Search - :: Jimi Hendrix: 19 Great Performances - Featuring Jim Morrison

Something was in his brain for this night

07/27/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The versions of voodoo child, purple haze, and fire are hendrix, but not amazing Hendrix. Little Wing and Good times are especially good, while Red House flat out stinks. The Jim Morrison tracks are not as great as i expected but are not bad at all. Morrisons lament is strange and disturbing and i wonder what and how much he had to drink. The sound quality is less then average but all in all it's an allright cd that catches to great artists together."

A compolation of great music but Horrible sound quality

02/26/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Great performances from great musicians. Jimmy Hendrix plays with some of the best musicans in the buisness on this two disc set. I just got frustrated because of the extremly poor sound quality on the discs. but over all it captured some great music."

Certainly not the worst, but not good, either

B. Gibbs | Austin, TX USA | 10/23/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I actually have a collection of Hendrix songs that is worse than this one. I will not name it, but instead will concentrate on this.
The production values of this CD bother me more than the sound quality, really. There is no information on the venues, performers (I know I hear drums and bass, and even Hendrix couldn't play all three at once), or the recordings themselves. If you want good live Hendrix, get something else. If you want something to scare your friends with, this should do the trick.
The recording of Purple Haze is just plain bad. Little Wing is OK, but disappointing. Voodoo chile is not terrible. It is interesting to hear him play Sunshine of your Love. The tracks with Morrison are, without exception, weak.
Fire sounds a little hurried, but is still pretty strong, despite pretty weak production quality. The recording of Wild Thing is exactly what you'd expect, except not as good. Ok, it's bad, incomplete and sounds like a soundcheck number that was never intended to be heard by the public.
I know I said that all of the Morrison numbers were weak, but I think Morrison's Lament deserves a special note. At 3:30, this track is 3 minutes too long. Korn has a better song full of obscenities, and at least it sounds deliberate. Hendrix does nothing impressive on this track, and Morrison is indistinct and incomprehensible when he is audible.
The second disc opens with a recording of Red House that is subdued, but not altogether unpleasant. The rendition of Uranus rock isn't bad, considering the state of the first half, but it still isn't particlarly good. Outside Woman Blues sounds like it should have been a warmup for another song. Room full of mirrors is kind of neat. The rest of the second half doesn't sound like Hendrix at all. It never approaches he level of virtousity or energy. The musicians are not bad, but if you paid to hear Hendrix, you will be disappointed.
The big difference between disc 2 and disc 1 is that, while the first is certainly Hendrix, and certainly has a number of moments that are not the worst of his career, the second is infinitely more pleasant. There are no drunken Doors members screaming obscenities or mumbling quietly. Nobody sounds drunk. The music is pretty clearly identifiable as music.
All told, this is a pretty weak album from a pair of incredible performers. I know that even the best have bad nights, but that doesn't mean those should be labled "Great" and released on double albums.
If you get this, you will probably not like it, unless you are a diehard historian with no sense of musical aesthetics."