Jimi Hendrix Axis: Bold As Love

This 1997 reissue of AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE is a newly remastered version that restores the original album artwork. It is among the first batch of albums on Experience Hendrix, a new label controlled by Hendrix's family. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Jimi Hendrix (vocals, electic guitar); Noel Redding (vocals, bass); Mitch Mitchell (drums, background vocals). Recorded at Olympic Studios, London, England. Originally released on Reprise. Includes liner notes by Jym Fahey. AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE was the follow-up to ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?, and represented a much more conscious use of the recording studio's possibilities. Where his live shows continued to showcase the raw rocking power of the Experience, the recording studio gave Hendrix the composer/arranger a broader palette. There are still plenty of powerful blues/rock-inflected songs, such as the menacing "If 6 Was 9," the rolling "Spanish Castle Magic" and the spatial title tune. But "Up from the Skies" is a jazzy trio romp, featuring Hendrix's bluesy, vocalized wah-wah pedal. And on the ballads "Little Wing" and "Castles Made of Sand," Hendrix shifts the focus from the band to the silvery chord/melody accompaniments he often employed to complement his vocals. They are an orchestral effect unto themselves.

• Genre: Rock
• Format: Vinyl