Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision

This is a fantastic set for several reasons. The Blu-ray has the very best of Jimi post Experience and the surround sound brings it to a whole new level.The CD'S are mainly demos and alternate tracks but the three discs have some great performances and rare treasures that we are hearing for the first time.As someone who's done a bit of amateur audio engineering with my computer, I truly enjoyed watching the guys who mastered Jimi's music and were with him to the end. Seeing the guys who built Electric Lady Studio describe how they took a building from a run down mess and built it into a world class studio was a great addition to the fascinating documentary. If you're locked into Jimi's early recordings this might not float your boat but if you understand where this incredible musician was taking his art during the final phase of his career, you will fully appreciate why the tragic loss of such an amazing artist in his younger years was such a major loss for music fans and guitar lovers everywhere.

This is a great box set which really lays bare Hendrix’s incredible talent playing guitar. Buy it and you’ll get an inside look at Electric Lady Studio and the work Jimi did there in his final years.

Here we are late 2024 and presented with another Jimi Hendrix posthumous box set collection. Presented with loads of alternate versions and mixes this is dedicated to the last year of Hendrix's life with material late 1969 through August 1970. Personally I love this era of Hendrix so this purchase was instant. Three CDs worth of material and alot of great stuff new to my ears. The absolute highlight being The Long Medley on CD 1 at 26 plus minutes. Pure gold. Other highlights include the Tune X / Just Came in jams, on CD 2 and long versions of Midnight Lightning and Bolero/New Rising Sun on CD 3. But the most incredible part of this box set is first the blu ray and secondly the book. The blu ray includes about an hour long documentary which if you can just relax about that video quality is very enjoyable. Also including on the blu ray is a reworked version of one of the best Hendrix albums ever, First Rays of New Rising Sun, with is expanded to 20 songs on this in full remastered blu ray audio! Just absolute nirvana to listen too. The book is a separate item to box so it's not attached which can be frustrating and once again has an informative essay / history of this time period of Hendrix complete with track listing information and personnel info. Fans of Janie Hendrix and Eddie Kramer collaborative Hendrix projects will need this in their collection. This is a clearing house of material that would have wound up on the 4th Hendrix studio project and is certainly a treat sonically to my ears over any of the Alan Douglas trash released in the 70's...heck even Voodoo Soup from 30 years ago was trash.

I first heard Jimi Hendrix while in junior high in the early 1970s. "Smash Hits" was my first album, and I still listen to those tunes and so much more from the vast Hendrix well. In his short life and short recording career, Jimi was constantly gigging, jamming, and recording. Only four albums were official releases during his lifetime: Are You Experienced, Axis Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland, and Band of Gypsies. For decades after his death in 1970, various players claimed the right to release material, some of mixed quality. But about twenty years ago, Experience Hendrix claimed the rights. This is led by Jimi's half-sister, Janie, and engineer, Eddie Kramer, who worked on the original recordings.This three-disk release features material recorded at the newly constructed Electric Lady Studies in New York. Jimi wanted a relaxed and state of the art studio for his craft. Sadly, he died shortly after recording the material here, most of which has not been released. As expected, it is of mixed quality. My favorite is an extended jam of twenty-six minutes on the first CD. Some tracts are basically demos. You hear Jimi, the band, and Eddie talking on several takes. These are mostly early takes of tunes that would never be further developed because of Jimi's death, but some of the material was released in other forms on "Cry of Love" and "Rainbow Bridge," and other recordings. It is difficult to keep track of all of it, even though I procure all that I can--official and bootleg.Jimi Hendrix was a dreamer, a genius in composition and performance, and a man full of music as never heard before or since. He was also morally flawed, promiscuous, reckless, and he died of a stupid overdose of sleeping pills at age twenty seven. He seemed to be searching for something spiritually, but he did not offer the world a coherent vision of reality. Still, at his best, we hear something of transcendent beauty, whose author is the God he did not seem to know.The package includes a DVD telling the story of the creation of Electric Lady Studios, which was barely finished when Jimi died in 1970. I found parts of it interesting, especially Eddie Kramer's ideas, but it seemed a bit long. This was Jimi's dream place for recording, which he had built to his specifications. There, he and Eddie had a special chemistry. Jimi would leave it to others, however, to enjoy.

Where do I start? I thought I had everything Hendrix recorded ( great , bad & down right terrible) bootleg recordings that should have never been released. That being said I got to say , if you love this guy this an album that is a masterpiece must have for your collection! Even though you already know some of his music/songs ,on this album (box set) , has some incredible out takes & alternate versions and mixes. Disc 3 was exceptional for me in particular . The blue-ray music has no surprises but if you have decent surround sound system you will be pleasantly rewarded by the 5.1 separation that the blue-ray provides. I have a 7.1 surround sound system, turn it UP & it gives the illusion of being in a studio! Music only Hendrix could do , bouncing off the walls ! I bought this box set from a presale through Amazon, well worth the money. A great deal @ the time. May Godbless JH