20 Most Important Hard Rock Albums Of All Time
6. Are You Experienced - Jimi Hendrix
In the late 60's, hard rock music was still a relatively new idea. While bands like the Rolling Stones and the Doors flirted with heavier material here and there, most of the rock scene was immersed in the psychedelic sounds of bands like the Grateful Dead. Out of the LSD haze came Jimi Hendrix, whose manic assault on the senses turned the entire rock scene on its head.
From the first moment you heard him, Hendrix was a completely different animal than most other rock outfits. Incorporating every genre from blues to soul to pop, Hendrix's debut release Are You Experienced was anchored in some of the heaviest grooves of all time. With walls of distortion and some of the greatest guitar licks in the rock canon, these songs went from being fantastic bluesy jams to the blueprint for hard rock later down the line.
Beyond just hard rock, Are You Experienced was a turning point for all stripes of rock music. With his unique approach to guitar playing, Hendrix had developed a sound that felt like a pure extension of his personality shining through the speakers. With almost half a century since his demise, hard rock fans are still trying to decipher the genius that Hendrix conjured up.