately from the Hendrix estate and I have to admit that it gets confusing on just how to get the most for your money. Box sets don't always do the trick. Luckily, this one does. First of all, let me thank the others who have put down reviews before me. They helped me make the decision to purchase this box set a couple of years ago.

There are great alternate versions of classics, as well as a ton of interesting live stuff. The mastering is very good - especially for the stuff recorded in small clubs in the late 60's.

For you Hendrix junkies this should serve as a nice fix.

I hope this review helps you. And when you're looking at the rest of his catalog let the reviews guide you in your decision. They have been very helpful to me.

I have been blown away. Outtakes, alternate versions of Jimi's most beloved songs, and unrelease live material makes this box one of the best collections I have ever seen. The packaging is beautiful, from the outside casing to the liner notes, which contain dozens of beautiful pictures, flavorful novelties like posters and the recording invoices, and some of Jimi's lyric sheets.

There is a strong collection of Jimi's best known material, such as "Purple Haze," "Foxey Lady," "Hey Joe," "The Wind Cries Mary," and so on, all in alternate mixes, live takes and some outtakes. The intro to "Third Stone," and the Outtake version of "Hey Joe" are both funny and definitely worth a listen.

And it's not just the songs a casual listener would know. There is a strong collection from Jimi Hendrix's blues, hard rock, and pre-metal styles, which die hard fans will mostly know, though not as they are released here.

Experience Hendrix is a wonderful set which does a great job at portraying one of the best guitarists to have walked the face of the earth. In the face of his tragic death, at least we have a lot to remember him by.

First: The "Red House" on Disc 3, from the long out-of-print *In the West*, is worth the the price of the entire box. This is one of the great electric blues recordings of all time. Ditto the lyrical "Little Wing" that precedes it.

Second: The set is lovingly and beautifully mixed and mastered. The alternate studio takes are a revelation. There isn't a cut on all four discs that isn't essential to anyone who has ears to hear.

Hendrix was the greatest visionary musician of the 20th century. If you don't know that, if you suspect it but aren't quite sure, if you think "maybe yes, but what about Miles, Coltrane, Armstrong" etc., I say, get this set; go directly to disc 3, track 7, and think again. Which is not a cut to Louis Armstrong or anyone else in his class. They definitely made Hendrix possible. Maybe you won't agree with me in placing Hendrix a notch above, but in any event, he's in their company.

If you already know this, then KNOW THIS: there is much here that you've never heard, and that you NEED to hear. What a great thing that Hendrix didn't know how to write or read music; that he used the recording studio as his laboratory. This set contains much of that experimentation/improvisation. Along with the excellently recorded "live" cuts, the results are nothing short of IN-SIGHT (in the Longergan-ian sense)into one of the great musical geniuses of all time. Yes. Of all time.

This album spans Hendrix's entire solo career. On disc 1, you can hear why, Londoners, and later, New Yorkers at Club Wha, FREAKED OUT when they heard him play. It's still fresh and full of remarkable guitar playing. In addition to alternate takes from *Are You Experienced?* and *Axis Bold as Love*, you get his great Monterey Pop recordings of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and lots of other juicy live stuff from Jimi's freakily manic early American concerts.

Disc 2 shows Hendrix getting more and more confident and centered in his vision. Plus, this is where he starts to use all his technical chops, not just as a guitarist (the best there ever was) but also as a studio technician. Eddie Kramer deserves loving credit here too. I don't know of any other more fruitful collaboration in the history of recorded music, with th possible exception of the Solti/Culshaw "Golden" Ring (Wagner: Der Ring des Niebelungen" on Decca/London)of the late 50's - early 60's.

Disc 3, with much of the previously released material from *In the West* has excellent versions of "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)," "Stone Free," and "Purple Haze."

Disc 4 has a lot of excellent alternate versions to songs that were made perfect in the miraculous live album "Band of Gypsies" and provide a glimpse into what might have been "Country Blues" and "Message to Love" are particularly fine.

The digital remastering is excellent. The sounds are beautifully mixed, showing that the Jimi Hendrix "experience" was the result of one man's vision supported by the indispensible collaboration of Mitch Mitchell, Noel Redding, Billy Cox, Buddy Miles, the aforementioned Kramer, and Chas Chandler, among a host of others.

Shell out the cash for this set. You won't be disappointed.

Some of songs on this boxset are the best versions you'll ever find. Put all 4 discs in a CD changer, let em play, and get your mind blown. Some instrumental only songs are absolutely mesmerizing. My personal favorite is Cherokee Mist, a song that shows the true mastery of Jimi's guitar playing. He is one with his guitar, allowing the soulful, powerfully moving music in his head to come through beautifully to those blessed enough to hear him play.

With that said, I would recommend this to someone just getting into Hendrix, or even someone who had never listened to him before (shame on you). I purchased a best of Hendrix when I first started listening to him, but this boxset really had me hooked. I bought every single studio release by Hendrix shortly after, and later added any rarity i could find. You'd do the same if you heard the incredible range and intensity displayed on this boxset.

Highly Recommended.