Jimi Hendrix is often considered the world’s greatest electric guitarist. His music was revolutionary, redefining the rock genre, though despite dying at the age of 27, Hendrix’s music lives on and has been the inspiration for many of today’s artists. Back in March 2010, it was announced all of Jimi Hendrix’s iconic recordings would eventually be made available for Rock Band as downloadable content. The first of this content is the artist’s second album: Axis: Bold As Love.
For those whose knowledge of Jimi Hendrix isn’t brilliant, the tracks (all of which are original master recordings) included in the downloadable content are as follows:
• Up From the Skies
• Spanish Castle Magic
• Wait Until Tomorrow
• Ain’t No Telling
• Little Wing
• If 6 Was 9
• You Got Me Floatin’
• Castles Made of Sand
• She’s So Fine
• One Rainy Wish
• Little Miss Lover
• Bold As Love
• Valleys of Neptune
Each song has been brilliantly incorporated into the game so that the strumming of plastic replicates the strumming and picking of strings. Furthermore, each song, like Jimi Hendrix’s music in the real world, provides the player with a new and often arduous challenge – more so on the harder difficulties.
The price for each track individually is 160 Microsoft Points (about 99p) or all thirteen tracks can be downloaded for the quite hefty cost of 1600 Microsoft Points (about £9.99). Whereas the latter of the two may sound like a lot to spend in one go, especially on Rock Band tracks, there is a saving of around 480 Microsoft Points to be had from purchasing as a bulk; fans or Hendrix should opt for the latter option.
To conclude, whilst there is a great amount of tracks to keep players entertained, it’s only enjoyable in short doses – inevitably less for players who aren’t so keen on the songs included. Unless you’re a Jimi Hendrix fanatic (as with most downloadable content for Rock Band) it’s not worth spending your valuable Microsoft Points on tracks you’re only likely to play once, especially when you take the prices into account.
