Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Are You Experienced

Get ready to have your face melted off, because this week's featured album is by the guitar hero-led group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience.  What better place to start than with their debut album, Are You Experienced?

Release Date: May 12, 1967
Singles: Hey Joe, Purple Haze, The Wind Cries Mary

Let me begin today with a quick technical note: I, living in the US, have the US version of the album, which differs in the following way from the original British release: "Red House," "Can You See Me," and "Remember" are replaced on the US version with the hit singles, "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze," and "The Wind Cries Mary," and the order of the songs is changed.

The result of these changes is that nearly 50 years later, this album sounds like a best-of.  There are more tracks that get air-time on today's oldies stations than don't.  With a debut album like this, it is easy to see why Jimi Hendrix was able to achieve Rock God status despite his tragically short time on the scene. 

Rating: One flaming guitar up - This album is pretty much a must own for anybody who likes the rock 'n' roll music.  The only problem is that it's pretty hard to find a good used copy (which I finally did. Woohoo!), so you may want to fork over the $20+ for a new copy.

And now here's the title track, for your enjoyment:



Pat is crazy.