Jimi Hendrix - Experience Hendrix, The Best Of Jimi Hendrix (1998)

In their efforts to clean up the legendary artist's catalog during the past couple of years, the family of Jimi Hendrix has worked with former Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer to remix and restore classic Hendrix albums like Are You Experienced and Electric Ladyland. In many instances, previous reissues of Hendrix on CD were taken from low-generation tapes rather than the original masters. In digging around dusty tape vaults and studio closets, Experience Hendrix – the company run by the artist's father and stepsister that won back the rights to the Hendrix legacy – discovered previously unknown tapes, uncovered numerous abuses and revealed all sorts of horror stories about the state of the rock legend's great body of work.

With the release of Experience Hendrix, The Best Of Jimi Hendrix, the family has finally compiled a definitive "best of" disc for Jimi. Replacing the original MCA release The Ultimate Hendrix, this twenty-track disc covers the entire scope of the artist's all-too-brief career. Signature Hendrix songs like Purple Haze, Fire, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and Foxey Lady are all here, as well as lesser-known classics like Castles Made Of Sand, Red House and Angel, from the restored First Rays Of The New Rising Sun LP. Jimi's incredible rendition of the Star Spangled Banner from the original 1969 Woodstock Festival closes the collection.

The set also includes numerous previously unpublished photos of Hendrix and extensive song-by-song notes by rock historian and Hendrix authority John McDermott. For those who don't understand the artist's importance and influence on rock & roll, Experience Hendrix is a perfect introduction. Jimi Hendrix redefined the role of the guitar in popular music, mixing elements of the blues, R&B, roots rock and improvisational jazz to give birth to an entirely new perspective on rock music. Coaxing previously unheard and alien sounds and tones out of his guitar, Hendrix opened the door for every six-string wizard to follow. Every single one of them – from Eddie Van Halen, Warren Haynes and Johnny Lang to the late Duane Allman and Stevie Ray Vaughan – owe a debt of gratitude to the pioneering work Hendrix did during a few short years in the late-60s.

If you're unfamiliar with Jimi, or know him only by reputation, then by all means "Experience Hendrix" with this set. Then go out and buy the rest of the Hendrix catalog. You'll hear some of the best music that rock & roll has to offer, songs that sound as refreshing and amazing today as they did some thirty years ago. (MCA Records)

(Click on the CD cover to by Experience Hendrix from Amazon.com)