#137 Axis: Bold as Love by Jimi Hendrix

The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

2025 Album Rank

137

2011 Album Rank

100

Total Points

457

Year Released

1968

Genre

Rock

Billboard 200 Chart Peak

3

Weeks at #1

N/A

RIAA Sales Certification

1,000,000 (Platinum)

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Axis: Bold as Love Album Details

Released in December 1967, Axis: Bold as Love is the second studio album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and showcases Hendrix's rapid artistic evolution. While it maintains the raw energy of the band's debut Are You Experienced, this album dives deeper into layered studio experimentation, psychedelic textures, and expressive balladry. Hendrix explores a wide emotional palette, blending soul, rock, blues, and Eastern influences into a cohesive and imaginative sonic journey.

Songs like "Little Wing", "If 6 Was 9", and "Castles Made of Sand" demonstrate Hendrix's growth as a songwriter and visionary, pairing intricate guitar work with poetic lyrics. Despite technical setbacks during production,the album emerged as a stunning artistic statement. Axis: Bold as Love remains a pivotal and beloved work that captures Hendrix's boundless creativity in full bloom.

Interesting Facts about Axis: Bold as Love

• Axis: Bold as Love was released in the UK on December 1, 1967, and in the US on January 15, 1968.
• The album's famous psychedelic cover art features a Hindu-inspired motif, which Hendrix reportedly disliked because it misrepresented his own cultural heritage.
• Hendrix left the original master tape for side one in the back of a taxi, forcing the band to remix much of it under pressure right before the deadline.
• Hendrix recorded the majority of his guitar solos live in the studio, preferring spontaneous takes over meticulously crafted overdubs.
• "Little Wing" is often cited as one of Hendrix's greatest compositions, praised for its emotional subtlety and beautiful guitar tone achieved with a Leslie speaker.
• The album features experimental use of studio effects like phasing, flanging, and backwards recording to create its dreamy textures.
• The phasing effect on "Bold as Love" was achieved manually, by literally playing two tape machines slightly out of sync, a very tricky and technical process at the time.
• "If 6 Was 9" became an anthem of individuality and counterculture rebellion, with lyrics that boldly assert personal freedom.
• Axis: Bold as Love peaked at No. 5 in the UK and No. 3 on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart.
• The song "Bold as Love" closes the album with a dazzling display of colorful metaphors and groundbreaking use of stereo panning effects.
• The album was recorded at London's famed Olympic Studios with producer Chas Chandler and engineer Eddie Kramer.
• Olympic Studios engineers nicknamed Jimi "Marvin" during the Axis sessions because he was constantly layering harmonies and background vocals, much like Marvin Gaye was doing in his own recordings.
• Axis: Bold as Love is considered essential listening for understanding Hendrix's progression from rock innovator to full-blown sonic architect.
• The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006 for its cultural and historical significance.

Axis: Bold as Love Track List

1. EXP
2. Up from the Skies
3. Spanish Castle Magic
4. Wait Until Tomorrow
5. Ain't No Telling
6. Little Wing
7. If 6 Was 9
8. You Got Me Floatin
9. Castles Made of Sand
10. She's So Fine
11. One Rainy Wish
12. Little Miss Lover
13. Bold as Love