Jimi Hendrix - 'Valleys of Neptune'

Since it was recorded in the year following the release of Electric Ladyland, you could conceivably look at it as what Jimi Hendrix's fourth album might have sounded like. Or, given the re-engineering it underwent, the video produced for the album's second single, "Bleeding Heart" and a Rock Band video game reportedly due for a late 2010 release, you could look at it as Hendrix for the 21st century. And, if you're really cynical, you could just see it as a way to further exploit a highly marketable legend. In reality, each of these elements comes into play, but none make the album any less of a thrill to listen to.

I find that the 40+ years that have intervened since I first heard Jimi Hendrix have done little to make my reaction to hearing this newly released material any different than it was then. I also find myself no better equipped to describe my reaction. It is visceral, gut-level. The music is full of contradictions. It is at the same time mystical but earthy, raw but polished, complex but simple.

Serious Hendrix fans will take one look at the track list and say, "So, what's new?" The opening track, "Stone Free" was the B-side of his first single, "Hey Joe." Versions of "Bleeding Heart" have appeared on at least three of the albums released since Hendrix's death. Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Live" was a staple of Hendrix's concert set list, and appeared on several live albums. He performed "Lover Man" at Woodstock in 1969 and Isle of Wight in 1970, and recorded several versions in the studio. "Fire" first appeared on Are You Experienced in 1967. "Red House" appeared on the 1969 Smash Hits compilation after first being heard on the UK version of Are You Experienced?.

What's new for the hardcore fan is that while each of these songs has been available in one form or another, live or studio, official or bootleg, they have never been heard in the slick, re-engineered form they appear in on this album. For the casual or new fan, the album represents the single best argument I can think of for the notion that Hendrix represents absolutely essential classic rock.

High Points
The title track has that mystical/psychedelic quality that Hendrix mastered, but with a surprisingly down-to-earth lyric. The reason we haven't heard this version before? Through various recording sessions with various musicians (including Traffic's Steve Winwood and Chris Wood) Hendrix never did achieve the sound he wanted.

The instrumental jam version of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love" is classic Hendrix, smoothly moving light years away from the original melody, and just as smoothly back into it. Backstory: the song was originally inspired by a Hendrix concert in London attended by (wait for it) Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce of Cream.

In "Hear My Train A'Comin'" Hendrix works some sort of magic (that's the only plausible explanation) in which he makes his guitar produce what sounds almost like a vocal counterpoint harmony to his own. Spooky.

Bottom Line
It was 40 years ago this year that Hendrix died. In addition to this release, there will be reissues of much of the Hendrix catalog, and, according to hints from the artist's sister (and keeper of his catalog) a Hendrix version of the Rock Band video game. Frankly, I don't care whether its exploitation for commercial gain, or an attempt to attract an audience that was born after Hendrix died, or none of the above. At its core, this is essential Hendrix, no matter whether you're hearing it for the first time today, or heard it for the first time way back when.