Kenneth Bridgham's Album Reviews
Electric Ladyland is the record I usually mention as my favorite of all-time. While it marked the end of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's time as a group, it also marked the beginning of Jimi taking full creative control over his own music, as producer Chas Chandler walked away during its recording. As a result, the double album has a varied sound that, while considered uneven by some, shows off the full range of Jimi Hendrix's capabilities.
There are, of course, the straight-ahead rockers, the best of which still benefit from the concise, radio-minded production of Chandler prior to his departure. "Crosstown Traffic" and "Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)" are fine examples. Then there is the sprawling but eardrum-shattering blues jam "Voodoo Chile," and the jazz rock experiments "Rainy Day, Dream Away" and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming." Those last two bookend a personal favorite for me, which is the psychedelic epic "1983.... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)," which is best listened to alone, with the proper speakers all around you, and either your eyes closed or the lights out. It is truly a life-changing experience. The first time I did that, was the first time I realized that Jimi Hendrix is hands-down my favorite recording artist.
The album closes out with two of the greatest hard rock classics ever put to wax. "All Along the Watchtower" is as fiery a rendition of a Bob Dylan song as you'll ever hear, complete with one of Hendrix's most intense guitar solos and an all-around thrilling arrangement. It's no wonder that this, of all songs, became Jimi's first top 40 single in the U.S. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" serves as a coda not only to the album, but the career of the Experience, and ultimately of Hendrix himself (This would prove to be the final studio LP released during his lifetime). Amid a hurricane of swirling, roaring guitars not heard since his own "Purple Haze," Jimi says "I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time / I'll give it right back to you one of these days / If I don't meet you no more in this world / I'll meet you on the next one, don't be late." And thus the Jimi Hendrix Experience fittingly left the world with a song as sonically powerful as any they had ever recorded, on a record that pushed the limits of rock music further than anyone had previously attempted.
There are, of course, the straight-ahead rockers, the best of which still benefit from the concise, radio-minded production of Chandler prior to his departure. "Crosstown Traffic" and "Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)" are fine examples. Then there is the sprawling but eardrum-shattering blues jam "Voodoo Chile," and the jazz rock experiments "Rainy Day, Dream Away" and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming." Those last two bookend a personal favorite for me, which is the psychedelic epic "1983.... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)," which is best listened to alone, with the proper speakers all around you, and either your eyes closed or the lights out. It is truly a life-changing experience. The first time I did that, was the first time I realized that Jimi Hendrix is hands-down my favorite recording artist.
The album closes out with two of the greatest hard rock classics ever put to wax. "All Along the Watchtower" is as fiery a rendition of a Bob Dylan song as you'll ever hear, complete with one of Hendrix's most intense guitar solos and an all-around thrilling arrangement. It's no wonder that this, of all songs, became Jimi's first top 40 single in the U.S. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" serves as a coda not only to the album, but the career of the Experience, and ultimately of Hendrix himself (This would prove to be the final studio LP released during his lifetime). Amid a hurricane of swirling, roaring guitars not heard since his own "Purple Haze," Jimi says "I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time / I'll give it right back to you one of these days / If I don't meet you no more in this world / I'll meet you on the next one, don't be late." And thus the Jimi Hendrix Experience fittingly left the world with a song as sonically powerful as any they had ever recorded, on a record that pushed the limits of rock music further than anyone had previously attempted.
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