STONE FREE: A TRIBUTE TO JIMI HENDRIX

This, along with In From The Storm are the two mid-1990's tributes, both produced by Eddie Kramer. While the other focused more on the music, and provided beautil orchestrations and arrangements of Hendrix' music, this one focuses more on the hits, and the personalities of the musicians performing instead. And for that, this is the lesser of the two. I mean, after 15 years, who remembers Belly, M.A.C.C. or even The Spin Doctors and P.M. Dawn?

Much of the music is played fairly straight, pretty much like the originals. Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Living Colour, and even Slash & Paul Rodgers with the Band Of Gypsys perform this way. Body Count (featuring Ice-T) play a surprisingly un-hiphop version of Hey Joe while Pat Metheny plays a surprisingly hiphop Third Stone From The Sun. Nigel Kennedy, with John Etheridge on guitar, steals the show with his rendition of Fire.

The low point is a dismal version of Purple Haze by The Cure (but what do they do that isn't dismal?).

But this is worth buying for some ove the above mentioned tracks, as well as Jeff Beck with Seal on Manic Depression and The Pretenders playing Bold As Love.