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Axis: Bold as Love

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love Audio CD

A fair review of the The Jimi Hendrix Experience "Axis: Bold as Love" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Jimi Hendrix Experience reviews here, or go back to the The Jimi Hendrix Experience tabs.

Band: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Title: Axis: Bold as Love
Rating:

Release Date: 1997-04-22
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: EXP 2: Up from the Skies 3: Spanish Castle Magic 4: Wait Until Tomorrow 5: Ain't No Telling 6: Little Wing 7: If 6 Was 9 8: You Got Me Floatin' 9: Castles Made of Sand 10: She's So Fine 11: One Rainy Wish 12: Little Miss Lover 13: Bold as Love

jimi,s great 2nd album axis!!
well december of 67 in england and january of 68 in the u. jimi hendrix was an amazing muscian!!axis bold as love was his second album which was recorded and released in the last part of 1967. s. 1967 was not only an amazing year in music, but a very busy and creative year for jimi hendrix,as earlier in the year jimi released his amazing debut; are you experienced,which in my opinion is one of the strongest debut albums any hard rock artist ever came out with. also in the summer of 67 jimi played the monterey pop festival which was filmed and i would recomend getting that dvd!it was a great performance for jimi!!any way for me the stand out cuts on axis are;up from the skies,spanish castle magic,you got me floatin,bold as love,she,s so fine which bassist noel redding took lead vocal on, and if 6 was 9!!this is a great cd if you are a hendrix fan get this!!!!.

Jimi's BEST songwritting...fair production due to rush release

The downside is, back in 1967, the record company rushed Jimi and crew for a new album and he had very very little time to record and mix this album, infact one side of the albums original mixes were lost and had to be re-done and another rush job. This second album by Jimi features I feel, his best songwriting, very scenic and poetic songs, dreamy, very excellent use of words, true work of art, just listen to "Castles made of Sand" or "One Rainy wish". Jimi stated in interviews it couda been so much better. But its a great album, sounds at times a bit bare, and at times truely shrines, one of his best.

Modern sounding but moody, bluesy, experimental album.75/100
In a sense, it sort of reminds me of Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the holy" album, in that is alright, but it may have the potential to grow on you more in future.
This album didn't impress me much as their debut album, which I also reviewed here.

On my first listen, the one song which I put a dot next to in my notes (signifying that I find a song interesting in some way. . . a tick means I really like it) was:

You got me floatin' - features some experimental sounds which are generated in a studio. It has a modern rock sound and I liked the cool sound and playing of the bass guitar. This song makes me think that Lenny Kravitz may have been influence by this kind of material. The song also has backing vocals. Eric Clapton's song which features the lyric "tearing us apart" was also brought to mind listening to this song.

On second listen, some more songs got dots next to them in my notes. . . chronologically:

Spanish castle magic - has a heavy metal/hard rock kind of sound to it. The drum sound is chunky and I like the catchy vocal melody. Bass noticeable.

Wait until tomorrow - the bass is in your face, so to speak. The vocals are of the sing-song variety, and the lead guitar is 'chatty', if you know what I mean. The guitar sound was sort of familiar to me, though I can't pinpoint what other songs it reminded me of. American born Australian "Diesel" has a song called "Cry in shame" which this song made me think of. The drums are chunky on this song too and I like the cute falsetto backing vocals on this song.

Little wing - easy going song with nice lead guitar. I like the tone of the guitar as well. Sounds like glass objects are used for percussion too.

Next best songs:

Castle's made of sand - reliant on studio effects, features a guitar playing a melody in reverse (having recently started listening to Hendrix, I'm beginning to wonder if he beat The Beatles into innovating in the studio). Vocals are catchy and the lyrics are chatty. Lead guitar and bass guitar also play a part in this track. At 2:32 into this track, I hear a click, which may be a problem with the source tapes.

She's so fine - more chunky drums and in your face bass. Features falsetto backing vocals, and the main vocals are catchy, in a Beatle-esque kind of way (I don't think that Hendrix sings in this song). The outro features distorted hard rock guitar playing.

The rest:

Exp - an experimental sounding track with heavy, distorted guitar sounds. . . it sounds like they are imagining what a U. F. O would sound like! Also features an radio announcer with an Australian sounding accent. This year, I think, a British movie called "The boat that rocked" covered this time frame in music history. A criticism that I had come across here in Australia was that the movie didn't really reflect the number of Australian voices on pirate radio. . . there is one New Zealand actor in the movie. Just guessing, but maybe this Australian sounding voice is recognition of the fact that such voices were common in Britain on the radio, at this time.

Up from the skies - features brush drumming. A rootsy, bassy track with a twangy sounding guitar and sing-song mellow vocals. Reminded me of The John Butler Trio in style. John Butler is an American born Australian roots artist. Great song in "Zebra". . . anyway. . .

If 6 was 9 - the guitar and bass intro part reminded me of Led Zeppelin's "Living loving maid". You can hear Jimi chewing gum in this song, which is sort of cool! The middle part of this track has some intense drumming and the mood as a whole can be described as 'moody, bluesy rock'. But it does seem psychedelic at times, too. Song features a solo too, and I found the stereo quality in this song to be excellent, which I don't usually associate with music from this period, which often sounded 'faux' stereo, if you know what I mean.

One rainy wish - has a velvety guitar tone, mellow in parts, but rock at other times (quiet, loud, quiet format). Features wailing lead guitar and noticeable bass.

Little miss lover - I like the drum pattern at the start, as the track goes into a funky bass and lead guitar groove. . . a bit Red Hot Chili Peppery, in other words. Has a driving bass guitar sound. At 1:46 there seems to be a glitch in the vocals, which may suggest that the master tapes aren't perfect.

Bold as love - another song which reminds me of Diesel's "Cry in shame". Think that the outro may have a harpsichord in it, and the drumming gets quite spacey.

Generally I like the textured sound of the instruments in this album. . . from the crisp drums to the tone of the guitars and back to some chunky drumming. For the first time, I think I can hear the influence of Hendrix in Australian acts like Diesel, John Butler, and overseas acts like Lenny Kravitz.

Like I said before, the music on this album does sound modern, but with a moody, bluesy, experimental rock bent.

This album might be a grower for me.

Recommended albums from this period in time:

The Jimmi Hendrix Experience: "Are you experienced?" and "Electric Ladyland".

Cream: Wheels of fire.

Hendrix came together for this one, and only this one
Its sad he didn't get a chance to do more. As great as Jimi was, this is the only album where he put it all together. . .

The first album was great, but it had a "hits" quality to it, I've always thought. This one, however, was an actual album. I think albums are getting to be kind of rare these days, but not in the late 60s/early 70s when that is what bands made. . . albums. Not collections of songs.

Anyways, yeah, this is the one where Jimi coalesced and gelled and produced a visionary piece of work. And then Electric Ladyland came out which was great, but watered down. . . like it started well but seemed hurried and really needed my refinement and probably should have been a single LP.

I think its been said many times that Axis is the Jimi album. . . kind of the only one. It makes me sad even still, because he was a creative genius who was used and abused and probably still is wondering what the f&*k happened even now. . . you know?

For a brief shining moment he got it all together, and this ultra-classic ALBUM is the result.

Buy it, listen to it, trip on it, know it. This is la creme de la creme of album-oriented psychedelic rock, and defines a whole era. It really is and it really does.

Peace.

Only his second album and people have covered it for years
"Up From the Skies" has been done by Sting and Rickie Lee Jones, who both proved that the wah-wah may have been the most prominent feature of this original version here, but the song wasn't dependent on that gimmick. Since Hendrix's passing, people have been covering his work for years, but years, but this album's tracks were the biggest source. Now that it's permissible to critique Eric Clapton without being called a heretic, I can finally come out and say that the earliest cover of the ballad "Little Wing" on "Derek & the Dominos" was annoyingly strident. Sting's later version was a bit less so, but if the bikers who idolized "Derek" re-ee-ally want to know how the song is supposed to sound, here's how. When this album came out, rock'n'roll wasn't supposed to be in 3/4 time--that meter was for those stodgy waltzes your music teacher forced on you in school and your parents did at weddings. Jimi didn't care--he wrote "One Rainy Wish". Back then, in the intro "EXP", I didn't know there was a real Paul Caruso, but he was later interviewed in the film "Jimi Hendrix". Listen to that track and you'll see that Jimi does a great laid-back caricature of Caruso's professorial tones here. But that was Jimi for you--his awkward, shy patter between numbers in live shows could really give you the wrong impression of the man's genius.

You can see a complete list of all The Jimi Hendrix Experience discography, or go back to the The Jimi Hendrix Experience tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.