Record #748: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland (1970)

Whenever a new technology makes its way into music—such as autotune, synthesizers, samplers, or drum machines—it’s often accompanied by a chorus of naysayers saying things like, “you’d never see a REAL musician like Jimi Hendrix using that crap.”

They’re really betraying their own ignorance there, as Hendrix had absolutely no qualms about utilizing whatever new technology he could get his hands on. This is most demonstrated on the last album he made before his death, the massive double album Electric Ladyland. While the Experience had plenty of psychedelic elements on their two previous albums, Electric Ladlyand dives headlong into studio weirdness and compositional surrealness, offering an album that is as rewarding as it is imposing.

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Record #672: Heart – Dreamboat Annie (1975)

It’s easy to take Heart for granted.

Their powerful blend of hard rock virtuosity and folk songwriting have made them an indelible part of the rock and roll canon. It’s almost impossible to listen to a classic rock station for more than three hours without hearing at least one Heart song.

But beyond enjoying every song I’ve heard of theirs on the radio, I’ve never had much of a desire to dig into their albums. However, after finding a copy of their debut Dreamboat Annie in a box of records given to me, one listen showed me just how foolish that oversight was.

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