AXIS:

1)”EXP” - Cute little distraction thingy, the twerpy accent of the radio host is amusing. I like how he says “space peepul.” The liner notes include the lyrics, which, for the Jimi noisemaking part, read “Pfft?…Psssht?” or something like that.
2)”Up From The Skies” - Mellow pleasant wah noises. This song’s okay.
3)”Spanish Castle Magic” - One of the first Jimi songs I downloaded on Napster in 1998, because of the alluring title. The proto-metal riff is great and so is the crash into the chorus, this is a highlight.
4)”Wait Until Tomorrow” - Probably my second favorite Jimi song overall after the RUX title track, this would likely make my top 200. The riff is great for exiting a door onto the street on a cool April morning and the way he plays the verse guitar lines have an element of humorous pomp. Love this. The album’s best track.
5)”Ain’t No Telling” - A short track but energetic and likeable.
6)”Little Wing” - Obviously a classic, Derek and the Dominoes did a great version too but Jimi’s is best. Imagine hearing the intro before 1968.
7)”If 6 Was 9” - Another majestic strutter, Jimi was so good at this mood. I don’t mind how long it drags on.
8)”You Got Me Floatin’” - Just the band having fun with a little pop rocker, this song’s fine.
9)”Castles Made Of Sand” - All the “ballad” songs on this album are great, these are his best ballads, they make this his best album. A classic.
10)”One Rainy Wish” - This retreads “May This Be Love” from the debut album but he came up with the better song on this album. More beauty.
11)”She’s So Fine” - Hey, didn’t George Harrison get sued over…never mind. Cool little fast tune sung by Noel Redding and his snotty accent.
12)”Little Miss Lover” - The only track on the album I don’t care for.
13)”Bold As Love” - It’s perfectly good, a fade-out pseudo-elegy.

13/15 for the entire album on the George scale.

LADYLAND:
1)”…And The Gods Made Love” - Just an intro, I’ve never paid that much attention to it.
2)”(Have You Ever Been To) Electric Ladyland” - Pop tune sounds like it was held over from the previous album, but it’s nice to have it here. It’s not better than the songs of its stripe on Axis though.
3)”Crosstown Traffic” - Funky stuff, good driving music.
4)”Voodoo Chile” - 15 minutes of fucking boredom and I’ve never not thought so. I’ve had 20 years to get into this and never did. The worst track on any of the three Experience albums.
5)”Little Miss Strange” - Noel blows it this time, I never got into this tune.
6)”Long Hot Summer Night” - Hugely underrated, a classic with a GREAT opening riff, perfect for late summer nights indeed.
7)”(Come On) Let The Good Times Roll” - Rrrrrrrawk. This is in Over The Edge, where you get to listen to disillusioned late 70s kids enjoy it! It’s pretty good.
8)”Gypsy Eyes” - Fun bass drum-ish song, made me think of Cream.
9)”Burning Of The Midnight Lamp” - Thought that was a synthesizer used in the intro. Another cool summer-nights song with guitar strumming and neat psych “aaahhh”s in the background. Almost like a Zombies song. Or not. It’s one of the four classics on this album though.
10)”Rainy Day, Dream Away” - I prefer the sequel to this because the squawking wah noises are at the beginning and lead out of “1983” nicely. I only need one of the two songs.
11)”1983…A Merman I Should Turn To Be” - I actually love this, it’s my favorite on the album. The song part is obviously better than the collage, totally epic and space-quest sounding, play it at night…but the collage is better dated than most 60s stoned collages. I mean, it’s not glorious or anything, but it’s not bad to zone out to, like a better version of what “Moonchild” should have turned into.
12)”Moon, Turn The Tides…gently gently away” - One minute of slowed down feedback noises or something?…uh okay
13)”Still Raining, Still Dreaming” - See #10.
14)”House Burning Down” - Rampaging filler tune that I never got into. Or maybe it isn’t filler. Whatever, I was never much for it.
15)”All Along The Watchtower” - Classic, duh.
16)”Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” - I wish this were the only “Voodoo Child.” Yeah, sure, wrestling, classic riff, duh. A great “driving home” song.

11.5 out of 15 for the whole thing, dump “House Burning Down” and “Voodoo Chile” (which I lamely thought would be pronounced “Voodoo Chili”) and one of the rain songs and you can bump it up a whole point. That, and it’s one of those doubles that’s hard to sit through in one sitting. It’s a more impressive album than RUX in a lot of ways, but RUX was a very formative album for me.

I wish I could still get infuriated over people disliking Led Zeppelin like I always did when I was a teenage Aspie spaz, but I just can’t do it anymore.