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Can Hendrix Ever Be a Waste Of Money/Time?(Rating: 4)
Can't believe it but CD arrived today! OK, so I'm biased, let's get that out the way from the start. Hendrix was and I consider will be for many, many years to come the most influential rock guitarist the world has produced. For those who rate later guys, all I say is where would they be if he hadn't come along? Right, now that's out the way, the music.

Well for a start you know that you are going to get the highest quality possible from the Hendrix Family - the same cannot be said for many other releases, (especially those from his old manager's estate, even though historically important). These tracks come from '69 with the exception being "Bad Luck" from '67. Whilst the songs on here will (in the main) be familiar to most Hendrix fans, the versions might not be with "Ships Passing Through The Night" being a new one for me. I consider the playing and the sound superb on this CD, and definitely well worth purchasing.It comes with a 24 page book containing plenty of info and photos.

The packaging is digipack style with a plastic tray insert. Why they didn't go the whole hog and make it 100% cardboard beats me - sorry, I have a "thing" about plastic.

So to answer my question in the heading "Can Hendrix ever be a waste of money/time?" - not as long as releases such as this come along. This is (obviously) not the place to start with Hendrix, but to anyone with any real interest in the man, I would say an essential purchase.Only 4 stars as familiar songs, but musically, for rock over 40 years old - unbelievable!

much better than I was dreading(Rating: 4)
This album fills a gap between the studio out-takes In the Studio Vol.1-10 and Astro Man (6 x CD Box Set) (with those they're good to have, but you know what you are getting) and the albums released during his lifetime, in the sense that it is better finished material and easier to listen to for reasons other than historical interest.

But is any good? It certainly doesn't damage his reputation but it's not essential listening.

There's some good guitar playing (duh..), and tight performances but there is no doubt in my mind that for many of the tracks I am still listening to ideas in development rather than material ever intended for release. The whole definitely doesn't exceed the sum of its parts.

Valleys is nothing amazing, to my ears slightly lacklustre, but definitely listenable. The definitive version of Hear My Train remains the live version on Rainbow Bridge, but the studio version here is a good rehearsal. Stone Free and Fire are easily comparable to the released versions (I think I prefer this version of Fire to the original) Sunshine is a jam, it's a good jam but it lacks focus and goes straight into Lover Man which is good but nothing to cause your heart to miss a beat. There's yet another good version of Red House - reminds me very much of the version from "In The West" but it has been faded, presumably because something happened to the tape or there was a studio catastophe, or something.

Lullaby is definitely a precursor for material that appeared on Cry of Love, but its a workthough of ideas rather than a song in its own right. with an abrupt stop (again it feels like an editorial decision, see above) Crying Blue Rain is a blues with roots in both Red House and Hear My Train. It's got a nice feel but loses focus as it breaks into a jam and is faded out.

On balance a nice to have but not a priority. The package includes a measured essay by John McDermott. I haven't yet strayed into the bonus material included for your computer.

Not the best versions, mainly work in progress(Rating: 3)
So what do you get when you treat Hendrixs try outs to modern technology? Hendrix try outs in spoodled up quality. I have the In the studio box set and the version of Sunshine of your love beats the hell out of the version on here. The problem is that the Hendrix estate have tried to get full versions so that the cuts seem complete. But, NO, they are still incomplete and Hendrix would have never released them. The H estate are trying to keep releasing "new" Hendrix albums. The sad truth is that they were try outs and jams and do not replace or even come close to the official Hendrix approved albums. If you are desperate for this sanitised demo fest then Ok. If your are a true nerd, get the box sets and leave this alone. It is Hendrix for the newbie and I dont think it will do his reputation any good with them.