Jimi Hendrix Experience:
Jimi Hendrix: Guitar, vocals (bass on all along the watchtower)
Mitch Mitchell: Drums
Noel Redding: Bass
My dad loves the 20th century masters collection. He bought me all of mine (I only have two), but he know I much rather studio cds over greatest hits. But this is a great cd. Jimi’s amazing lead guitar, Mitch’s very influential drumming, and Noel barely above average bass playing. This band is a super group within itself.
The vocals on this cd are very low and bassy. Jimi sings very nicely and not always on key, or whatever you call it. But he does a great job, especially considering what he’s playing on the guitar. His vocals are really nice on The Wind Cries Mary. From the instrumentation I was expecting a very quiet voice but he sings at normal volume and it works. His vocals don’t differ a lot from track to track, though. So, basically if I said his vocals were great on All Along the Watchtower I could say they were also great on Hey Joe. This doesn’t make the quality of the song suffer, though because the main focus isn’t vocals with this band. Noel also does some nice backing vocals on Crosstown Traffic.
The lyrics aren’t anything amazing, but they’re still very nicely written. The lyrics for Crosstown Traffic are quite creative though. Taking, a probably normal situation and relating it to the subject of traffic, or he’s just talking about traffic. Also the lyrics on Manic Depression are very nice. Talking about, well, depression. I like the way they’re delivered also. You know, like with the addition of words you didn’t expect.
The instrumentation on this is excellent. The guitar is by far some of the most creative I’ve ever heard. I like the guitar when the solos are like riffs and not just variations of scales. Jimi does those kinds of solos the best from what I’ve heard. His chord changes are also really great. The Wind Cries Mary is a good example of excellent chord changes. His blues influences show through nicely on this cd as well, like with Hey Joe (Originally by Billy Roberts). His solos and riffs are really bluesy and very creative. His fills on it are nice and bluesy. Also my favorite song for guitar by Jimi is definitely Cross Town Traffic, well Little Wing is my favorite but this is my 2nd favorite. It’s nice, loud, and a great rock guitar. The chord changes on this are really excellent too. Or some reason it reminds me of rap, although it has no sound of rap and Jimi isn’t rapping. And of course I have to mention Purple Haze. It’s probably Jimi’s most well known song. It’s widely known and extremely creative guitar part is definitely a classic. The drums on this are extremely well done. Mitch was an awesome and jazzy drummer. His jazz fills and beats and Jimi’s riffs were a great mixture. He really shines on Fire. His fills are amazingly well done and extremely creative. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s some of the best drum work I’ve heard. His fill work is also well displayed on The Wind Cries Mary. His drumming on the intro is really nice. It’s nothing really complicated but it’s a nice little set of fills that give you an idea of how his drums are going to sound throughout the rest of this masterpiece. The bass work, while not near as good as the drums or guitar, is still above average. Hey Joe has a really awesome bass. Usually Noel plays what the guitar does or does a slight variation but on here he has great bass lines and does some of his best work. He also does a nice job providing a simple blues line on Red House. While not anything to write home about it suits the song as well as anything he would’ve mad up otherwise. But overall he really could’ve did a little bit more, but he still does a good job of providing a nice rhythm for Jimi and Mitch (even though Mitch is a part of the rhythm).
Overall this is a great album. But I would like to point out the fact that it is missing some classic Jimi Hendrix songs, for example: Little Wing, Voodoo Child (Slight Return), and I would have liked to hear House Burnign Down on this. I also would’ve preferred it if Manic Depression weren’t on this. I like the song but I don’t love it. I found it got old quick.
