Jimi Hendrix - Valleys Of Neptune

I dig it. Dreamy cover, mysterious title and 12 new songs by a man who's hailed the best guitarist ever. Well, Jimi Hendrix was really underappreciated when it came to singing and writing, so it's all good. Awesome quality and performances: there are no messy rehearsals, it sounds like it was recorded yesterday and can really be compared to what Jimi released during his lifetime. There's only one letdown: we are already familiar with some of those songs... Anyway, it deserves at least 4.5 stars I gave it on RYM ;-)


Although it's not all that good, it gets less interesting at moments and I don't like some of the songs, the mood slowly makes you play air guitar along with Hendrix ;) Renditions are agressive. Gotta love Noel Redding singing backup vocals to "Fire". Tricky "Lullaby for the Summer" rocks. The disc ends with a track called "Crying Blue Rain" which starts as a John Lee Hooker rip off and then turns into a mesmerizing blues. What a great way to finish it ;-)

It could've been released in 1969 when it was originally recorded. With maybe two new songs added and two "old ones" removed it would've easily stand beside "Axis: Bold As Love", "Electric Ladyland" and "Band Of Gypsies". I think the best tracks are two singles: "Valleys Of Neptune" and "Bleeding Heart". Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love" is longer than it should but it's always more Hendrix :-)

I hope it won't be the best archival release of the decade but it will probably hold the title for several months at least. No matter if it was only released to promote other reissues of Hendrix material... It's a great thing to have "Valleys Of Neptune" in any rock and blues collection.