Customer Reviews

Exile on Main St (O-Card)

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For 35 years I've been listening to Exile and I still find it hard not to listen to the whole thing every time. A true double album without one song that I don't love. Possibly the greatest double album ever made and maybe the best ever, certainly in the all time top 10. Still, I know people that don't care for Exile, but I've never accused any one of them of having any taste. This USA Collection version is the best I've ever heard in any format. As soon as I heard the intro to "Rocks Off", I heard a clarity between the guitars that I never heard before and pretty much every song is improved for me. I own a few of these SACD's and they all sound great on my cd walkman, although I still have never actually heard a SACD player.

The Rolling Stones have created some of the greatest music the world has ever heard, some of the worlds best songs were created by this band as well as albums. Of all the albums I own by The Rolling Stones (and I own a lot), Exile On Main Street is the best. The best Rolling Stones album and really one of the top five albums of all time. Never again or before had the band come together to create so many good songs, in fact 18 amazing songs, when it's truly hard to put 9 decent ones on an albm the Stones doubled that. This is concedered to be the greatest double album of all time, I I wouldnt dare argue with that title.

Through this album The Rolling Stones dont venture into new teratory such as Reggea, Funk, or soul like they would later do, but instead they settle down in older familure structures like Country, Blues, R & B, and Rock and Roll and rather then settle realy they perfect. Through out this album featuring the 'classic' stones line up of Jagger/Richards/Taylor/Watts/Wyman, the band comes together and runs all all cylenders.

The album opens with two of it's hardest rockers, 'Rocks Off' and 'Rip This Joint' both of which are Stones classics. i used to think If You Cant Rock Me was the best album opener but boy was I wrong, Rocks Off is Perfect! 'Shake You Hips,' an old blues cover is done perfectly here with great guitar worl and mick's signature vocals. 'Casino Boggie' is the perfect song to lead into the timeless 'Tumbling Dice' which just happens to be my all time favorite Rolling Stones song. The guitar is simply amazing and the lyrics are brilliant. The fact that Mick walked into a casino and thought of some way to relate poker to love is simply genius and the greatest primice for a song. 'Sweet Virginia' is a slower acoustic song with a great chorus and sets the pace for the next three songs. 'Torn And Frayed' 'Sweet Black Angle' and 'Loving Cup' are all slower ballads with power, though dont get me confused as saying they are power ballads because they are not. Sweet Black Angle features amazing acoustic playing by Mick Taylor and Keith Richards. Keith steps up to the mic to sing 'Happy,' which became a hit single and is to this day concidered one of the bands all time greatest songs. I have always loved when guitar players step up to the mic and sing because it usually makes for a great song especially with Keith, he never dissapoints! 'Turd On The Run' is a decent rocker but nothing to special. 'Ventalator Blues' is one of the all time greatest songs ever written, Im sure if you asked anyone who has ever heard the song they would tell you the same. Every time that song starts I stop what ever I am doing and listen to the song, which is one of the reasons I dont listen to this album in the car. Now 'I Just Want To See His Face' is a strange song that chants "I dont want to prey to Jesus, I just want to see his face' over and over again over some strange sounds. It seems dumb and tedeious I know but it really isnt. 'Let It Loose' is a pretty cool song but it just doesnt stand out on the album. 'On Down The Line' is one of my favorite songs on the album, featuring some of Mick Taylors all time best slide guitar work. This song kind of reminds me of Silver Train off the Stones' next album Goats Head Soup. 'Stop Breaking Down' is a traditional song that The Rolling Stones took and made all their own, I swear you would never know it was a traditional song if you hadnt heard it before. 'Shine A Lite' is a really cool song, Im not sure how to describe it or characterize it but just know that it is a great song. The album comes to an end with 'Soul Surviver' topping the album off at track eighteen. 'Soul Surviver' features some of Micks best vocals and a signature crowl that only he is capable of creating. The album ends where it begins leaving you wanting more!

With all of this in mind how can you help dont wanting this album, I mean every song is good and I am telling you know you will never ifnd a Rolling Stones album better then this, I know your thinking well '.........' is a better album because I was the same way but once you give a listen to this masterpeace of rock and roll you will know that Exile On Main Street is the best! And as for guitar players, no guitar player should be with out this album, or at least one that has Tumbing Dice on it because guitar playing doesnt get batter then that. Highly, highly recomended!

Exile is not one of the Stones' more immediately accessible albums; it takes a while to appreciate its treasures. At first listen it might sound just raw and messy but eventually the scales fall from your ears and a true gem is revealed. Very much of a cohesive whole, the album gains momentum in its successive tracks to display the multifaceted rock virtuosity of the Stones at their most powerful. The music is intense throughout and often energetic. To me, the first section culminates in the lilting masterpiece Tumbling Dice.

The yearning country strains of Sweet Virginia introduce the next segment; this song reminds me of Far Away Eyes on the 1978 album Some Girls. Torn And Frayed has a similar soulful country feel and the catchy Sweet Black Angel is probably the closest to a pop song on the album. The track Happy is the bridge between this sensitive segment and the harder or bluesier rock of Whatever On The Run, Ventilator Blues, the spooky atmospheric I Just Want To See His Face and the soulful Let It Loose.

The uptempo hard rock of All Down The Line opens the final section, followed by Stop Breaking Down with its jangling guitars and Shine A Light with its varied tempo and complex arrangement. The album concludes with the driving rock of Soul Survivor. There are moments on Exile, especially the slower songs, that evoke the sound of 1971's Sticky Fingers while others remind me somewhat of the aforementioned album Some Girls. I wouldn't say this is the best of all Stones albums, but it definitely belongs in the top 5 of their work.

Okay, first I'd like to say this: a lot of people are going to tell you that this is the "last great Stones album". I personally disagree, and while my goal is not to twist anybody's arm into believing anything, I would advise anyone who has heard of the mid '70s albums without actually hearing them to give them a fair chance - Goats Head Soup, It's Only Rock and Roll, Black and Blue (which did grow on me, no matter what my rather weak review suggests) and Emotional Rescue are actually very enjoyable albums, though two of the four take a couple listens to sink in.

Anyway, let's talk about the album itself, shall we? Eighteen songs, not one of them even approaches bad. That's the mark of something good, you know? And most of the songs are ridiculously good, and not just the soul-tinged blues-rockers such as the total chaos of Rocks Out; the relentless boogie Rip This Joint; laid-back, sleazy, slide-guitar happy Tumbling Dice; the innuendo-loaded, horn-powered Lovin' Cup, with a great chorus; Keith's self-effacing vocal showcase Happy, the nonstop rocker All Down the Line, notable for its horn part; and the slow, riffy Soul Survivor. The genre experiments are just as good. They try country (Sweet Virginia, with a hilariously profane chorus; Torn and Frayed), and it works spectacularly. They do gospel (Shine a Light; Let it Loose; I Just Want to See His Face) in a stellar format - Shine a Light and Let It Loose are two of the group's most soulful, underrated ballads; they do blues (Casino Boogie; Hip Shake; Ventilator Blues; Stop Breakin' Down, with Mick Taylor playing an insane blues guitar solo) excellently. I mean, they even get away with a reggae song (Sweet Black Angel) - which may appear racist at first brush, but is really a tribute to Black Panther Angela Davis. It's not Bob Marley or anything, but it's pretty good. Okay, so MAYBE Turd on the Run is a bit of a filler, but even then Mick's harmonica works pretty well on the song, so hey. And did I mention that just about every single song on this album is a must-have, and even the ones that aren't are very enjoyable? That should be brought up, too.

This may be the greatest double album of all time (Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, the Allmans' Eat a Peach and Derek & the Dominoes' Layla are the only competitors that come to mind). Even if it isn't, your Stones collection is incomplete without Exile on Main Street. Hey, that rhymes! Ooh, I wrote it a crappy little jingle! How cool is that? Yeah, yeah, not very. Point is, go buy it if you don't have it, and give it a spin if you do.