Customer Reviews
Essential Jimi ! - By: John, 03 Dec 2009 
The first impressive quality of this album is that it doesn't sound like a collection of out-takes ,in spite of having been 'botched together' out of tapes of many of the last things Hendrix was working on just before he died ; that is to say , it really holds together as an album & doesn't generally give the impression of being 'unfinished' atall . There are parts of it that might be said to be ' imperfect' or ' flawed ' , but this was also arguably the case on parts of Hendrix albums released while he was still alive ; most of it , though, sounds easily up to the standard of many of his best recordings , & I can only assume that most of the tracks presented here were either finished or almost finished at the time of his passing . The second most impressive quality of this album is that it represents a return to the studio technique that was employed by the Experience on 'Electric Ladyland' , & is a lot more sophisticated than the more basic rock-blues approach seemingly adoptedin his 'Band of Gypsys' phase. There are alot of multi-tracked guitar over-dubs & songs with complex arrangements on this album , many of which are strongly reminiscent of tracks on 'Electric Ladyland' .
Generally , the recordings included on this album indicate an increasing leaning towards up-tempo, pop, r'nb, jazz & soul , & a slight moving away from hard rock & psychedelia ,and perhaps this explains why there is nothing on 'First Rays' that is quite as epic as 'Voodoo Chile ' , or as experimental as '1984; A Merman I should Turn to Be ' ; nevertheless ,as an album it is ,in my opinion, almost on a par with 'Electric Ladyland' , if a little less expansivein scope & atmosphere .
Whatever the case , this is certainly essential listening for any Hendrix fan .
First Rays of the New Rising Sun - By: Spider Monkey, 29 May 2009 `First Rays of the New Rising Sun' is apparently the album Jimi was working on before his death & features songs that later appeared on `Cry of Love', `Rainbow Bridge' & `War Heroes'. To be honest I preferred the track listings on those albums to this selection, but that may just be because I heard them first! Saying that, the music on offer here is outstanding & Jimi's prodigious talents shine through full force. From energetic tracks like `Freedom' or `Izabella', to the more poppy `Dolly Dagger' which is completely infectious, via the blues of `Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) before ending on the delightful & lighthearted blues lullaby `Belly Button Window' this album offers it all. As always with these Experience Hendrix releases there are comprehensive liner notes, photos & an essay to enjoy as you sit back & let this music wash over you. I grew up on Hendrix & although I'm hearing this music once again, butin a different order that I'm used to, thatin no way detracts from the power of the music & musicianship on offer. Another excellent Hendrix release & one well worth adding to your collection.
He was aiming for the stars. - By: J. Playfair, 08 Feb 2009 From his last work you can get some sense of where Hendrix was moving. The songs on this disc are as lyrically & musically well tuned as Hendrix ever wrote. You can see from those like Ezy Ryder & Astroman that Hendrix still had his rock going but was branching out, into Jazz, Funk, Soul, reaching perhaps further than he had ever done before.
Essential - By: CRAZE, 27 Jan 2009 This is a great album okay its not his best but its still very good & after saying that he did die before he got chance to finish this,it was planned to be a double disc & we know if he had chance to finish it it would have been classic but like i said its still very good with essential songs like Freedom/night bird flying/angel/dolly dagger & Ezy ryder plus the others are really good to but these are essential for any jimi fan.Its sad what happend,jimi wasin the process of making some really good more mature music,which others cant come close too.
Five Stars Minimum - By: pikeyboy, 22 Nov 2008 I am writing this review at the same time as I'm refreshing my memories of it. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, of course, but for anyone to give it one lone star! I'm sorry: did I miss something? This is an album by JIMI HENDRIX, dear! JIMI....you know, set fire to his guitars, played it with his teeth....Oh! never mind....the trolley will be roundin a minute....nice cup of tea for you, dear!
Seriously; this is a brilliant record, & would have spun Jimi out almostin a new direction. 'Dolly Dagger' & 'Angel' are two of his finest recordings. Much of it has a more soulful feel than his previous albums. I'd recommend it to anyone.
