1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?
Deciding which Jimi Hendrix album stands alone at the top of the heap is a difficult task, and largely depends on whether you prefer youthful exuberance or tight musicianship. Obviously, Electric Ladyland is the work of a more skilled musician, but it's still his fresh-faced, dynamic playing on Are You Experienced? that continues to influence every dreamer with an amplifier. Hendrix holds back nothing in his guitar attack, throwing everything he knows into the mix. He's the focal point in each and every song, refusing to play in the background, even on softer tracks like "The Wind Cries Mary." A quick browsing of the track list should prove his debut's indelibility: Purple Haze Manic Depression Hey Joe The Wind Cries Mary Fire Foxey Lady Stone Free Red House When you pick up a copy of any Jimi Hendrix Greatest Hits collection, all of those songs are going to be on there. That he was able to come out of the gate swinging with that assortment of stone cold classics is astounding, and only tempered by the fact that he'd already spent a good amount of time touring with the likes of Little Richard and The Isley Brothers. And Hendrix sponged up every nugget of knowledge he could. While traces of Hendrix's "teachers" do show up on Are You Experienced? from time to time, the style is totally unique to Jimi. Rough around the edges, raw at his core, and somehow effortless in the delivery of his pioneering blend of blues, rock, pop, and soul. Pound for pound, there's not a more exciting debut album out there.