53. Jimi Hendrix, "Electric Ladyland"

 


After yesterday's seemingly endless parade of nearly-perfect two and a half minute bops, this weird, sprawling album seems like wading through molasses.  That is not a great simile but it will have to do.

Let's hit the good part first.  There isn one absolute masterpiece on this album, and it's Hendrix's cover of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower."  You hear those first strums and immediately recognize it and it completely overpowers you and sweeps you up.  This is one of the winners in the "cover that's better than the original" game, because honestly, it makes Dylan's original sound like the cover version.  I can't hear this without picturing Huey helicopters over the jungle and burning police cars because it's been the soundtrack for a million documentaries and shows about the 60s.  (This album came out in October 1968, which is about as close to the climax of The Sixties as you can get.)  

"Crosstown Traffic" is a funky, tight not quite three-minute jam with a catchy chorus and lyrics that get weirder and more disturbing the more you think about them:

I'm not the only soul who's accused of hit and run
Tire tracks all across your back
I can ha, I can see you had your fun
But uh, darling can't you see my signals turn from green to red
And with you I can see a traffic jam straight up ahead

There's also a psych-pop song, "Little Miss Strange," that's unlike anything else on the album, written and sung by bassist Noel Redding, that is unquestionably Kinks-ish with, of course, Hendrix's inimitable guitar winding its way through.  It's definitely a fun song.

Here's where me and the true Hendrix heads part company, because other than those songs, I find this album kind of a slog.  "Voodoo Chile" is 15 minutes long and seems longer, a lengthy jam exploring different blues styles.  Not my thing, really.  (One funny aside - I had a friend in high school who pronounced it "Voodoo Chili," like the food, and that would actually be a great restaurant name. There was a restaurant in SF named "Voodoo Child" but I don't think it's still open.)  

A lot of the songs just seem kind of formless, like they exist solely as a vehicle for Jimi to play guitar, which is probably what they were.  As you may recall, I liked Axis: Bold as Love quite a bit, and I think the songs are just better crafted.  Like, take "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" on this album.  It certainly has some cool-sounding talking guitar, but it's just a jam, more than anything.  "Lomg Hot Summer Night" I think could be a really cool song, but again, everything is just there to service the guitar.  

Is this album in my personal Top 100? Nope.

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