Album: Are You Experienced
Artist: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Year: 1967
Information: Around the age of 15, Jimi received his first guitar, which he had dedicated himself to. For hours a day, Jimi would sit at the radio and play along to songs, all of which was done by ear. It's truly remarkable to note that Jimi never had any guitar lessons and most likely had didn't know what the blues scale was. Jimi was playing in many different bands as their guitar players until he finally decided to start his own. Once they were assembled, they began to struggle a bit, not really garnering much public attention or notice. However, that changed when Paul McCartney found his music and championed it in Britain, leading Jimi to world wide acclaim and stardom.
High Points: It's hard to decide which is the better song, "Purple Haze," and "Fox(e)y Lady." Both are great guitar songs.
Low Points: There aren't really any songs I dislike on this album. However, I suppose there might be one forgettable tune, because when looking over the track listing, I can't remember "May This Be Love."
Is it Great? It is.
This album really revolutionized guitar. To talk about its influence would take a fair bit of time, and it would be easier to read about it from the major guitarists of now and yesteryear who have taken cues from Hendrix. However, it's easy to understand why this album was so influential when listening to it. Every song bursts with energy and huge licks that seem to explode off Hendrix' fret board.
Hendrix had yet to write as great a song as "Little Wing" or traveled into the deep psychedelia of "Electric Ladyland," but his debut album is practically bursting with potential and undoubtedly one of the best debut's ever made.
No comments:
Post a Comment