(1970). But with Hendrix, who reinvented his playing at every moment, more is always better. In the case of a mere human, for example, two renditions of "Machine Gun" -- running a total of more than twenty-five minutes -- might be excessive. Such a critique here, however, would be like complaining about having to travel to Saturn twice. Fevered, introspective, instinctively ambitious and emotionally devastating, this is Hendrix onstage and on fire -- which is to say, it's improvisational music as great as any that rock & roll has ever produced. (RS 808)

ANTHONY DECURTIS