Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland (1968)

When I was about 14 years old, me and many of my friends started discovering 60s and 70s bands and for quite a few years, I almost exclusively listened to those classics. Jimi Hendrix was among one of the coolest artists around that time. It was widely considered that his guitar playing was the best in the world. I'm not entirely sure if I can agree to take this as a fact because there are so many amazing guitar players in the world, but he definitely changed the game back in the day. I can only imagine how strange his music must've sounded back when people had mostly just heard quite straightforward pop and rock music. Hendrix took influences from old blues music, from the new psychedelia of the 60s and created this unique sound you can hear on the album. The sounds on the album are quite fantastic, because they sound like they were just being played right in front of you.



I only have this album on a jewel case CD because I bought it a long time ago when I didn't have a vinyl player. I wish I had this on a vinyl with the women in the cover as it was meant to be released. It always feels a bit cheap to have different cover art from the original. Also, these raw sounds would work so much better from a vinyl. Then again, this is a double album, which means that the songs are divided on four sides. Nevertheless, that's how this album is meant to be listened to.

I've heard many stories about Hendrix visiting Finland in the late 60s. He played at the Helsinki Hall of Culture and it was only half full of people. It's crazy to think that a musician like Hendrix came to Helsinki and it wasn't even sold out. I guess that tells a story about how isolated Finland was at that time. There most definitely is also a racist motive as to why people didn't go to see him. That's really sad.

The album begins with pounding tom drums in the intro ...And The Gods Made Love. There are some psychedelic noises and voices that zoom in and out. When people have put this album on for the first time, I'm sure people have expected even stranger album. This must've been state of the art strangeness back then. This song leads to Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland), which has very pleasantly light sound to it. There are clear references to old time blues in the song. Crosstown Traffic is one of Hendrix's biggest hits. The groove in the song is excellent. I played the bass lines for this song in an entrance exam for the jazz school I went to to learn bass. Voodoo Chile is a fantastic 15 minute epic with some of the best guitar playing I've ever heard. I think Hendrix is at his best when he has enough time to spend on a song. Short pop songs have never suited him as well. Little Miss Strange sounds a lot like many other hippy era songs. I could quite easily mistake this song for a Cream song. The bass lines are quite fantastic. Long Hot Summer Night brings on groovy soul sounds. The guitar sounds are perfect in this one. Come On (Let the Good Times Roll) has fantastic rock riffs throughout. It shows just what Hendrix is capable of while playing seemingly simple riffs. Every nook is spiced up with some amazing fills. Gypsy Eyes has a pounding rhythm and funky guitar riffs. This song kind of sounds like a funk song, even though funk wasn't even born yet around this time. Burning Of the Midnight Lamp has some really strange sounds and studio techniques. This has no doubt been really experimental back in the 60s. Rainy Day, Dream Away has a very jazzy feel to it. I love how the saxophone and Hendrix's guitars intertwine into a wild solo battle in this bluesy jam. 1983...(A Merman I should Turn to Be) seems to predict the birth of heavy metal. The slow paced heavy rhythm mixes psychedelic sounds, similar to Pink Floyd's early music, to bluesy riffs that make you nod your head along. Moon, Turn the Tides...Gently, Gently Away has some strange wind effects that sound like analog synthesisers. I don't know if it's that or some strange guitar effects. Still Raining, Still Dreaming is a proper blues rock jam with excellent wah-pedal guitars. House Burning Down features some of the greatest solo guitars on the album. I like how the sounds zoom in and out until the funky rock takes over. The biggest hit from this album was the cover version Hendrix made of Bob Dylan's song All Along the Watchtower. This must be one of the greatest cover songs in the history of rock music. As a kid I didn't even know the original was by Bob Dylan and when I heard it, it was clear that Hendrix had improved the original massively. The album ends with Voodoo Child (Slight Return), which brings back some of the great wah-pedal jams of Voodoo Chile earlier on the album.

I can only imagine how amazing it would've been to see Hendrix live. Fortunately there is quite a lot of live footage of him playing. Here's a video of him performing Voodoo Chile. It shows just how tight his playing was on stage and how amazingly the whole band played together. The perfect thing about these live performances is also that no performance sounds the same. It's mostly just improvised brilliance.

It's sometimes a bit heavy listening to Jimi Hendrix for long periods of time. That brings out the biggest fault in his music. As impressive and amazing as his playing is, the songs themselves don't necessarily keep you hooked for a long time before your mind starts dozing off. Essentially, his music is the kind of music that's meant to be played live and just listening to it on a record doesn't give the full experience. Nevertheless, I think it's safe to say that this album deserves its place on many best albums of all times lists for the pure genius of the quality of playing.

Listen to the album on Spotify.