First Rays From an Ancient Sun, MCA Records re-release | Performance 7 | Sound 8 | Jimi Hendrix died on September 18, 1970 with only 3 major label record releases (Are You Experienced?, Axis Bold As Love and Electric Lady Land). At the time of his death Hendrix was in the process of making a double album to follow up Electric Ladyland entitled First Rays From an Ancient Sun. The final touches on the project had to be completed by super producer Eddy Kramer and some studio musicians. The music was released separately under the titles of War Heroes and The Cry of Love. For the first time the music Hendrix was working on when he died can be heard, remastered from the original tapes in its entirety.

Axis Bold As Love, MCA Records 97 Performance 10+ Sound 8.5 Axis Bold as Love is not the first record many music historians think of when talking about Jimi Hendrix, but I think it may be his finest and clearly one of the best records to suspend disbelief on a great music playback system. The guitar work is nothing short of sensational and shows tremendous technical development from the1967 album Are You Experienced. It is obvious that recording techniques had improved as had Hendrix's playing and more importantly on Axis, his songwriting had come of age.

Clumsy, Columbia Records | Performance 7 | Sound 7.5 | I love the fact that these guys have not forgotten how to crank up their amps and rock! Our Lady Peace is a hard rocking foursome build around the distinctive vocal style of Raine Maida. Clumsy, their latest release, is a strong record both lyrically and musically.

Souls On Ice, Rap-A-Lot Performance 5.5 Sound 6 Sometimes I'm biased against albums for absolutely no good reason. It could be the cover art. It could be the artist. Whatever it is, I've prejudged the album as bad. Thankfully, usually I'm right. With this album, I was wrong. It's not half as bad as I expected it to be. In fact, it's better than a good deal on the shelves as we speak.

Dig Your Own Hole, Astralwerks Records | Performance 8.5 | Sound 7.5 | The Chemical Brothers are among the elite techno artists who have crossed over to popular acclaim in The US. What separates The Chemical Brothers (and Orbital) from other techno acts is their developed melodic content. While slaves to a slamming' rhythm, The Chemical Brothers show on Dig Your Own Hole, why they are the most sought after re-mix team on the planet. They incorporate samples, chunks of schitck, with driving beats and obscure sounds to create a musically original art form that is potently significant for high end in the 90's.