Axis: Bold as Love

Musically, this is an amazing album - a caravan through psychedelia with a procession that is decades ahead of its time. Hendrix does things with a guitar that no one else can and his ease and comfort wandering through the grooves is fearless, joyful and infectious. It makes listening to these songs a pleasure, even though they can get repetitive and the lyrics are a bit flighty and aloof. The band is tight, the sound is seminal. This album is truly a 9 out of 10.
But, after 3 full listens today, I feel it’s missing that last something that gets it to the very top level. I’m not sure what it needs, but whatever that something is, it doesn’t really matter and I’ve gotta round up because it’s MF’ing Jimi. Plus, he plays the recorder on one track. The recorder. Name another guitar god who solos on the recorder. Yeah, I couldn’t either…

I'm familiar with a few of these tunes, hoping the other two albums appear on this list.

In highschool, I wrote a poetry analysis of “Castles Made Of Sand” for one of my English classes. I also spent far too much time staring covetously at the Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster in my Musician’s Friend catalogs. To this day, it’s the only model that might compel me back into Strat ownership (I’m team Telecaster/Jazzmaster).

Now that I’ve made those qualifiers, I wish I had better things to say about this record. It may be a critical darling, but I fear that it’s a poor entry point for the Hendrix-curious. A comparison of this record against the track listing on any CD length ‘Best Of’ album won’t return many matches, and I fear that’s because he’s just a little too wonky and indulgent here. At the risk of heresy, I'll suggest that there's a pretty wide gulf between Hendrix "Classics" and "Album Tracks"; this record has much more of the latter. You can’t expect magic when you compel an already focus-challenged musician to rush out a sophomore album. You also can't expect it when you continue to release an endless stream of previously unreleased songs that Jimi didn't see fit to put on an album in his lifetime (a rant for another day). This is a record best suited to the already confirmed Hendrix fans; leave the missionary work to the debut record, Are You Experienced.

Groovy, sexy, playful, wildly creative. This would have thrilled and scared in equal proportions back in the 60's. Absolute classic and fully deserves to be on any "best albums ever" list. 5
Favourite track - Castles Made of Sand

This is is the stereo version of watching a film in 2009 then realizing the odd camera placement and focus on shit flying toward you is because it was a 3d film, with its aimless stereo shifting - Pointless and distracting as theater switches are not as revolutionary today.

I've always found Jimi Hendrix so incredibly boring. He's got skills, yes. He's even got some hits. But this album has very little that is actually interesting on it.

Finally after 3 songs I got interested 1/2 through Spanish castle magic

Like Big Brother and the Holding Company
there is too much let’s just jam and figure it out about this … ain’t no telling for example is all over the place

Little wing is interesting , but a bit slow

If 6 was 9 could almost be a Black Sabbath song at the start but then it goes astray
But also a bit Gill Scott heron
Wait till tomorrow is kind of funky and interesting but the mix is odd

Like watching a mediocre sketch show - spotty quality and no one know how to end a song.

I’m appreciate the man’s guitar prowess but somehow his music die m rarely moves me. On this album I kept hearing songs that reminded me of his other songs and I realized he didn’t necessarily push himself as much as he might have. So as amazing as his debut album was, this feels like more of the same. Not that I could ever get close, or many others, to his skill level. It’s just that his style stays consistent and doesn’t resonate with me.

This album contains at least 3 of the greatest tracks of all time.

Skulle ønske «Spanish Castle Magic» åpnet albumet. Istedet får vi hele 2 spor med litt obligatoriske psych-utskeielser. Men «Spanish Castle Magic» låter så heftig den dag i dag. «Wait Until Tomorrow» er en fin liten låt, høres ut som Steve Miller Band. Tittelsporet sitter også som et skudd. Og beaten på «Little Miss Lover» er faktisk så fristende at jeg skjønner hvorfor Oasis stjal den til «Fuckin’ in the Bushes»

«Little Wing» låter litt uferdig, og det høres ut som Eric Clapton fullførte arbeidet i sin versjon av låta. Litt som Hendrix gjorde for Dylan. Digg med klokkespill da.

Dette er kanskje det svakeste av albumene Hendrix ga ut mens han levde. Både debuten og Electric Ladyland har langt flere sterke låter på seg. Band of Gypsys er noe eget. Mens Axis faller litt i mellom og det er litt mange fillers. Det høres litt ut som Hendrix har fått beskjed om at han må eksperimentere mer, eller låte mer summer of love. Noe han egentlig får til, men det er jo ikke det han skal holde på med. Electric Ladyland derimot!

It's perfect. I just wish we had so much more.

Pretty good, though the last two minutes of If 6 Was 9 got a bit annoying. 4/5

It’s no Are You Experienced! Fairly mediocre for me

Good stuff!! Really enjoyed this album but not quite full marks for me. Enjoyed this much more than the other Hendrix album I had. Something about this just popped

4 ⭐️

The Good: It’s all about the coalition!
The Bad: Love isn’t bold…
The Ugly: Jimi’s mood when he saw the album cover…

Little Wing… nuff said.

What a glorious album, where only 1 song feels out of place and we can blame Mr Redding for this.

Not going to waste words, just gonna listen to it one more time!

Here’s to Jimi being Bold as Love!!!

I knew Hendrix was coming along from the generator eventually and I’ve honestly been a bit wary of this day. Not that I dislike Hendrix; quite the opposite actually. In high school my three favourite artists were Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Jimi Hendrix. They were pretty much all I listened to other than a few other classic rock staples, but since then I’ve become completely burnt out on classic rock and guitar heavy music in particular. Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd have returned to my listening rotation, but I haven’t listened to Jimi Hendrix in roughly 20 years now, so I was worried it wouldn’t hold up.

There’s definitely a ton of nostalgia listening to this album again, and fortunately, it mostly holds up in my books. I don’t think I’m ready to bring it back into my regular listening rotation, but it’s still a great album and I enjoyed listening to it again. I don’t think this is my favourite Hendrix album, but some of my favourite Hendrix tracks are on her like Little Wing, If 6 was 9, and Spanish Castle Magic.

Oh man who doesn't love some Jimi Hendrix on a nice fall morning? Or any morning for that matter.
I mean I hate to give this a 5/5 just because it's Hendrix but goddamn, what an album. I could say that about any of his records though. So much on here that's just pure gold. I feel like the first three Hendrix albums should be mandatory listening for everyone growing up, just like everyone reads Romeo and Juliet in school. "Ok class, today we start our 6 week unit on Jimi Hendrix. Part 1, what is a Stratocaster?" I'd go back to school for that.
Anyway, fantastic album, no notes. 5/5

A titanic classic of an album. Imperfect but really dang good.

Een gesproken opening-gimmick met vertraagde en versnelde tekst en bij de grol passende spacey geluiden. Je waant je een paar decennia verder op een zolderkamertjes hiphopplaat. Ach...het is enkel de opening, en het opvolgende muzikaal begin swingt. Dat is wel fijn, want door de ritmes wordt het typische jaren '60 geluid mooi gebroken.

De gitaar springt er natuurlijk uit. Het woord 'virtuoos ' lees ik geregeld. Dat virtuoze hoor je natuurlijk op de momenten dat alles uit de kast wordt gehaald en Jimi flink los gaat. Maar als alles uit de kast wordt gehaald, zit je ook dicht bij een rommeltje. Niet door het instrument zelf. Maar doordat het instrument al voldoende aandacht uit zichzelf trekt. Daar hoeft dan gewoon niet veel meer bij. Af en toe ervaar dat het zover is. Iets teveel van het goede. Misschien komt dat rommel-gevoel ook wel door de opbouw van het album. Want dat voelt niet altijd even logisch.

Zoals geschreven ontstaat dit commentaar vanuit een
bijzonder talent. En uiteindelijk voert dat talent echt wel de boventoon op dit album. We krijgen nog twee platen van Jimi. Ik kijk er naar uit.

The jump into production quality is kinda nuts. The first half is a great drum driven blues rock album way more than the opener would make it seem. Still 3.5? It’s just a bit of a slog. It gets a 4 because of the final and title track

I didn't particularly like Electric Ladyland, so I didn't expect to like this either. But surprisingly, I found it a very enjoyable listen. Little Wing is great and there are several other strong songs on here. Felt much more focused and rock/R&B oriented than Ladyland. Giving this a very solid 3, almost a four.

I played Are You Experienced ALOT during my teens. Not heard this one before. I was expecting more of the same but it is very different … in a good way 👍