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.
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.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.116) - Ranked #82 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...Like Hendrix, AXIS was cryptic and bewitching..."
Q (12/93, p.136) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...AXIS dazzles as the Experience creates a genre probably short-lived because nobody else could play it: jazz metal might be the appropiate tag..."
Down Beat (8/97, p.61) - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...pales only slightly in comparison [to ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?]..."
Vibe (2/94, p.103) - "...for folks who've never heard Jimi on vinyl, the rainbow fantasia world of Hendrix awaits you in all its polyphonic peacock glory...."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.52) - Ranked #7 in Mojo's "The 50 Most Out There Albums Of All Time" - "Far out indeed."
