Better than first rays

Yes this is the last alan douglas product, so everybody has to hate it.



But listen to it. It's very good and it stands better as a whole than the first rays cd. All the tracks are first rate, not demos, and the drums added on stepping stone and mirror make these songs sound better.



The tracklisting is good and with a better balance than on first rays, wich has too many heavy songs. Of course, one may regrets the absence of Hey baby, but it's compensate with the inclusion of Pali gap.



In fact, you need both : first rays and vodoo soup. But don't forget the later which is hard to find. And as a conclusion, I would be very pleased wich a next try from the Hendrix estate : let's ask Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchel to propose a new tracklisting !

Good, but hard to find

Don't get me wrong, this is a great CD. However, it is out of print and is hard to find sometimes. many of the same songs are on first rays of the new rising sun, which is much easier to find. If you're a die-hard fan like I am, go ahead and buy it- it's great hearing how two different engineers made the final products, but you have to know your hendrix inside and out to tell the difference. I'm glad I bought it, but if you're not obsessed like I am, you're going to end up thinking you wasted your money.

Hendrix's Official 4th Album

When Jimi Hendrix died, he left an unfinished album, tentatively titled "First Rays of The New Rising Sun". This, with the exception of the title, is essentialy that album.This album was released in 1995 and was quickly withdrawn due to legal action taken by the Hendrix estate who had plans of their own to release this material under it's proper "New Rays" title. They eventually did release it in 97' with a slightly different track listing and with slightly different mixes. In my humble opinion, this one is better and based upon what I've read about Hendrix's

plans for his fourth album, this track listing is more accurate to his musical vision. This album is definately of a piece with the three original studio albums that he made in his lifetime and it's just a shame fans had to wait so long to hear it. Because this album was withdrawn within a year of being released, it will probably someday be a collector's item. There are so many "live" and "best of" albums of Hendrix material that it is easy to forget he really only made 3 albums. "Freedom" is probably the best known track here since it was used in a car commercial a few years ago and "Angel", which Rod Stewart had a hit with in the early 70's. Jimi's guitar playing is peerless as always, whether imitating a baby crying on his abortion themed song "Belly Button Window" or on the grinding heavy metal instrumental "Midnight". It's stunning to think how good he was, especially in the face of such competition as Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page,Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Alvin Lee.If you can track this one down, buy it. It's got every style that he played in- blues, ballads, hard rock, heavy metal and psychedelia. I'm sure Jimi's spirit is smiling down, knowing that the public finally got to hear this music in the 1990's. Although, perfectionist that he was, he would probably want to do some overdubs and remixing. If you consider this a new album of new material, then I would have to say it was one of the best albums released in the 90's. Incidentally, Jimi Hendrix sold more albums in the 90's than he did in previous decades. Not bad for a guy who's been dead since 1971!!