•
Rating: Mmh, it's hot these days, a scorching afternoon, dark room, one of those afternoons when you'd want to be anywhere but where you are now... I feel like writing this review, will it be a review? Who knows about these things, I just need to write a bit or I'll go crazy. I turn on the stereo, just bought, the best purchase of the year without a doubt, I even hear the subwoofer buzzing, what a blast... I pop open a beer because I really need it..
The record, which record do I want to talk about? Jazz? No, no, that's nightstuff, exciting and incomprehensible for most... Hendrix? Mmh, perfect! I start, "Axis: Bold as Love", his second album, the bridge between "Are you Experienced" and "Electric Ladyland", with "Little Wing" and blah blah blah, you know all these things, or at the limit look for another review or go to Wikipedia or wherever you please. Mmh, let's start, the subwoofer is nice and warm, here we go!
Filtered voice from an unpleasant English interviewer, oh yes of course, it's just Mitch Mitchell, the drummer, then he enters with a black voice, talking about aliens, is he one? I really think so, given the amazing sounds he's able to produce with his Fender right after, hallucinations on vinyl, on the strings. Here's the difference between Hendrix and Clapton: one from the Marshall (valve amps) produces hallucinations, the other, with his touch, blues orgasms.
After the delightful chaos of the first track, here comes a brilliant and sudden intro that can't help but make you smile or at least flinch, here's "Up From The Skies". Mmh, brushes on the drums, you can tell Mitch grew up on Elvin Jones (without boasting, a bit like me, I might as well be a drummer, eh...), the track is a splendid Hendrix swing, not that bourgeois big band stuff, but something intimate, narrated, the words are simple and they fly in this hot air, the guitar does its thing, between bursts of wahwah and acrobatics of someone who has never set foot in a music school but feels the music, his capillaries, his black eyes, his hands, his words, his voice are notes, they are sounds, they are life. A subdued solo, fascinates me endlessly and then everything... Dissolves.
A jolt at the start of "Spanish Castle Magic", the rock soul comes alive and gives vigor and strength to the listener, you want to dance, lose yourself in the jolts of some endless night, have fun while simultaneously crying with joy, I see hallucinatory visions in this guitar, I see those who revel in impossible orgies for anyone (Mitch's words, bless his soul), the drums are also a protagonist, and it will be in the simply STRATOSPHERIC version of "Live at Woodstock", another demonstration of the genius of a genius. Another song, "Wait Until Tomorrow", the soul now is typical of the Sixties: choruses, beat and all the rest, but everything is seasoned and prepared perfectly, the track flows by quickly, which means it's damn good, with Redding's vigorous picking (the bassist), with the perfect drums that go all out at the end, magical.
"Ain't No Telling" is a furious rush, more choruses, but the tempo changes are beautiful, pointless to talk anymore about the guitar that soars at the end and delivers a tasty feedback “à la Hendrix”. Pause. It would be almost pointless to talk about "Little Wing", so I do it. These are undoubtedly the most incredible 2 minutes and 24 seconds in the history of rock, it’s all so, so Hendrix for god's sake. It's Jimi's very soul that gently and fiercely emerges from the speakers, a series of shivers, a few breaths of celestial air, a kiss that makes you fall to the ground, with no strength other than that of love. It's simply too much for everyone, for me, for you, only He could give it to us, only He could use the guitar like a lover, one capable of both the most unimaginable sadomasochistic acrobatics and the best nights, those worth living for. Enough, I've put it on three times, one never tires of masterpieces, thank heavens. I pop open another beer.
"If 6 Was Nine", here he really must have been high, it's a psychedelic trip, with pauses, slow downs, outbursts, hallucinations, colors, ooo yes I see them too, I'm having a trip too, damn!! Hendrix laughs it off, enjoys himself, he sees what no one will ever see again and Mitch and Noel do their utmost to keep up with him, between jazz (did you hear the bass around the beginning of the second minute?), fusion, serious rock, not that sissy stuff that circulates now only good for today's desperate youth... Here there is laughter, here it’s a heavenly chaos, you can see the stars dancing (paraphrasing good old Nietzsche). Pause, I need to recover from the trip and from the absurd octave that suddenly emerged in the splendid finale.
Well, now back to hard rock, a bit like switching from some crazy cocktail to a good whiskey, "You Got Me Floatin'", but, damn, I had just recovered from the trip and he presents me with another? Right after the second chorus I'm assaulted by a cascade of acid on my ears, everything becomes confused, the guitar rises vertiginously, the speakers alternate, dissonances, rhythm, it's all a psychedelic amalgam and when the vocals return, the guitar goes crazy, simple. I catch my breath, the psychedelia may be over but, as the song concludes, the dissonant, fantastic notes return, the drums go wild and... Everything dissolves, my head spins, damn... "Castle Made of Sand", dedicated to his late mother Lucille, is a splendid nursery rhyme, the guitar is reversed and the repetitive drum gives it a dreamy, indescribable rhythm, fast like a day of love...
I think, yes I think of my love, I want my far-away love here, at the first lights of the evening, with this solo in the background that doesn’t seem to be played by human fingers... The song slows down, damn, I’ll be deprived of my dream! But it isn’t so, I'm cold, I'm getting goosebumps, the guitar drifts off alone making me tremble. At over thirty degrees. The track that follows is by Noel, the usual boogie of guitars, the usual gallop towards one's destiny... We know Hendrix's too well, unfortunately. Then follow the distorted notes (always hallucinatory) and imperceptibly jazzy of "One Rainy Wish", and then "Little Miss Lover", rough, with that beautiful drum intro, it's like strolling through the Bronx, there's funk, tons of funk, Jimi is pissed off and sings really pissed off, the guitar is a razor, a terrible blade. To fall in love with.
Here we are, at the end, another badass track, "Bold As Love", the rainbows take shape and breathe in the ether, you levitate, you ascend to some electric paradise, you get lost in these recesses and then... end? No, I haven't heard anything yet. Distorted drums start. And it's delirium. Everything goes crazy, the guitar winks at the classic (Hendrix loved Bach a lot), here I am going crazy too, the track and the album end but I remain pleasantly crazy.
Thank you Jimi.
I pop open a beer.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 EXP (01:54)
Announcer: (Mitch Mitchell)
Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to radio station EXP. tonight we are
Featuring an interview with a very peculiar
Looking gentlemen who goes by the name of mr.
Paul Corusoe, on the dodogy subject of are there
Or are there not flying saucers or... ahem,
UFOs. please Mr. Corusoe, pleased could you
Give your regarded opinion on this nonsense
About spaceships and even space people.
Mr. Corusoe: (Jimi Hendrix)
Thank you. as you all know, you just can't
Believe everything you see and hear, can you. now,
If you will excuse me, is must be on my way.
Announcer: (Mitch Mitchell)
Bu... but, but... I, I, don't
Believe it
02 Up From the Skies (03:01)
I just want to talk to you. I won't uh, do you no harm,
I just want to know about your different lives, on
this here people farm.
I heard some of you got your families, living in
cages tall & cold,
And some just stay there and dust away, past the
age of old.
Is this true? Please let me talk to you.
I just wanna know about, the rooms behind
your minds,
Do I see a vacuum there, or am I going blind?
Or is it just remains from vibrations and echoes
long ago,
Things like 'Love the World' and 'Let your fancy
flow',
Is this true? Please let me talk to you. Let me
talk to you.
I have lived here before, the days of ice,
And of course this is why I'm so concerned,
And I come back to find the stars misplaced
and the smell of a world that has burned.
The smell of a world that has burned.
Well, maybee, maybe it's just a change of
climate.
I can dig it, I can dig it baby, I just want to see.
So where do I purchase my ticket,
I would just like to have a ringside seat,
I want to know about the new Mother Earth,
I want to hear and see everything,
I want to hear and see everything,
I want to hear and see everything.
Aw, shucks,
If my daddy could see me now.
03 Spanish Castle Magic (03:08)
IT'S VERY FAR AWAY
IT TAKES ABOUT HALF A DAY
TO GET THERE
IF WE TRAVEL BY MY... DRAGONFLY
NO IT'S NOT IN SPAIN
BUT ALL THE SAME
YOU KNOW
IT'S A GROOVY NAME
AND THE WIND'S JUST RIGHT
HEY
HANG ON MY DARLING
HANG ON IF YOU WANT TO GO
YOU KNOW IT'S REALLY GROOVY PLACE
AND IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A SPANISH CASTLE MAGIC
THE CLOUDS ARE REALLY LOW
AND THEY OVERFLOW
WITH COTTON CANDY
AND BATTLE GROUNDS
RED AND BROWN
BUT IT'S ALL IN YOUR MIND
DON'T THINK YOUR TIME
ON BAD THINGS
JUST FLOAT YOUR LITTLE MIND AROUND
LOOK OUT
HANG ON MY DARLING YEAH
HANG ON IF YOU WANT TO GO
IT PUTS EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE SHELF
WITH JUST A LITTLE BIT OF SPANISH CASTLE MAGIC
YEAH BABY
HANG ON MY DARLING YEAH
HANG ON, HANG ON IF YOU WANT TO GO
IT PUTS EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE SHELF
WITH JUST A LITTLE BIT OF SPANISH CASTLE MAGIC
HEY
ITS ALL IN YOUR MIND
A LITTLE BIT OF DAYDREAM HERE AND THERE
04 Wait Until Tomorrow (03:06)
Well, I’m standing here, freezing, inside your golden garden
Uh got my ladder, leaned up against your wall
Tonight’s the night we planned to run away together
Come on Dolly Mae, there’s no time to stall
But now you’re telling me...
I think we better wait till tomorrow
Hey, yeah, hey
(I think we better wait till tomorrow)
Girl, what chu talkin' bout ?
(I think we better wait till tomorrow)
Yeah, yeah, yeah
got to make sure its right, so until tomorrow, goodnight.
Oh, what a drag.
Oh, Dolly Mae, how can you hang me up this way?
Oh, on the phone you said you wanted to run off with me today
Now I’m standing here like some turned down serenading fool
Hearing strange words stutter from the mixed mind of you
And you keep tellin’ me that ah...
I think we better wait till tomorrow
what are you talkin bout?
(I think we better wait till tomorrow)
No, can’t wait that long
(I think we better wait till tomorrow)
Oh, no
Got to make sure its right, until tomorrow, goodnight, oh.
Let’s see if I can talk to this girl a little bit here...
Ow! Dolly Mae, girl, you must be insane
so unsure of yourself leaning from your unsure window pane
Do I see a silhouette of somebody pointing something from a tree?
Click bang, what a hang, your daddy just shot poor me
and I hear you say, as I fade away...
We don’t have to wait till tomorrow
Hey!
We don’t have to wait till tomorrow
what you say?
(We don’t have to wait till tomorrow)
It must have been right, so forever, goodnight, listen at cha.
(We don’t have to wait till tomorrow)
Ah! Do I have to wait? Don’t have to wait
(we don’t have to wait till tomorrow)
It’s a drag on my part
(we don’t have to wait till tomorrow) don’t have to wait, uh, hmm! Ah, no!
(We don’t have to wait till tomorrow)
Don’t have to wait; don’t have to wait, yeah!
(We don’t have to wait till tomorrow)
Don’t have to wait, don’t have to wait
(we don’t have to wait till tomorrow)
Oh, oh
I wont be around tomorrow, yeah!
(We don’t have to wait till tomorrow)
Don’t have to wait
(we don’t have to wait till tomorrow)
Goodbye, bye, bye!
(We don’t have to wait till tomorrow)
Oh, what a mix up
Oh, you gotta be crazy, hey, ow!
Don’t have to wait till tomorrow.
05 Ain't No Telling (01:52)
Well there ain't no
ain’t no telling baby
when you will see me again
but I pray it will be tomorrow.
Well the sunrise
is burnin’ my eyes baby
well now I must leave now
but I really hope to see you tomorrow.
Yeah well my house is oh, such a million miles away
The feelin’ there always hangs up my day
Oh Cleopatra, she’s driving me insane
She’s tryin’ to put my body in her brain
So uh, just uh, kiss me goodbye, just to ease the pain.
Sing it, hah, sing it, hah!
Aint no, ain't no telling baby
There ain’t no telling baby
When you’re gonna see me
cause I really hope that uh, it’ll be tomorrow
You know what I’m talkin’ bout
Woo, yeah
Hope it’ll be ah, hope it’ll be tomorrow, ah
Aint no tellin’ baby
Yeah, you know what I’m talkin bout
Anyway, must leave now.
08 You Got Me Floatin' (02:44)
You got me floatin' round and round,
Always up, you never let me down
The amazing thing, you turn me on naturally,
And I kiss you when I please.
You got me floatin' round and round,
You got me floatin' never down
You got me floatin' naturally
You got me floatin' float to please
You got me floatin' across and through
You make me float right on up to you
There's only one thing I need to really get me there,
Is to hear you laugh without a care.
You got me floatin' round and round,
You got me floatin' never down
You got me floatin' naturally
You got me floatin' float to please
You got me floatin' round and round,
You got me floatin' never down
You got me floatin' naturally
You got me floatin' float to please
Now your Daddy's cool, and your Mamma's no fool,
They both know I'm heads over heels for you,
And when the day melts down into a sleepy red glow,
That's when my desires start to show.
You got me floatin' round and round,
You got me floatin' never down
You got me floatin' naturally
You got me floatin' float to please.
10 She's So Fine (02:43)
She walks with a bell-clock round her neck
So the hippies think she's in with time
Time...
Her hair glistens like robins on a deck
Branches attack me from her neck
She's so fine
She's so very very fine
The sun from a cloud sinks into her eyes
The rain from a tree soaks into her mind
Mind...
Morning sign sounds just like a lock
All these signs are always a stock
She's so fine
She's so very very fine
When I veer I get so near
But so far far far away
Listen to me today
We united just beside a leaf
The ground was hard underneath her her
Ahhh ahhh
She's so fine
Ahhh ahhh
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By VoodooChild
Little Wing... is a song that speaks directly to the listener and, if understood, almost conveys sensations of enchantment and rapture.
Axis: Bold As Love... is certainly the least innovative of the Experience albums, but it is the most cohesive and absolutely among the most beautiful albums ever.
By Sigma
An acid rock with blues influences; jazzy at moments; dreamy, fresh, warm, light yet strong at the same time.
"Bold as Love." Vivid colors that synergistically spread feelings, thoughts, words into the air.
