Electric Ladyland: 50th Anniversary

Will the slow drip of official Hendrix releases ever dry up? Probably. This one adds some outtakes that haven’t been heard in these exact forms, plus a documentary film that is worth a look. Don’t start here if you are new to Hendrix. Those looking for all scraps will be rewarded.

There are always going to be the people who seem to know a little bit more than the rest of us when it come to audio quality. I let my ears decide not wave editor software like Audacity . I first saw the reviews citing "clipping" which I had to look up and was admittedly a little worried that they botched it , in my opinion they did not.My impressions of this deluxe release , first the 5.1 mix is brilliant , I have been listening to this album since I first heard it in its entirety 45 years ago , I have never heard it sound better than the high resolution 5.1 that is on the blu-ray . Absolutely stunning and worth it to me for that alone.I then , with some reservations after reading the reviews listened to the cd and found no problem whatsoever , sounds great to me , I still am not sure what the heck clipping is but I did not hear any problems at all.The bonus content is also really cool , although I doubt I will listen to the disc with the demos and alt recordings too much I found it to be an interesting listen. The live show that is included is on the rough side audio wise as it came from a bootleg recording but still well worth a few listens.The packaging is first class , it is almost the size of a vinyl album cover and has photos and many notes hand written by Jimi as the process of making this album went along. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through it all.In conclusion , as I said earlier I bought this for the sole reason that they remixed it in 5.1 surround , I have the equipment to take advantage of that and they knocked it out of the park. One of the best sounding 5.1 remixes that I have ever listened to , and with Eddie Kramer at the helm why wouldn't it be? He was with Jimi for the enire recording process of the album as the chief engineer. Any fan of Jimi Hendrix who has a blu-ray player and a 5.1 setup really needs to hear this , I heard sounds I have never heard before and I have heard this album hundreds of times over he years. Highly recommended!

I have been listening to this album since it was released. Same with Axis and Are You Experienced; Mr. Hendrix has been a part of my life since the first releases of his music.I bought my first surround sound set up the minute I discovered SACD existed, mostly so I could hear Layla. In the years following I have bought up the SACD, DVD Audio and Blu Ray multi-channel offerings as soon as they were released, some of the discs I spent 18 dollars on are now worth a grand. Amazing, huh?All this time I have thought to myself, why not Hendrix? Why isn't any of his stuff in surround? Oh, I know some of the concert DVD's and Blu Rays were mixed in surround, but mostly those are power trio bands that don't really benefit. His studio stuff, with all the overdubs, surely would be sublime, so why not?Eddie Kramer in his notes explains why the SACD offering of Axis: Bold As Love is stereo only (4 track limited the surround options) and why Electric Ladyland gets the surround treatment (12 track equipment). So, OK, I get it now.The Blu Ray 5.1 mix is just amazing. I hear guitar parts, harmony and rhythm parts, that were inaudible on every other version of the album. They change how the song sounds, and every single time they change it for the better. The bass is actually a part of the song now, and Mitch Mitchell, Buddy Miles too, are upfront and powerful. "All Along The Watchtower" is simply stunning.Kramer describes how they did "Voodoo Chile: Slight Return" in 5.1 first, and were blown away by it, the results convincing them the surround mix was worth it. I thought, why that song? Bass, drum, guitar, no overdubs, how does that simple trio format convince you of the merits of surround sound for the rest of the album? I mean, how much can a 5.1 mix help that?Wellll, listen to it, and you will see why. Just listen. At long last, studio Hendrix in glorious surround sound, and it is so worth the wait.

Beautiful case and pictures

I have heard this album many times but listening to it in 5.1 surround is revelatory! This was made for surround sound. Incredible as that seems since it was recorded in 1967, released in ‘68, Jimi and Eddie Kramer were ahead of their time. The surround mix just expands the musical canvas…so many things I have never heard before, amp buzz, a drum stick hitting metal, buried flute, guitars all over the place! It sounds like they are playing in your room. Engineer Kramer did an outstanding job on this surround mix. He says he finally fully realized Jimi’s vision for this album in the surround format. I couldn’t agree more! All in high resolution surround sound.Oh yeah, there are also early takes and the documentary of the making of the album, a rough concert recording at the Hollywood Bowl and the original album remastered by Bernie Grundman. Highly recommended!