Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland: Classic or Dud?

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So I'd thought it was impressive, then wrote it off for years, then put it on yesterday and connected with every note. Ethan and I see all kinds of things the same way now. I think I'm going to give Miles another chance.

― sundar subramanian, Tuesday, 13 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

http://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/classic/HomeLogo.gif

― Kodanshi, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

it's amazing.

― ethan, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

you just cannot in any way fuck with this one

― M. Matos, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Side three. Oooh. Even after all these years, I still look forward to opportunities to hear the digitally encoded material once desingated "side three."

― lee g, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Or designated.

― lee g, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"1983 ( A Merman I Should Turn To Be); Moon, Turn The Tides...Gently Gently Away" is one of my all-time favourite sequences of music. For me, other highlights on E.L. are "Long Hot Summer Night" + "Have you ever been (to Electric Ladyland)". Sundar, if you're going to give Miles another chance , I recommend "Live-Evil".

― Mark Dixon, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i was born in 1983.

― ethan, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I've started listening to my Hendrix albums again. I just realized today that I never really got them before when I was a classic-rock- listening middle-schooler. All of a sudden it makes sense why he's considered a guitar god. I feel as lame as everyone who's told me that they listened to the Smiths all through high school without ever thinking they were trying at all to be humorous. I'm a little embarrassed about including the Mary Chain on my 40-records list instead of this. "Drifting" is the most stupefyingly gorgeous thing I've heard in a long time.

― sundar subramanian, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

heh it was on my forty records!

― ethan, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mmm, how to put it? An imperfect classic? Let's face it there's a bunch of shit on it. But I agree with Mark, '1983 ( A Merman I Should Turn To Be); Moon, Turn The Tides...Gently Gently Away' is amazing. The best thing he did.

Maybe 'Jack Jonhnson' is an easier entry into Miles?

― Omar, Wednesday, 14 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one year passes...

Absolute classic! Among the most inspired musical moments I can recall or imagine.

― John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Saturday, 8 March 2003 17:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Closer to classic than dud. Although I would say neither.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 8 March 2003 17:51 (twenty-three years ago)

I just realized that Geir hates fun.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Saturday, 8 March 2003 18:03 (twenty-three years ago)

the song about the rainy day is so classic and the bass solo in the merman song is ace

― chaki, Saturday, 8 March 2003 19:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I should buy this for merman, etc.

― Rockist Scientist, Saturday, 8 March 2003 20:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Classic, though the sound fidelity is insultingly poor. "The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp," for example, is nearly botched by the aural murkiness.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Saturday, 8 March 2003 21:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Terrific song, though.

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 9 March 2003 01:33 (twenty-three years ago)

ten months pass...

Interesting piece about EL by David Stubbs in Uncut this month.
Prompted me to re-listen so i guess it did its job.

― pete s, Friday, 6 February 2004 02:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Please refer to the "Make a Great EP Out of a Filler-Filled Album" thread or whatever it was called.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Friday, 6 February 2004 02:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Well why dont you put on the show right here Snrub.

― pete s, Friday, 6 February 2004 02:46 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah I think stubbs has written a book on hendrix.

good revival as I've been listening to a few tracks off this.

Enjoy how laidback his singing could be with all the riffage coming out at the same time. kills me every time.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 6 February 2004 09:01 (twenty-two years ago)

John Perry (Only Ones guitarist, I think) has a book coming out about Electric Ladyland, in the 33 1/3 series. I'm hoping it won't be a novella...

― Rick Spence (spencerman), Friday, 6 February 2004 13:57 (twenty-two years ago)

There's lots of really great stuff on EL, but the Hendrix I like best is the stuff from the last 9-12 months of his life...the Band of Gypsys and everything after. My favorite Hendrix disc right now is the posthumous First Rays Of The New Rising Sun, which could only have been improved by putting that 12-minute version of "Hear My Train A-Comin'" from Rainbow Bridge on it.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I love near the end of the epic Voodoo Chile, during the big feedback cresendo before they go back into the slow groove for the close, you can barely Hendrix or someone in the studio laughing and saying "turn that shit down".

― earlnash, Friday, 6 February 2004 14:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I was listening to Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle of Wight a couple days ago. I really felt like I was in the presence of some kind of supernatural or spiritual force, the way he could work the noise and integrate it into the melodic playing, the perfect fluidity and 'rightness' of his playing, the way the whole band connects. But I also love his pop songs. I was listening to Smash Hits some time ago. There's a certain economy to his soloing that's impressive, like he knows where to leave space in. Some of those simple bass lines are so great, like "Fire".

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 6 February 2004 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

surprised to see all the positivity here - i recall there being lots of hate on the "hendrix: c/d" thread.

i think it's classic, obviously - but don't you all think it's his worst (wankiest) album?

― vahid (vahid), Friday, 6 February 2004 16:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Of the two Hendrix studio albums I have, Are You Experienced? may be more consistent, but I prefer the variety of Electric Ladyland - and I like my favorite songs on EL better than my favorite songs on AYE.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 6 February 2004 16:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I like my favorite songs on EL better than...

well, "1983 (a merman i should turn to be)" is pretty fucking untouchable, even by "third stone" or "are you experienced?" or "axis" or ...

― vahid (vahid), Friday, 6 February 2004 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think there is much if any "wankery" on Hendrix's three completed studio albums. Electric Ladyland is the only one that Jimi really got to call the shots on how it was put together, it is the last studio album he completed and it is great. There is one side of the double LP that was put together as a long piece, one long jam, one noise freakout, a couple of blues numbers, a token Noel Redding tune and the rest is tightly arranged songs.

In one record, Electric Ladyland covers pretty the span of what he was about as a musician.

Some of the live stuff gets out there a bit more and I suppose could be wanky, but the extended pieces on Electric Ladyland are on it.

― earlnash, Friday, 6 February 2004 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

well, "1983 (a merman i should turn to be)" is pretty fucking untouchable

Indeed. Also "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", "All Along the Watchtower", and "Cross-Town Traffic".

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 6 February 2004 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

'1983...' is almost proto-MBV.

As much as I love this stuff I've spent more time with Fushitsusha but I don't wanna compare both.

''But I also love his pop songs. I was listening to Smash Hits some time ago.''

yeah I got that a while back and really enjoyed it.

I have the band of Gypsys 'live at filmore...' and its pretty good but I don't actually see how much better that band are from the experience. I should give that another listen sometime.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Billy Cox could groove canyons over Noel Redding on bass, which isn't quite fair as Redding was actually a guitarist who got hired as a bassist.

Buddy Miles isn't nearly as intense or as good as Mitch Mitchell.

― earlnash, Friday, 6 February 2004 17:08 (twenty-two years ago)

but the extended pieces on Electric Ladyland are on it

yeah i guess i enjoy the more tightly (more concise, maybe?) constructed jams (the three i named above basically) a bit more, in general. though "1983" tops them all ...

i also love love love the fuzzywuzzy super-short ballads on axis like "little wing" and "castles made of sand" and so on. especially LW, it's got the most amazing gelatinous guitar tone at the beginning, it's like aural smack (is it a leslie?)

― vahid (vahid), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:14 (twenty-two years ago)

well i guess EL has "rainy day, dream away" but i think the first two have the edge on ballads.

― vahid (vahid), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Billy Cox could groove canyons over Noel Redding on bass, which isn't quite fair as Redding was actually a guitarist who got hired as a bassist.

I beg to differ. I though Redding was an amazing bassist-- his riffs were never obvious, always funky, and managed to keep up with the hardest guitarist to keep up with ever.

― David Allen (David Allen), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:20 (twenty-two years ago)

six months pass...

"My favorite Hendrix disc right now is the posthumous First Rays Of The New Rising Sun..."

I finally found good used copies of First Rays of the New Rising Sun and South Saturn Delta. The sound is great, much improved over the stuff released on Cry of Love. Considering how much this stuff has been recycled over the years, I was pretty skeptical, but I think they did as good a job as could be expected.

Listening to "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" for the first time, I got a felt a twinge of sadness of what was perhaps lost in Hendrix's death for the first time in a long while.

I'd definitely like a reissue of Hendrix at Monterrey, as that was one of his recordings that I had on tape when I was a kid that got me hooked into his music.

― Earl Nash (earlnash), Thursday, 12 August 2004 17:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I used to have that, too. And somebody burned me a copy of the CD, but then I lost it.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Thursday, 12 August 2004 17:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Classic (like the other two Experience LPs), altho only Side 4 of the LP was end-to-end solid. Title cut and "Long Hot Summer Night" are too diffuse, "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" is damaged by a godawful mix, and the "Raining/Dreaming" thing shouldn't have been split into two songs. Chris Wood's flute playing adds nothing, and the superduper panned/phased psych effects sound dated (but that's a POSITIVE, in my opinion!) But there's no arguing with the sheer variety of the rest, including two epics that couldn't be more dissimilar, the very funky "Crosstown Traffic" and all of Side 4 (the final four songs.)

And incidentally, much of the bass playing, including the solo in "1983", was in fact not Noel but Jimi himself.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 12 August 2004 18:33 (twenty-one years ago)

total classic. i'd say the first JHE album still is the most consistently good, but there's a grandeur to "electric ladyland" that's unique. i actually kind of prefer the somewhat later hendrix stuff that was first issued on the "rainbow bridge" and "cry of love" albums, things like "night bird flying." but i basically think all his mature work is of a piece and classic.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Thursday, 12 August 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

All Hendrix = dud. all post Hendrx inf. gtrists better
than Hendrix even the really really fucking awful ones.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Thursday, 12 August 2004 22:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Untrue and no. Electric is classic, Axis is ultra duper classic.
The end.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 13 August 2004 04:23 (twenty-one years ago)

the chord progression on "1983" is really great.

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 13 August 2004 04:27 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

raw patrick needs to be quiet and go back and listen to eddie van halen.

xxxxpost - that stubbs piece in uncut on hendrix was kinda shit IMHO - he was just regurgitating old stuff over and over. simon reynolds piece on hendrix as sonic wiz was much better.

― er, Wednesday, 7 September 2005 09:20 (twenty years ago)

I found a copy of Hendrix at Monterrey in a used bin a few months back. It is a bit sloppier and ragged than I remember, but the version of Killing Floor just kills. Jimi does some amazing rhythm guitar work on that tune to play those funky chords that fast and tight.

― earlnash, Wednesday, 7 September 2005 14:12 (twenty years ago)

Oh yeah, that great bassline on All Along the Watchtower is also Jimi not Noel. There is an article in a guitar mag I read a couple of months ago about making Electric Ladyland and Mitch Mitchell discussed the various sessions recording that tune.

― earlnash, Wednesday, 7 September 2005 14:14 (twenty years ago)

The guitar bit on the fade out / fade in of the two Rainy Days changed my life. Jimi will always be great, like Coltrane or Stravinsky.

― steve ketchup, Wednesday, 7 September 2005 23:43 (twenty years ago)

fifteen years pass...

Is that new expanded edition worth it? The artwork looks terrible but am wondering if the demos and new album mix are worth it..

― candyman, Monday, 21 December 2020 13:46 (five years ago)

ten months pass...

The sequencing on this record is so amazing. Transition from Track 1>Track 2 is one of my favorite in all of music. Was thinking about which side is the best:

4>1=3>2

But I absolutely could not live without any of them.

― Hannibal Lecture (PBKR), Wednesday, 10 November 2021 23:39 (four years ago)

two years pass...

All these years and I never really noticed the Lightnin’ Hopkins shout out (I assume) on ‘Burning of the Midnight Lamp’.

“Can you hear me Lightnin’?”

― The Artist formerly known as Earlnash, Friday, 2 August 2024 03:58 (one year ago)

“I can hear Atlantis full of cheer.”

― The Artist formerly known as Earlnash, Saturday, 3 August 2024 00:45 (one year ago)

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