Hendrix- Cry of Love 2014 vs First Rays 1997*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by fooboo, Oct 12, 2016.

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  1. crozcat

    crozcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Thanks, great list!

    Stepping Stone / Izabella on Voodoo Child are so VERY similar to the original single mixes -
    I´d say they are from the same February 1970 mixing sessions by Jimi and Bob Hughes, thus not posthumous.
     
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  2. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Agreed. I put asterisks next to them because it is a bit unclear, but generally speaking, I consider them authentic mixes from the spring.
     
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  3. Sarah S. The Hendrix Nut

    Sarah S. The Hendrix Nut Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Indiana
    It's possible he could have revisited the planned live album that was replaced by Smash Hits.
    I don't know if he would have wanted to follow BOG with another live release, or if the label would have approved it.
    It would have bought him some time to work on First Rays and maybe finish up the double LP concept he had in mind.
     
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  4. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Hard to imagine Reprise accepting both Smash Hits followed by a live album of recycled Experience songs -- Reprise wanted new studio material and had paid out considerable advances on future royalties. Hendrix was likely going to have to deliver something new by the end of 1970.
     
    alchemy likes this.
  5. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    First rays for me.... I got a hendrix family vinyl reissue from 2010.
    It sounds superb to me. I bought the cry of love reissue on vinyl and felt it was thin and not as good sounding. The mix is maybe better though, more raw.
    anyway i wound up sticking with first rays.
     
  6. fooboo

    fooboo Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    planet Earth
    Do you have some knowledge of 2010 / 1997 difference?
    I found 1997 version to be hard rock record and before the time sounding.
    FR and COL-reissue to me sound like two different albums entirely.
     
  7. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    The 2010 vinyl of First Rays sounds better than the compressed CD.
    The Cry of Love remastered CD sounds fine.
    I like both, but the CD of First Rays was a hard listen, so I got rid of it when I heard the vinyl.
     
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  8. fooboo

    fooboo Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    planet Earth
    I asked a guy with vinyls, 1997 FR and 2014 COL to hear it again.
    FR should be from digital source, but I did like it a lot. More than COL, but I
    assume Jimi's intention was not to be Deep Purple. Those 2 vinyls, the same
    songs are not the same at all. One is Jimi, other is hard rock band. All is
    different, to my ears.
    I just cannot decide.
     
  9. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    97 is same as 2010..just different mastering.

    It could sound like a different band but it's mitch mitchell overdubbing his drums. It is him. slightly different mixing and fades by kramer.

    honestly, since jimi is dead, we don't know which version jimi would have liked anyway.

    My ears gravitate to sound quality in this case. Still sounds like jimi to me though.
     
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  10. 99thfloor

    99thfloor Senior Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    Nothing is remixed on First Rays....
     
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  11. DamageCase77

    DamageCase77 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Chicago
    I found a beat up but plays great old Cry Of Love and it's a blast. A great compliment to the big 3 Hendrix releases. Friggen' shame he died that way, been listening to him for 16-17 years and I still get floored by his music.
     
  12. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    compared to cry of love? yes it is.
     
  13. crozcat

    crozcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    No. Same mixes, different mastering.
    The 1997 First Rays had the first second or so of the drum intro to Ezy Ryder missing, though.
     
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  14. pinkrudy

    pinkrudy Senior Member

    really? they sound so different.
     
  15. fooboo

    fooboo Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    planet Earth
    Have to admit I liked compressed and brickwalled and from-digital 1997 FR a bit more.
    I just did not hear arangement I did on 2014 COL. Are they different? Yes! How much?
    Opposite.
    I assume COL is what Jimi envisioned. Punk record like FR just cannot be him. I
    see him recording all those guitars left and right and in front and... A mistake, if you ask
    me. He was the best when he was playing simply.
    Different mixes or masters? Just take a look at Band of Gypsys and new Machine Gun.
    Same band, same place, two different records. I like BOG a lot more. Machine gun seems
    wrong to me. No power. I might change my mind when I listen to sacd.
    Best regards.
     
    bluejimbop likes this.
  16. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paradise
    First Rays Of The New Rising Sun would've been close to perfection if they replaced "My Friend" and "Belly Button Window" with "Midnight" and "Pali Gap". :thumbsup:
     
  17. Opeth

    Opeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    I like all 3, you can be a loyalist and stick to COL and RB but when first rays came out for people like me when I was 20 I loved it. I snapped up the reissues of COL and RB of course and also have found nice original pressings of both.
     
  18. Sarah S. The Hendrix Nut

    Sarah S. The Hendrix Nut Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Indiana
    Tonight, I burned a cd of First Rays using the 2014 Cry Of Love and Rainbow Bridge cds along with War Heroes.
    I wanted to know how much the mastering of the 97 First Rays affected the album.
    To me, First Rays was much improved with the 2014 remastering.
     
  19. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    Did you change the track listing at all from the released First Rays, replacing My Friend with Bleeding Heart for example among others?
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2017
  20. James5001

    James5001 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    First Rays should be used as a coaster or a frisbee depending on weather you bought it on cd or vinyl.
     
  21. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    People here might dig this blog posting.

    Jimi Hendrix & The Cry of Love –
    First Rays of the New Rising Sun
    (soniclovenoize reconstruction)


    Nov 2014 UPGRADE

    Side A:
    1. Dolly Dagger
    2. Night Bird Flying
    3. Room Full of Mirrors
    4. Belly Button Window
    5. Freedom

    Side B:
    6. Ezy Ryder
    7. Astro Man
    8. Drifting
    9. Straight Ahead

    Side C:
    10. Earth Blues
    11. Izabella
    12. Drifter’s Escape
    13. Beginnings
    14. Angel

    Side D:
    15. Stepping Stone
    16. Bleeding Heart
    17. New Rising Sun (Hey Baby)
    18. In From The Storm


    This is an UPGRADE to my reconstruction of Jimi Hendrix’s final album before he passed away, First Rays of the New Rising Sun. Hendrix had spent the final year of his life—and especially the final months—working on what would-have-been a double-album follow-up to Electric Ladyland. Instead of assembling the album as Hendrix had envisioned, the material was dashed together by producer Alan Douglas and released on a number of posthumous albums, including The Cry of Love, Rainbow Bridge, War Heroes, Loose Ends and Voodoo Soup. After securing the legal rights to his catalog, a separate attempt was made by The Hendrix Estate in 1997 to re-issue a compilation meant to replicate Hendrix’s wishes for First Rays, but many fans noted that poor song selection and mastering missed the mark as well. My reconstruction attempts to gather all of Jimi Hendrix’s own final mixes of the most completed tracks when possible (13 out of 18 songs), ignoring posthumous mixes. Also the sources featuring the best mastering and highest dynamics are used to correct what both Douglas and The Hendrix Estate could not, and present a more accurate representation of what Hendrix desired for his swansong and come-back album.

    The upgrades to this Nov 2014 edition are:

    • “Dolly Dagger”, “Room Full of Mirrors” and “Hey Baby” are all taken from the new 2014 Experience Hendrix remaster of Rainbow Bridge, the very best source for the songs
    • “Night Bird Flying”, “Belly Button Window”, “Freedom”, “Ezy Ryder”, “Astro Man”, “Drifting”, “Straight Ahead” and “Angel” are all taken from the new 2014 Experience Hendrix remaster of The Cry of Love, the very best source for these songs
    • The actual vintage Jimi Hendrix mix of “Earth Blues” from the Purple Box is used here, replacing the posthumous mix found on Rainbow Bridge
    • The actual vintage Jimi Hendrix mix of “Drifter’s Escape” from South Saturn Delta is used here, replacing the posthumous mix found on Loose Ends
    • The actual vintage Jimi Hendrix mixes of “Stepping Stone” and “Izabella” from a needledrop of their single is used here, replacing the posthumous mix found on War Heroes.
    • The actual vintage Jimi Hendrix mix of “In From The Storm” from West Cost Seattle Boy is used here, replacing the posthumous mix found on Cry of Love.

    Here is a link to the blog, it is interesting if you haven't seen it.

    Albums That Never Were: Jimi Hendrix - First Rays of the New Rising Sun (upgrade)
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2017
  22. hodgo

    hodgo Tea Making Gort (Yorkshire Branch) Staff

    Location:
    East Yorkshire
    The CD version is admittedly bad from a sonic perspective but the 2010 vinyl has excellent sound.
     
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  23. pool_of_tears

    pool_of_tears Searching For Simplicity

    Location:
    Midwest
    That's because of crummy mastering.

    Best route is:

    2014 discs of Cry Of Love and Rainbow Bridge, and 1980s Polydor disc of War Heroes...and then make a cd-r of First Rays, and it'll be light years better
     
  24. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Slightly different mixes of those two singles are on the "Voodoo Child" 2CD compilation.
    I've never taken the time to really sit down and compare them but do you think the original 7" single mixes are the best of all?
     
  25. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Cry of Love, for me. In fact, I still have my cassette from the '80s. :)
     
    clhboa likes this.
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