Friday, March 12, 2010
JIMI HENDRIX
VALLEYS OF NEPTUNE
Now, to quote LZ "it's been a long time, a long time," but it really was worth the patience! Recorded in 1969 and 1970 mainly in New York and London, here's 12 new (to collectors of legally recorded music; some have surfaced here and there in various forms) songs or versions thereof, recorded by unquestionably one of the masters of the electric guitar.
You will hear snippets of sublime genious that very curiously remind you of comparably ancient Hendrix standards. And before you find that off-putting, it's not. It brings a sonic smile to your face! It brings to mind the group Boston's second album. I recall waiting a relatively paltry few years to hear the follow-up to their brilliant debut, and when Don't Look Back came out there was huge disappointment because it sounded so much like a Boston album!!! No matter that Aerosmith puts out albums that sound like Aerosmith, and AC/DC and countless others have huge catalogs of similar yet exciting music under their belts!
Well, undeniably Neptune sounds like a Hendrix album. And the material is refreshingly new enough to be just a little familiar. The gem in my book is the cover of "Sunshine of Your Love." First, it's an instrumental, and it's long, and it even has an unconventional bass solo, but it rocks. On other tunes, Hendrix's vocals are studio quality (2010 studio quality that is); and the production wizardry really makes this a great balanced listen. Maybe on a few cuts (especialy "Stone Free") the cymbals are a hair shrill. You will notice the Beatle-esque 1969 stereo separation and mix. Sorry, the original recordings are that old.
All in all it's a great collection. It will never replace any of his multitude of best-of collections, nor does it stack up against any of the legal or otherwise live performance records available. But give me this disc and any of the longer studio best-of CDs and I'm a happy Hendrix camper!
Bottom Line: 4/5 stars and long may James Marshall Hendrix rock!
Zeph, out
VALLEYS OF NEPTUNE
Now, to quote LZ "it's been a long time, a long time," but it really was worth the patience! Recorded in 1969 and 1970 mainly in New York and London, here's 12 new (to collectors of legally recorded music; some have surfaced here and there in various forms) songs or versions thereof, recorded by unquestionably one of the masters of the electric guitar.
You will hear snippets of sublime genious that very curiously remind you of comparably ancient Hendrix standards. And before you find that off-putting, it's not. It brings a sonic smile to your face! It brings to mind the group Boston's second album. I recall waiting a relatively paltry few years to hear the follow-up to their brilliant debut, and when Don't Look Back came out there was huge disappointment because it sounded so much like a Boston album!!! No matter that Aerosmith puts out albums that sound like Aerosmith, and AC/DC and countless others have huge catalogs of similar yet exciting music under their belts!
Well, undeniably Neptune sounds like a Hendrix album. And the material is refreshingly new enough to be just a little familiar. The gem in my book is the cover of "Sunshine of Your Love." First, it's an instrumental, and it's long, and it even has an unconventional bass solo, but it rocks. On other tunes, Hendrix's vocals are studio quality (2010 studio quality that is); and the production wizardry really makes this a great balanced listen. Maybe on a few cuts (especialy "Stone Free") the cymbals are a hair shrill. You will notice the Beatle-esque 1969 stereo separation and mix. Sorry, the original recordings are that old.
All in all it's a great collection. It will never replace any of his multitude of best-of collections, nor does it stack up against any of the legal or otherwise live performance records available. But give me this disc and any of the longer studio best-of CDs and I'm a happy Hendrix camper!
Bottom Line: 4/5 stars and long may James Marshall Hendrix rock!
Zeph, out
Sunday, March 07, 2010
WE ARE THE FALLEN
Free Download of an acoustic version of Bury Me Alive is at
http://www.wearethefallen.com/freedownload/
Note: this is no stripped down version, it's highly orchestrated, and LEGAL!
Zeph, out
Free Download of an acoustic version of Bury Me Alive is at
http://www.wearethefallen.com/freedownload/
Note: this is no stripped down version, it's highly orchestrated, and LEGAL!
Zeph, out
