No. 82: Axis: Bold As Love

Band: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Album: Axis: Bold As Love
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Hendrix' weakest studio album is still Hendrix. It features one of the (if not the) first stereo flange effects, as well as some of the first wah-wah type guitar sounds.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: It really is the weakest of the Hendrix albums. There are no real great songs here, though a lot of people love "Little Wing."
Best song: "Little Wing," "If 6 Was 9" and "Spanish Castle Magic" are the three best songs on the album.
Worst song: "Little Miss Lover" isn't great.
Is it awesome?: I'd say no.

Jimi Hendrix certainly played a great guitar and was like no one else. He was also incredibly self-indulgent. This is good in some cases; Half of the genius "Electric Ladyland" is masturbatory. "Axis," however, suffers from Hendrix' self-indulgence.

The three best songs on the record wouldn't crack the top five songs on the Experience's other two albums and each is masturbatory in its own way. "Little Wing" is about Hendrix' dead mother (which is fine), but the naming of the song is taken from Hendrix' Native American guardian spirit, which is a little much for most white rock audiences. "Spanish Castle Magic" is a song about Hendrix' high school bands and "If 6 Was 9" is some nonsense about how conformity is bad (no way!).

Hendrix has a lot of "teenager wearing Che Guevara shirt having just read 'The Communist Manifesto' and is now declaring himself a revolutionary" in him. His drug-addled idealism, thankfully, is mostly relegated to "If 6 Was 9," though "Wait Until Tomorrow" has some strains of it.

"Axis" is a nice little record, on some level. It has a few good songs ("Little Wing" has been covered by everyone, so someone likes it), but it's nowhere near "Are You Experienced?" or "Electric Ladyland" and it doesn't deserve to be ranked 82.

No. 54: Electric Ladyland

Band: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Album: Electric Ladyland
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: The final studio album with the Experience, Hendrix expanded his abilities as a songwriter and arranger. Themes pop up more and the epic "Voodoo Chile" shows off Hendrix' overwhelming blues skill.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: Certainly, "Electric Ladyland" isn't as accessible as "Are You Experienced," but many consider it to be better. Count me among those people.
Best song: I actually really like the inane/silly "Crosstown Traffic," though Hendrix' (re-)arrangement of Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" is the definitive version and an all-time great track.
Worst song: "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" isn't great.
Is it awesome?: Absolutely.

As I mentioned in my piece on "Are You Experienced," I'm not the world's biggest Hendrix fan. Here's the thing, though: I was a huge Hendrix fan at one time. Like every other suburban teenager, I adored Hendrix at ages 13-16. I thought he was the greatest thing to ever come along, musically. In fact, in my high school freshman yearbook photo, I am wearing a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt.

During this period, "Electric Ladyland" was my favorite album and for good reason. Easily the most eclectic of the three Experience studio albums, Hendrix jumped from a classic Delta Blues epic in "Voodoo Chile" to an electric metal/blues song (though, thematically linked) in "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)." He had some of the first great uses of the wah-wah pedal in "Burning of the Midnight Lamp," "All Along The Watchtower" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)." "Crosstown Traffic" is a pretty silly song, but one that showed Hendrix' more playful side. The song uses a tissue paper/comb kazoo.

Still, the best song from the record is Hendrix' arrangement of Dylan's classic "All Along The Watchtower." The song's theme of impending apocalyptic destruction just doesn't work with Dylan's soft vocals and acoustic guitar, but Hendrix blows Dylan's version out. Hendrix' pounding rhythmic acoustic guitar is the first thing in the song and it knocks your speaker against the wall.

His wailing solos took the place of Dylan's folksy harmonica jaunts, while the loud/soft of the verses and guitar solos work dynamics as well as 90s rock did. Mitch Mitchell's drumming is probably as good as it is anywhere on an Experience record and the slide guitar work (Hendrix used a cigarette lighter as a slide) is certainly the best he's put on record. The production -- done by Hendrix himself after Chas Chandler quit due to Hendrix' increasing drug use -- fades from left to right while the vocals keep in the mix.

In short, it's the definitive version of a great song and probably Hendrix' best single song.

No. 15: Are You Experienced

Band: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Album: Are You Experienced
Why Rolling Stone gets it right:Jimi Hendrix is considered by many to be the greatest guitar player of all time. In describing him, the New York Times said one of his shows sounded like "Heavy metal falling from the sky." Some of his classic songs occupy "Are You Experienced," in "Hey Joe," "Foxey Lady," and "Manic Depression." Also, "Purple Haze."
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: This is probably the best-rated album on this list. It's not a top 10 situation, but Hendrix absolutely needs to be close to the top.
Best song: I love waltzes, and "Manic Depression" is an awesome waltz.
Worst song: I'm not a huge "Stone Free" fan.
Is it awesome?: Absolutely.

As I mention above, Hendrix doesn't occupy the same place as the Beatles, Stones or Dylan (and, I'd add Floyd, Zeppelin, Sabbath and Nirvana to the top 10), but he certainly needs to be up there. "Are You Experienced" is probably the most well-known of the three Experience records, so this is the pick to use.

It's hard to not like Hendrix, but I'll try to play Henley's Advocate -- a phrase I'll explain in a few weeks when I review "Hotel California" -- I'll say that his hippy nonsense makes it hard to take some of the lyrics seriously. When he claims that "Purple Haze" isn't about drugs, it's hard to take him seriously. I just find his records lacking in emotion, on some level, as the only emotion Hendrix probably felt during those years was "stoned."

I'm not the world's greatest Hendrix fan; I'm more lukewarm on him than I should be, probably. I like the singles a lot ("Manic Depression" specifically, as I love waltzes), but the non-single album tracks just don't float my boat.