The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold As Love

Axis: Bold As Love on Hybrid SACD from Analogue Productions!

Newly remastered by Bernie Grundman, from the original analog master tapes!

Includes both mono and stereo mixes — Pure DSD sound!

"What can you add about a masterpiece that hasn't already been said? By the time this was released in December, 1967, Hendrix was already recognized as the most inventive, accomplished guitarist, well, ever. The album, though, was something of a rush job by Hendrix's standards, and is considered to be the lesser of his three studio efforts. That said, so-so Hendrix is about a thousand times better than anything else. 'Little Wing,' 'If 6 Was 9,' 'Castles Made Of Sand' — we're talking 'genius' here. Should you think, well, I have the 1997 official CD, this ups the ante not just with an expanded booklet but the entire mono mix as well as the stereo." — Sound Quality: 95% — Ken Kessler, Hi Fi News, June 2019

"If you want to truly experience this album, Analogue Productions' new SACD, mastered to DSD by Bernie Grundman and including both the stereo and mono mixes (mono for the first time in the digital domain), is the only way to do it. ... Grundman's mastering has less bass than Marino's, as well as somewhat attenuated highs. There's much more air on songs like 'Spanish Castle Magic,' and the soundstage is also extremely wide. ... this release is a home run for Analogue Productions. If this is any indication, AP's upcoming stereo UHQR edition of this title (to be reviewed upon release by AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer) will be a sonic force to be reckoned with." - Music = 9/11; Sound 10/11 - Malachi Lui, AnalogPlanet.com. Read the entire review here.

Analogue Productions presents the SACDs Jimi Hendrix fans have asked for: Hybrid SACDs of both Axis: Bold As Love, as well as Are You Experienced, the 1967 debut full-length studio release by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Newly remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog master tapes, each disc contains the mono and stereo mixes for each of these historic albums. This is pure DSD sound to applaud!

Axis: Bold As Love, the sensational sophomore release of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, showcased Hendrix's expansive experimentation while acknowledging his early R&B and soul music influences. The album features classics such as "Spanish Castle Magic," "Little Wing," "Castles Made Of Sand," and "If 6 Was 9."

As Rolling Stone states, Jimi Hendrix was the most innovative instrumental genius the rock era produced, a wizard guitar player whose sense of technique never overwhelmed the blues and rock 'n' roll spirit that was the underpinning of his genius. He improvised with the fervor of a born jazzman; he philosophized like the most cosmic rocker, but ultimately his basics were rooted in soul, a reflection of the chitlin circuit, where he cut his teeth.
With the possible exception of Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was debatably the world's finest-ever power trio. Axis was a showcase for Jimi's brash, scintillating songs and the grasp that Jimi and his cohorts — Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass — had on the studio technology at their disposal, and the lyrical beauty of Hendrix's guitar playing.

• "The most lasting song for many is the awe-inspiring 'Little Wing.' With its perfect blend of lead and rhythm guitar (the song's introductory phrases blurred the line forever between the two), the tune is a pure, simple thing of beauty ... In true 1967 style, the production on Axis is superb. Jimi never sounded as vulnerable and accessible, vocally and instrumentally, while the analog thud of Mitch Mitchell and the solid basslines of Redding were the ultimate rhythm section of the day - with a nod, of course, to Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, their only rivals in so many respects." — 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

• "(Axis) followed up Hendrix's groundbreaking debut effort with a solid collection of great tunes and great interactive playing between himself, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, and the recording studio itself. Wisely retaining manager Chas Chandler to produce the album and Eddie Kramer as engineer, Hendrix stretched further musically than the first album, but even more so as a songwriter. He was still quite capable of coming up with spacy rockers like 'You Got Me Floating,' 'Up from the Skies,' and 'Little Miss Lover,' radio-ready to follow on the commercial heels of 'Foxey Lady' and 'Purple Haze.' But the beautiful, wistful ballads 'Little Wing,' 'Castles Made of Sand,' 'One Rainy Wish,' and the title track set closer show remarkable growth and depth as a tunesmith, harnessing Curtis Mayfield soul guitar to Dylanesque lyrical imagery and Fuzz Face hyperactivity to produce yet another side to his grand psychedelic musical vision." — AllMusic

Bottom line, January of 1968 brought Axis: Bold As Love to the U.S., an album that expanded Jimi's six-string flame with celestial clarity, and also brought his rapidly evolving songwriting gift to the fore.

Music

Sound

Ratings from Michael Fremer @ AnalogPlanet.com

 

1. Exp

2. Up From The Skies

3. Spanish Castle Magic

4. Wait Until Tomorrow

5. Ain't No Telling

6. Little Wing

7. If 6 Was 9

8. You Got Me Floatin'

9. Castles Made Of Sand

10. She's So Fine

11. One Rainy Wish

12. Little Miss Lover

13. Bold As Love

Customer Reviews (4.50 Stars) 8 person(s) rated this product.

Amazing cleanup job posted on 04/25/2022 5 Stars Reviewer: Brian VanPelt Every Hendrix album I've ever own sounded muddy and dense, and I wanted to wash them with soap and clean them. Well, something like that eems to be what they've done here. I've never heard this kind of clarity in a Hendrix album before - which I realize is not that great of a compliment. However, this one does stand up as a really good audiophile SACD. As an audiophile release, I'd say I would give it 9 out of 10. It is very well done. Analogue Productions has somehow removed all of that muddyness. Hendrix's voice is crystal clear. The drums are powerful, and there seems like there is always something of a left/right vibe going on, and you can just get sucked in and overwhelmed. Absolutely phenominal, The only reason I wouldn't give it a 10 on the audiophile scale is because all that cleaning has affected the highest frequencies. I noticed in song 6 there were bells and their decay was just a tad truncated.

Stereo mix is excellent posted on 01/01/2022 5 Stars This is a fantastic album. We all know that. I don’t have a SACD player so I can’t comment on that but the regular stereo-mono is my dream version of Axis. For some reason I found the 2009 release unpalatable but not this - I listen to this all the time. The drums and bass are excellently mixed in with Jimi’s guitar and his voice sounds great. Every element in the mix sounds wonderful to me with the sound levels just right and a “stunningly realistic and pleasing sound” feeling to the whole CD. When the intro to Up From The Skies starts I think this is the way this music should sound.

No multichannel? Why bother. Hard pass. posted on 12/06/2020 1 Stars

Stunning! posted on 09/27/2018 5 Stars Reviewer: Tim Listening as I type, it a big winner. I recommend it to any Jimi Hendrix Experience fan. Bass is fleshed out so nice, and the highs are like hearing them for the first time.

Awesome! posted on 09/25/2018 5 Stars Reviewer: Grateful Not much that you can say about Hendrix that hasn't already been written but I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that hearing him for the first time (Are You Experienced) was life altering. I had simply never heard anything like it and I was an immediate convert. Jimi changed everything. I honestly can't recall exactly how many copies of this title that I have purchased over the years but I am old enough to have started with the original vinyl issue here in the U.S. in 1968. I have "upgraded" with various imports and every remaster (CD & vinyl) over the years and now I have pulled the trigger once again with the latest SACD from Analogue Productions. I believe that I can now downsize by getting rid of all of the other CD copies that I currently own of Axis because this is the best of the bunch. It brought a smile to my heart to hear this in it's best-ever incarnation. Highly recommended! I can't wait for the vinyl to be unleashed! Many thanks to all involved!

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