The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Bold As Love (The Axis: Bold As Love Sessions) (2025) (Blu-ray)

Considering the profound influence Jimi Hendrix had on rock in general and rock guitar in particular, it's almost gobsmacking to realize he released "only" three studio albums under his own name in his brief career. Are You Experienced? hasn't yet seen the Blu-ray audio light of day (it does look like a Blu Spec2 CD came out, for what that's worth), but years ago Sony Music released The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland in a really nice deluxe edition, though it looks like a more "standard edition" is being released simultaneously with this pretty amazing four CD / one audio Blu-ray release of Axis: Bold is Love and various accompanying tracks.

The album's track list can be seen in the first screenshot I've uploaded to accompany the review. sScreenshot 10 shows the menu that appears at boot up. Other information on the minimal video element of this release is offered in the video section below.

Axis: Bold as Love features Dolby Atmos, LPCM Stereo and Mono options, and Hendrix fans are going to have a blast listening to all three. At least two iconic names give all three mixes the imprimatur of authority. The original 1967 stereo and mono mixes were remastered by the venerable Bernie Grundman, and original engineer Eddie Kramer along with Chandler Harrold handled the new Atmos mix. The surround mix has a ton of amazing immersion beginning with the hilarious opening, which could almost be from a Mothers of Invention album from that same general era. The opening "narration" (?) and/or "interview" (??) descends into mad dissonant sound effects which cartwheel around the listener, probably appropriately psychedelically. There are panning effects similar to that opener EXP in If 6 Was 9, and even in the very closing guitar(s) fade in Castles Made of Sand, where sounds ping pong back and forth and waft around and over the listener. There's actually some of the best verticality in the album in Castles Made of Sand, especially with regard to Jimi's vocals. Other tunes like Up From the Skies offer clear discrete channelization of vocals, perhaps a bit oddly in this case the front right channel for a while until some "answers" in overdubs start emanating from the left front channel. The Atmos mix offers some really appealing separation of individual instruments that give new spaciousness to the listening experience, as in the glockenspiel in Little Wing, which is placed rearward in the Atmos version.

Additionally, the Hendrix Estate has packaged this release rather beautifully, if in one case absolutely frustratingly. A gorgeous die cut O ring type slip cover measures approximately 8 1/4" wide by 8" high by 3/4" deep. That encloses a tan slipbox with some colored pencil drawings. The slipbox then encloses "the goods", an oversized four panel cardboard sleeve that unfolds to reveal four pockets in each section labelled for the four CDs. So where's the Blu-ray? That's the frustrating part, and in my estimation Sony and the Hendrix Estate made a small but significant error. They've packaged the Blu-ray disc in its own mini-LP sleeve which (in my copy at least) was shoved in behind the first CD in that CD's pocket. It took me forever to figure out where it was, and even worse, in my copy the mini LP sleeve had been pushed as far over to the right as it would go, and getting it out was quite a challenge. I'd recommend just keeping the Blu-ray in its sleeve "outside" the pocket in the folded cardboard sleeve. Also in the foldout cardboard sleeve is a really gorgeous and detailed softcover book with some fanatastic writing, a slew of photographs and track by track breakdowns of everything offered.

I kinda sorta joked in my closing comments of my recent The Who: Who Are You Blu-ray review that I might be revisiting my "rule breaking" decision a couple of years ago to name a genre, in this case audio Blu-ray, to the prime position of my Top 10 list rather than an individual title, and this release certainly may encourage me to do just that, unless I end up listing it as an individual release. Hendrix fans should be over the moon with both the audio Blu-ray presentation and all the attendant other audio and swag. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, November 12, 2025

Tracklist
2025 Dolby Atmos Mix
BD-1 EXP
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-2 Up From The Skies
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-3 Spanish Castle Magic
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-4 Wait Until Tomorrow
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-5 Ain't No Telling
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-6 Little Wing
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-7 If 6 Was 9
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-8 You Got Me Floatin'
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-9 Castles Made Of Sand
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-10 She's So Fine
Written-By – Noel Redding
BD-11 One Rainy Wish
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-12 Little Miss Lover
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-13 Bold As Love
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
1967 Original Stereo Mix (24bit/96KHz Uncompressed)
BD-14 EXP
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-15 Up From The Skies
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-16 Spanish Castle Magic
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-17 Wait Until Tomorrow
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-18 Ain't No Telling
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-19 Little Wing
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-20 If 6 Was 9
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-21 You Got Me Floatin'
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-22 Castles Made Of Sand
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-23 She's So Fine
Written-By – Noel Redding
BD-24 One Rainy Wish
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-25 Little Miss Lover
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-26 Bold As Love
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
1967 Original Mono Mix (24bit/96KHz Uncompressed)
BD-27 EXP
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-28 Up From The Skies
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-29 Spanish Castle Magic
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-30 Wait Until Tomorrow
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-31 Ain't No Telling
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-32 Little Wing
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-33 If 6 Was 9
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-34 You Got Me Floatin'
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-35 Castles Made Of Sand
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-36 She's So Fine
Written-By – Noel Redding
BD-37 One Rainy Wish
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-38 Little Miss Lover
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix
BD-39 Bold As Love
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix