Customer Reviews
The greatest guitarist of all time. - By: T. Glover, 21 Jul 2008 
This was the first Hendrix record I ever bought & it hits you like a tyson punch, Jimi displays everything & morein just 17 songs. Ranging from the sexy 'Foxy lady' to the rock of 'can you see me' to the bluesy 'red house' to the physedelic 'purple haze'. Theres killer riffs (purple haze), fantastic solo's (Hey joe) & brilliant drumming by M.Mitchell on Fire & Manic depression just to name a few.
If you like this as i do i recomend any other Hendrix album partically Electric ladyland & Axis as bold as love.
Fortieth anniversary of an immensely influential musical milestone... too bad that some of the tracks only offer sub-par sound - By: jayhikkss, 22 Mar 2007 The other evening, I listened to this CD and, as the music flew out of the speakers, I felt that the sound quality of the first track ("Foxey Lady") was definitely not... right. Similar problems appeared on other - though not all - of the tracks.
Now, do not get me wrong. As a fan of older musical styles, I can immerse myselfin the music extracted from the oft-damaged grooves of vintage 78 rpm pressed before 1930.
Consequently, I am still both moved & amazed at Hendrix' genius on this monumental recording, which I originally boughtin 1967. What bugs me is that it should sound so much better... & that it does not. Moreover, I have read lots of professional & fan reviews of this CD. I agree wholeheartedly with most of the praise afforded to its intrinsic artistic value but I find it strange that almost nothing is ever said about the actual sound quality, or sometimes lack thereof.
Hendrix' first album was recorded about 40 years ago. The recordings took place - approximately - between October 1966 & March 1967, mostly at the state-of-the-art Olympic studios. The original engineer was the very gifted Eddie Kramer whilst producer Chas Chandler had lots of studio expertise. All the right ingredients were there to have very good sonics.
After listening through the speakers, I turned them off & listened through a pair of Sennheiser headphones.
At this point, I feel that I should remind the reader that the second part of the sixties saw the appearance of affordable stereo listening equipment. The increased interestin stereo records among the pop & rock public led the record companies - which owned huge back catalogues of older, mono recordings - to devise a process to electronic "re-channel" these mono takes into something mimicking stereo.
To this effect, a simple, low-cost process was set up; it only implied to separate the two tracks of the master tape so as to spread the sound across the stereo field by directing higher-frequency sound into one channel & lower-frequency sound into the other.
This perversion of the original stereo concept gave awful results (just think about those "fake stereo" releases - both on LP's & CD's - of the Rolling Stones Decca/London material released prior to "Aftermath" (1966). It was not until the release of the 2002 Abkco "DSD" remasters that it was possible to have again access to this music the way it was originally designed to sound.
"Foxey Lady", on the Hendrix CD under review is, definitely, a "fake stereo" (or "re-channeled mono) recording; the "stereo content" relies essentially on Jimi's vocals being panned to the left & the background "foxy" vocal interjections being panned to the right. This effect is highly unnatural. The bass guitar is not well defined & the drums lack real punch. The overall sound is muffled.
The very same problem is already apparent on the first US CD reissue (Reprise 6261-2in "long box" presentation). Noted engineer Joe Gastwirt takes credit for the digital remastering.
Joe Gastwirt stated,in 1997, that "I don't wish to get into a major controversy, but I know the tapes that I worked from had edits & splices all over them. And it is very, very unlikely that a copy of a master tape would have splices on it."
On the "The Jimi Hendrix Experience" 4-CD box set (MCA 112316), Kramer remastered an early, alternate version of "Foxey Lady." The actual musical performance on this alternate take is artistically inferior to the standard version. However, the alternate take comesin true mono & exhibits a much-improved sound quality. Consequently, the track sounds much more as if a real power trio was performing on it. This is true for Hendrix' vocals & guitar as well as for Noel Redding's & Mitch Mitchell's contributions.
Extending the analytic process to the whole CD under review, I came to the conclusion that ten tracks from the latest MCA remaster appear eitherin true mono or true stereo, without any obvious post-recording trickery involved. They are: "Red House" (mono), "May This Be Love" (stereo), "Fire" (stereo), "Third Stone From The Sun" (stereo), "Remember" (stereo), "Are You Experienced" (stereo), "Hey Joe" (stereo!), "51st Anniversary" (mono), "The Wind Cries Mary" (stereo) & "Highway Chile" (mono.)
Conversely, the seven remaining tracks feature inferior, "fake stereo" sound quality. They are: "Foxey Lady", "Manic Depression", "Can You See Me", "Love or Confusion", "I Don't Live Today", "Stone Free" & "Purple Haze."
As both Kramer & Gastwirt are definitely skilled "good guys", the evoked problems are linked to the recording tapes that they had to use to do the CD remastering.
At the time of the latest MCA remasters, the company claimed that: "For the first time, the [ORIGINAL] two-track master tapes were used to remaster [...] "Are You Experienced?" [...] [This album], released on MCA's Experience Hendrix label, mark[s] the recovery of the original master tapes after some two decadesin limbo." Well, I think that this assertion is very... bold (just like the axis!) It is also misleading.
True, the overall sound on Kramer's latest MCA remasters is noticeably cleaner than on earlier CD's. This is because the quality of the analog-to-digital converters has improved a lot since Gastwirt's earlier work. Aural evidence reported above clearly shows that Eddie Kramer could NOT fix any of the "fake stereo" problems already encountered by Gastwirt.
In my opinion, it is obvious that some of the original master tapes have disappeared. Such an occurence is not exceptionalin the case of vintage recording masters. Actually,in an interview, Eddie Kramer declared that the case of the missing masters was no mystery: "We [Kramer & members of the Hendrix family] went on a long search & found 85 percent of the masters [from all the studio sessions.] We found tapesin studios & buriedin record company libraries. Some tapes [had even to be] bought from collectors."
For this reason, the only way to listen to the original, superior sounding mono mixes of the seven inferior tracks mentioned above is to listen to good copies of the "Are You Experienced" & "Smash Hits" mono Track LP's (no mean feat nowadays.)
It is also quite possible that a remastering based on original vinyl sources (or repressings based on good condition metal parts) could yield better sonic results. This process has already been used for fairly recent material. I do not know if it could be used here.
One last advice: the easiest way to discriminate between "true stereo" tracks & "fake stereo" tracks is to switch the sound from stereo to mono. If the sound, especially on the vocals, appears to "collapse" (the vocals are heard at a much lower volume level) when switching to mono, then the track is definitely mastered from a "fake stereo" source. When the mastering is from a true stereo source, the balance between the vocal & instrumental sounds will stay fairly constant when switching to mono. This effect is more perceptible still on headphones.
Earth to Hendrix: Come back, come back.... - By: Wilf, 14 Feb 2007 Well, there's very little I can say that you haven't already heard from my fellow reviewers, but this bandwagon deserves jumping on.
What a smashing debut from a band with no history together. Having said that of course, musically speaking, Jimi had already walked a long hard road & arrivedin England with many songs he was itching to give sound to. Much of this album reflects Jimi's experience & maturity, a couple of brilliant examples being Red House, which has become a blues standard, & Are You Experienced, which is an absolutely mesmerising number with one of his most beautiful (though fairly brief) solos.
If you are new to Jimi's music (is there anyonein the Western Hemisphere who hasn't heard Purple Haze?), or are an Experience fan already (congratulations), but haven't already got this album (how the hell have you missed it?), then I recommend that you buy it.
PS. Note to Experienced fans: if you haven't yet discovered Jimi's post-Experience work (when he hooked up again with an old army buddy -Billy Cox- on bass), then I URGENTLY suggest that you do. You'rein for a treat - esp. Woodstock, Band Of Gypsys & Rainbow Bridge concerts.
WOW!! What a start! - By: G. G. Saunders, 20 Jan 2007 This is a must what a debut it turned out to be.This man served his apprenticeship trawling the clubs & bars of North Americain all sorts of bands R&B jazz anyone who would employ him, He had mastered the instrument of his choice the electric guitar & all he wanted was to hit the world with his thing! Of course it took an English man to realize this guitarist had potential & also the said English man introduced Jimi to his two new partners ,Noel Redding & Mitch Mitchel they made a name for themselves here UK & Germany . This trio were like a bomb going off shattering the swinging sixties Europe.This CD version is the brain child that all musicians would have loved to have been involved with it is a very fresh exciting new conceptin the field of recorded rock music, try this album remastered with extra tracks , it is so important that the earth wobbled on its axis! Super smashing brilliant
It will change your view of music - By: Brian O'Hanrahanrahan, 13 Jan 2007 From the opening rock 'n' roll riff of 'Foxy Lady' to the closing rythm & blues of 'Highway Chile', 'Are You Experienced' remains the most influential guitar album ever made. It is impossible to do it justice with mere words, but I'll do my best.
Originally containing fourteen tracks, with three singles (the last three on here) released as well, it now has all seventeen sonmgs that had been released at the time. Of course, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was a band - & a hot one at that - but everything was, & still is, focused on Hendrix. Arguably the first guitar virtuoso, he completely revolutionised the guitar's sonic capabilities, & showed the likes of Clapton & Townshend how to play like a God.
The styles on here are rich & varied. Hendrix could play:
blues - 'Red House', 'Remember'
rock - 'Foxy Lady', 'Stone Free'
psychedelia - 'Third Stone From The Sun', 'Are You Experienced'
r 'n' b - 'Highway Chile'
softer songs - 'May This Be Love', 'The Wind Cries Mary'
or combine it all into 'Purple Haze'
Not to mention the fact that he was experimenting with all sorts of effects peddles that gave his music a whole new facet at the time - & still. The guitar playing is superlative, but he is also a brilliant songwriter; just listen to 'Purple Haze'. The quality of his bandmates is also superb - Noel Redding, the bassist, & Mitch Mitchell, the drummer, are two masters of their field. Okay, so they are vastly outshone by their genius guitarist & singer, but they are excellent nonetheless, & crucial to the whole 'experience'.
'Are You Experienced' is without a doubt the greatest & most influential debut album of all time. It's influence is ongoing - The Experience are still selling three-million albums per annum, a lot of which will be 'Are You Experienced'. I cnnot tell you how much I recommend this album, which may be the best ever (which you may read a lot, but this really is the biz.)
