4.5 stars - His final recordings

First Rays Of The New Rising Sun. A collection of Jimi Hendrix's final recordings.



When Jimi Hendrix died in 1970, the word was devastated that the guitar genius had perished at such a young age. What many people don't know is that at the time of his death, Hendrix was working on another double-LP to follow up his 1968 classic, Electric Ladyland. Unfortunately, due to his quick and unexpected passing on, this vision never saw the light of day (although many of the tracks from the era showed up on miscellaneous releases and bootlegs.) At long last, the collection of Hendrix's final recordings has been combined, so his vision will finally be at least partially fulfilled. Read on for my review of First Rays Of The New Rising Sun.



These are some damn good recordings, and not surprisingly, some of Hendrix's most musically sophisticated. These songs really show a maturing point in his sound, and go to show that he could really have continued to be a musical innovator if not for his tragic and sudden death. Admittingly, the overall feel of this release comes off seeming a bit uneven, but then again, Electric Ladyland was the same way, and it was a Hendrix masterpiece. Obviously, no one is likely to ever know if these were all of the songs he was going to include on the finalized LP, but I think the record company did a very good job selecting them. There really isn't a whole lot more that can be said. If you're a big fan of Hendrix and the three studio albums he completed in his lifetime just aren't enough for you, First Rays Of The New Rising Sun might just be what you need to fill the gap in your Hendrix collection. It's impossible to truly get enough Hendrix, but if you're a fan of his, this is a must-own.



Since this selection of studio tracks wasn't released all that long ago, it is still readily in print, and it's not likely to go out of print anytime soon. It's good that it's readily available - as this is some good stuff.



First Rays Of The New Rising Sun is great for any Hendrix fan. And it's great to finally get all of these forgotten Hendrix masterpieces together on something other than miscellaneous releases or bootlegs. If you're a fan of Hendrix, there's no excuse for not owning this - it's got some of his finest work. Don't pass this one by - you'll just be hurting yourself and depriving yourself of some damn good classic rock if you do.

Good but...

I don't quite agree with the previous review; i think this record, if not bad, lacks of something that i'm going to try to describe :

1)the less important thing : the cover : in my opinion, this cover is awful and should fit better as the poster of a summer blockbuster sience fiction film.

2 - the sound of the music : i'm used to listening the four first records of Hendrix (i include here the 'Band Of Gypsys), and when i compared the sound of 'Fist Rays' with these records i can't help feeling there is something strange unatural? in the sound of 'First rays'; Hendrix's sound is a sort of trademark in 'Are you Experienced' 'Axis' 'Electric Ladyland' and 'Band of Gypsys', here this trademark sound is somewhat lacking, absent, the sound seems too polished whereas a particularity of the sound of Hendrix in the record aforementioned is its rawness, i almost would say 'its crudity'.

3 - The beginning of the record : i absolutely don't know which were the intentions of Hendrix with this record but in my opinion, i would have preferred that the record starts with an experimental instrumental track as this is the case for 'Axis' and 'Electric Ladyland', a sort of 'trademark' in the way by which Hendrix was beginning his records as it was the case for 'Axis' and 'Electric Ladyland'; in plus, and here again, in accordance with my tastes, i don't like at all the instrumental 'Beginnings' and i think there is a lot of better instrumentals of Hendrix than this one.

4 - The choose, selection of the songs : not all the tracks are bad : Angel (i feel that the version on South Saturn Delta is by far my favorite), Freedom (good guitar parts, particularly by the end of the song, but personnally i find the Isle of Wight version of this song largely superior to this one), 'Ezy Rider' is superb and i have nothing to say against this version on 'First Rays', really good sound; the title song 'First Rays' is very promising, but it seems to be unfinished, the same can be said for 'Drifting', a good ballad; furthermore, i don't like the songs 'Room Full Of Mirror' or 'Dolly dagger' but perhaps there is better version of these songs on other cd; 'Belly button Window' is also a weak track in my opinion; 'Izabella' is a good funky track with short guitar riff in the style of 'Little Miss Lover' on 'Axis'.

As a result : not a bad record, not really a classic too; obviously, 'First Rays' is not on the same level and is inferior to 'Are You Experienced', 'Axis', 'Electric ladyland' (Electric Ladyland is far more achieved than this CD) and 'Band Of Gypsys; some good tracks aforementioned however make me give this record three stars, but it is difficult to me to give more in regard to the flaws i review above.

Probably the only "essential" posthumous Hendrix CD

Once you get past the truly awful Photoshopped CD cover, "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" is an interesting anthology of Hendrix material various record labels released after his death. The majority of the best tracks are taken from "Cry of Love," which was Warner Brothers' attempt to take the unfinished Hendrix songs closest to completion and release them as a 'farewell' album of sorts. The very best of them, such as "Dolly Dagger" and "Angel" still get substantial airplay on classic rock radio stations.



Jimi Hendrix was a titan of psychedelic rock guitar, but much of the material on this CD suggests he was moving towards a more funk and fusion-based style of music. As a result, there aren't any riff rockers here to rival "Purple Haze" or "Voodoo Child" but that isn't the point. This CD collects the very best attempts Hendrix made during this transitional period to try and recast himself into a style of music he hadn't yet mastered. Had he lived, I imagine many of the songs on this CD would have been remixed slightly differently. Would Hendrix had become a jazzman? I've no idea, but some of his phrasing on this CD suggest he was considering it.



I recommend this CD to anyone who loves Hendrix' music enough to move beyond his flamboyant rock image and into the more personal side he didn't seem to share very often. Unlike both "Cry of Love" and the hideous reissue entitled "Voodoo Soup," "First Rays" is a very fitting goodbye to a gifted musical genius.