Many music critics have since named "Are You Experienced" as one of the greatest rock and roll debut albums. Journalist Ritchie Unterberger described it as "one of the definitive albums of the psychedelic era." Author Chris Smith said the release was "a landmark in a summer of landmark albums". Noe Goldwasser, the founding editor of "Guitar World" magazine, called it "a veritable textbook of what a musician can do with his instrument" and "the measure by which everything ... in rock and roll has been compared since." According to music journalist Charles Shaar Murray, the album "completely changed notions of what a guitar could sound like, or indeed, what music could sound like", while "The Miami Herald" credited "Are You Experienced" with introducing acid rock, classic rock, and the guitar aesthetic of heavy metal. Critic Robert Christgau called it a "bombshell debut" in his review for "Blender" and said its songs were innovative for how they utilized three-minute pop structures as a medium for Hendrix's unprecedentedly heavy and turbulent guitar and loud, powerful hooks, which greatly appealed to young listeners.