Axis: Bold As Love

Brilliant album..

I didn't notice when originally ordering this vinyl record that there is a mono and stereo remaster of this classic album widely available to purchase at a similar price. In fact there's a ton of different versions that have been issued over the years. To be honest I picked up the mono version by accident more than anything. The difference is not made particulalry clear in the Amazon listing. Look for the "mono" at the top left of the album cover. Initially I thought that I had made a mistake, but actually it's really grown on me. The mono mix effectively nerfs all of the stereo panning from the original, but thats not always a bad thing, because you get a very focused and punchy sound. My copy spins a little unevenly, but nothing too extreme. There is very little to no surface noise. There's a single side of liner notes by John McDermot that discus the mono remastering process by Bernie Grundman. The gatefold sleeve artwork is monochrome inside with a stylised image of the three musicians and the reprinted lyrics.

Axis: Bold As Love is the second of three albums that make up the legendary recording career of the three men behind The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Released all the way back in 1967, this album moves into a completely different field of music to its predecessor. Long gone are the heavy guitar licks and the endless jams. Instead the band focus more on their use of melody and a softer tone over all.Axis: Bold As Love is widely regarded as a great album and I would in no way argue that opinion. But I do feel that it is easily the weakest of the three albums simply for the fact that not only are the songs less memorable but the album as a whole is extremely dated. In comparison to Are You Experienced and Electric Ladyland, Axis: Bold As Love focuses more on that psychedelic rock that was present but very much in the back ground of the previous album. On this case the hard rock takes a back seat with the jazz grooves and drug induced rhythms completely taking over.The album features the classic tracks Little Wing and Spanish Castle Magic. Two excellent numbers, the only two to truly resemble the bands previous material. The rest of the tracks whilst being great to listen to, don't have as much personality and is very hard to pick out as single tracks. Axis: Bold As Love works best as a whole album and not a group of great songs. The music is quite solid and the three performers play with great complexity and a lot more precision.It is hard to recommend this album, it isn't the best starting point. Listening to this album it is glaringly obvious that it came out in the '60s. Strange use of percussion and even a recorder can sometimes make the music feel a little awkward and that is really what got under my skin a little. This is a rock classic, there is no debating that. I would recommend that you start with the other two albums rather then diving head first into Axis: Bold As Love.

probably Hendix's best album or is it that music that speaks to you at a formative time in ones live retains a special meaning but I suppose massive talent and meaningful content help. Trying to find time to listen in a an increasingly complex and stressful world is the only challenge. I don't subscribe to the wonderful shooting star scenario I wish he had lived a full creative life and started to maybe make music that could challenge me , transform and go beyond his greatness to explore and develop beyond stardom to bring ..... who knows what to us all. Young ? learning ? Listen to one who has never been surpassed and be inspired.

I never came to terms with the the disparate natures of the three members of the band, a jazz influenced drummer, lucky chancer of a bass player and an absolute guitar genius all held together by Chas Chandler, a man stretching his luck as a manager after the break-up of 'The Animals'. It worked........well Jimi made it work. If you delete tracks one and ten you have the album that confirmed Jimi as being a big star in Britain before the Americans had woken up to how good one of their own citizens was. I downloaded 'Are You Experienced' too when I downloaded this as my old, cobbled together, computer file of Jimi's recordings has been a bit naff for many moons now and I thought I'd best get it sorted out. I think every teenager in Britain either had or wanted to get this album when it was first released, as it was the coolest musical statement that anyone could associate with back then.Eamonn