'' advertisement, October 26, 1968
Electric Ladyland was released in the US on October 16, 1968. It was a "hit psychedelic album",
Richie Unterberger later wrote, and by mid-November, it had reached number one in the US, spending two weeks atop the
pop charts. The
double LP was the Experience's most commercially successful release and Hendrix's only number-one album. In the UK, it peaked at number six and charted for 12 weeks.
Electric Ladyland confounded contemporary critics; reviewers praised some of its songs but felt the album lacked structure and sounded too dense.
Melody Maker called it "mixed-up and muddled", with the exception of "All Along the Watchtower", which the magazine called a masterpiece. Reviewing for
Rolling Stone in 1968,
Tony Glover said Hendrix's original songs sometimes sound
unstructured and was somewhat disappointed by the "heavy handed guitar" on "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" and the science-fiction conclusion to "House Burning Down". Ultimately, Glover appreciated the "energy flow" unifying the songs and described Hendrix as "amazing", adding that
Electric Ladyland serves as "an extended look into Hendrix's head, and mostly it seems to have some pretty good things in it (who among us is totally free of mental garbage?)".
Robert Christgau was more enthusiastic in
Stereo Review, regarding it as an explosive showcase of rock's "most important recent innovation"—the "heavy" guitar aesthetic—and "an integrated work-in-itself in more ways than one". He found the production exceptional—"the best job of stereo for its own sake I know"—and was surprisingly impressed by the quality of the lyrics. While most guitarists in rock believed improvisation to be a straightforward endeavor, Christgau said "Hendrix achieves unique effects, effects you'll never get from
Kenny Burrell", citing "Voodoo Chile" as an example. He later named
Electric Ladyland the fifth-best album of 1968 in his ballot for
Jazz & Pop magazine's critics poll.
Reappraisal Over time,
Electric Ladylands critical standing improved significantly, with author and musicologist John Perry describing it as "one of the greatest double-albums in Rock." According to author Michael Heatley, "most critics agree" that the album was "the fullest realization of Jimi's far-reaching ambitions";
Guitar World editor Noe Goldwasser called it his greatest work. The record was also deemed an essential hard rock album in Tom Larson's 2004 book
History of Rock and Roll, and
Clash reviewer Robin Murray viewed it as a "true classic of the psychedelic rock era". In a retrospective review for
Blender, Christgau wrote that it was the definitive work of
psychedelic music,
The Washington Post critic
Geoffrey Himes names it an exemplary release of the
progressive soul development from 1968 to 1973. Author Amy Wallace called the album a "classic of
acid rock."
Electric Ladyland has been featured on many greatest album lists, including a number 10 ranking on
Classic Rock magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever, and number 37 on
The Times 100 Best Albums of All Time. Music journalist and author
Peter Doggett argued that it is very likely the greatest rock album of all time because of its exceptional concept, artful melodies, experimentation, and skilled musicianship, which he felt remains unparalleled by any other rock artist. The album was included in "A Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in ''
Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981). In 1999, it was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2000, it was voted number 32 in
Colin Larkin's
All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2003,
Q magazine named
Electric Ladyland as one of the 100 greatest albums.
Rolling Stone ranked it 54th in the 2003 edition of its
"500 Greatest Albums of All Time" publication and 53rd in the 2020 edition. ==Track listing==