Band of Gypsys

I don't understand some of the low votes for this great album, even if some just don't like the editing. As others have said, bootlegs exist for those who want the shows in their entirety but this more commercially viable 2 CD set provides a sensible alternative. Because it is so much longer than the original classic, which also has a version of 'Machine Gun' which is undisputably better, it does not seem to have the same impact as that one does, but the music's just as good, if unsurprisingly with a different, but equally good sound mix. I'm surprised at complaints about sound quality. I have hundreds of live music CDs from this era and the sound quality is up there with the best. To anyone considering getting this, first try the original Band of Gypsys, preferably the 3 track extended version if you can track it down without paying too much. As it's a matter of taste, and many people who enjoy plenty of other Hendrix concerts may not like this one, see if you enjoy the single disc first before investing in this one. And if you're not outraged by the sound quality of the 3 bonus tracks (I believe 'Hear My Train' was lifted from videotape) of the original, you'll be more than pleased with the sound quality here.

I'm astonished that some people criticize the fact that some songs on the first album are not on this one. I would have been annoyed to find too much overlapping of songs on the 2 releases, and the choice as to whether to put an unheard version of a song on the album as opposed to a classic version available everywhere for over 30 years should be a no-brainer.

Whatever one may say about Buddy Miles, whose singing personally I find great but vocal scat singing and screaming intrusive, the fact is that there is far greater, more sophisticated playing from Hendrix here than on many earlier Experience concerts like Monterey for example, which were really exciting visual experiences but whose audio tracks may not contain as much great playing as a show when he was focusing more on the audio than the visual side. Even the version of 'Wild Thing' presented here has more in it musically than the early ones.

Some may have problems with Experience Hendrix, but one must admit that their releases have been light years ahead of most of those released since Hendrix died. Remember the awful mixes and edits of the Alan Douglas era, the space cadet liner notes of Michael Fairchild, Douglas's sidekick who wrote a book that pulls quotes out of Hendrix songs to prove that Jimi was on a mission to Earth to warn us of our impending destruction by a giant asteroid, and even some of the weird cover art. Now we have great clean mixes, no horrible echo or obtrusive studio effects, sensible informative liner notes, and great photos and overall artistic sensibility, extending also to their Dagger Records range of releases. So thank you Experience Hendrix, you're doing a great job, and are criticized only by those who have forgotten or have no memory of how the Hendrix legacy was handled in the past. -- amazon