What you have here is the Rolling Stones giving us back exactly what we had been missing right under our noses, and taking it to places that the creators never could have possibly imagined. Every element of pure American music is here and there isn't a sour note. From the smoke filled juke joints of the deep south, to the slick blues of Chicago's West Side, to a Texas roadhouse, to a gospel choir, right back to Chuck Berry, it's all here. Everything great about American music deconstructed and built back up to reach places never before imagined.
This is music one could imagine spilling out into Beale Street in 1955 or shaking the rafters of a Mississippi blues hall or belting out of some Baptist church. It's what every Saturday night should sound like. No need to break down each song here. They all have their charms. Needless to say no music collection is complete without it, and if you don't get it, you don't get American music and you surely don't get Rock and Roll.

Although I've had the lp version of "Exile" for many, many years, I found some new jewels to treasure on rehearing. I especially like the blues orientation of most of the cuts.

For classic rock bands, the double live album was an essential part of their discography. The double STUDIO album on the other hand was a different animal altogether. Keeping an audience's attention over the course of 4 LP (now 1-2 CD) sides isn't always easy. And the few that worked (The White Album, Physical Graffiti, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Blonde on Blonde, Electric Ladyland) are rock and roll classics. The Who actually accomplished this feat not once, but TWICE (Tommy and Quadrophenia). Unfortunately, the Rolling Stones "Exile on Main Street" isn't one of them. "Exile" has always been a difficult album not only for fans, but the band themselves. In the book "According to the Rolling Stones", Mick Jagger says that Exile is not one of his favorite albums, admitting that while the atmosphere of the album is good, he'd love to remix it as it has some of the worst recorded vocals. And he's right. Half the vocal tracks sound like their buried under a combination of backing vocals and sonic sludge. It sometimes sounds like a badly recorded bootleg. And as gritty as they sound, they don't work well in a live setting either. So other than "Tumbling Dice", "Happy" and maybe "All Down the Line", tracks from Exile don't always figure highly when the Stones choose their set list. I resisted buying "Exile" for many years because of this, but also because ½ the songs aren't all that great in the first place. If the band had wised up a little and sliced off about half of them they would've had the knockout punch to finish off the classic series of albums that started in 1968 with Beggars Banquet and through 1971's Sticky Fingers (with the live Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out thrown in as a bonus). If this was possible, Exile would've been a much different (and better) album with only the following songs;
Rocks Off
Tumbling Dice
Shake Your Hips
Happy
Loving Cup
All Down the Line
Sweet Virginia
Casino Boogie
Rip This Joint
Torn and Frayed

So Exile isn't necessarily a bad album, it's just one of those Stones albums that should've been much better given the time it was recorded and their previous album (Sticky Fingers). It's also one that now benefits from the "skip" button on your CD player or IPod.

You have to have this album if you want to really appreciate the importance of The Rolling Stones impact on Rock & Roll. This is one of the best recorded works of a band ever.

This musta been the first Lp I bought with my own money. Got all the Beetle records for birthday, x-mas presents and, suddenly, teenbopper allowance in hand, found myself at Sears wondering what fab sounds I might add to my growing stack of disturbed fun. Well, here was the latest by the "next best thing," or something. A big sprawl of distorted steel guitars, grunting mutterings, splash drunk drums, honkytonk tinklings, groaning bass murk and lo-fi gospel pleatings. The formula was ironed on this one ~ degenerated Chuck Berry, deranged blues, discombobulated country ~ no epics, social statements or orchestration. Mainly what I heard (at the time) was crumb-bum sound and intoxicated grunge. Long and loose. Not Sgt Pepper. Not even Sticky Fingers. A buncha B-sides and demos. Who woulda guessed right then and there it was the Stones' last ~ and all-powerful ~ jam out extraordinaire? Yup, it's all one run, slapdash intuition, but there are peaks, elemental licks and outrageous lines like syncopated waves on a grimacing ocean of adolescent ire. Nanker Phelge. Yet, the wearied debauchery of old men, too. Hardly anyone, including Lester Bangs, got "it" at the time; that fuzzy jacked-up inertia, more than any other quality, was the intransigent essence of rocknroll, laid out low and feral, an overextended reverb hum of insentient discontent made luminous, disgruntled, horny, surly and lazy. Bewildering, and weirdly hungry. There I was, 12 years old, holding my 7 bucks, ready for revolution and it, what, like, ended that week. If you ever find a gurl who digs this album, marry her on the spot.

Rock `n' roll as it was meant to be played: Loose, ragged, raw, and emotive. Exile On Main Street is fun. It's sexy. It's rough and chaotic. It's depressed and jubilant, nervous and uninhibited, tense and cathartic all at once. Blood and sweat and booze drip from its walls. It boogies and hops and screams. It's the sound of a great band going for broke, throwing themselves into every song, into every lick, into every note, every moment of music. It speaks to every aspect of this whole "human experience" thing we've got going. It communicates joy and misery. It's here to help us celebrate the good times and dance the bad times into bloody submission. It's here to help turn our boring days into raucous nights. The Rolling Stones are here to save the world with rock `n' roll. Play it loud.

This album is so good that not even Mick Jagger was happy with it. That's good enough for me, as I have come to the conclusion that Mick has poor taste in music. I've heard his solo albums, and they suck. This, however, is a masterpiece of eclectic blues boogie, and it sure as hell rocks. Pay no attention to the negative reviews you may have read about Exile, just buy the cd and get on with your life. Such creativity, such awesome power, such a display of guitar tectronics that you'll be bowled over before you can finish listening to it. It is, however, an album that takes time to get used to. While that may sound confusing, it just is what it is. Exile On Main Street is the definitive Rolling Stones album. It has it all.

I'll probably be killed for writing this, but honestly, this is the most overrated Stones Album. I'm amiss as to where people got the idea that this album is the best album, or at least one of the best albums, the Stone ever put out. Really, it's just okay, nothing more. Listen to Exile again, then listen to the two best albums the Stones put out. #1) Let It Bleed; #2) Beggars Banquet. Everything else seems kind of sad after those two, especially Exile. So, skip Exile and go straight to Let it Bleed and Beggars Banquent--not only the two best Stones albums, but also two of the best rock albums ever put out.

I like the Stones and I love raw blues and R&B but I somehow missed out on "Exile on Main Street". So, enthused by such great reviews, I was expecting something special... an earthy, pseudo-live album that, despite its origins in drug addled chaos, would grab my attention and be worth the effort of repeat listening while, on the way, delivering up some classic gems. Well I tried, but what I kept getting was a voice saying "look, matey, you could spend hours trying to get into this but the truth is it ain't that good".

Maybe, like Neil Young's "Tonight's the Night" - whose origins and chaotic structure are similar but which still grabs valued space in my music collection - you had to buy it at the time and then listen to it for many years for it to fully register or, is it in reality one of rock's greatest "king with no clothes" outings? Either way, life's too short and there's too much other genuinely brilliant music out there to waste huge amounts of time trying to work out which it is. Then again, maybe I'm simply not capable of appreciating such a complex and odd record.

Exile is a masterpiece. If you don't have this, you don't know rock and roll. All roads lead to and from Keef.

This is the real deal, numero uno, number one, the absolute best, period.

While many classic albums of the late 60's and early 70's might be showing their age, "Exile on Main Street," is just as fresh and demanding as it was when first released in 1972. From Keith Richard's power chords signaling the beginning of "Rocks Off" to the frantic loud and raucous guitar fade of "Soul Survivor" Mick, Keith, Charlie, and the boys go for the throat on the Stones most powerful album. The Stones employ all their influences at their best: blues, gospel, country, R&B, and good old garage band rock n roll. The Stones love Chuck Berry, check out "Rip This Joint." Next, try some Slim Harpo blues, "Shake Your Hips." If you don't feel totally greased up by now, then get ready for "Casino Boogie" with Keith and Mick Taylor trading guitar licks sounding like screeching alley cats with Charlie Watts playing a naughty strip tease rhythm on the drums. What would be the end of side one on the LP ends with the great classic hit, "Tumblin' Dice."

"Exile on Main Street" is a loosely structured concept album, in essence the Stones' journey through America. Thus side two, take the listener on a little spin out in the sticks with "Sweet Virginia" where you'd better be ready to scrape the sh## right off your shoes. For another stab at country music in much the same trippy mood as Gram Parson's "New Soft Shoe" comes "Torn and Frayed" the kind of song George Jones or Merle Haggard could only dream of. "Sweet Black Angel" brings in a little island music sound with its gentle marimbas. Finally, side two ends with the powerful country ballad with Nicky Hopkins, whose piano mastery can be heard on almost every cut on the album, pounding out one of his best piano leads on any Stones album with "Loving Cup." Side three opens with Keith Richards' most familiar song, "Happy." From there the Stones turn in one of their sleaziest, grungiest, most menacing tunes ever where Keith locks them in a manic rhythm that never lets up from start to finish, guitars and piano playing in total sync as Mick belts out some of the Stones' most mysonistic lyrics ever with "Turd on the Run." "Ventilator Blues" is a show case for Mick Taylor's fine slide guitar playing. The next number, "Just Want to See His Face" is perhaps the oddest song on the album. It sounds like something coming across an old AM radio late at night from an African American southern church service. The rhythms are captivating. Side three ends with the album's most powerful ballad with some killer horn and vocal arrangements, "Let It Loose." After working the listener into an emotional frenzy with that tune, now it's time to start down the album's home stretch with one of the Stones' great concert rockers, "All Down the Line" with some of the most creative hooks the Stones have ever stuck in one of their straight ahead rockers. "Stop Breakin' Down" is the second cover of a blues classic on the album. Is it any wonder to this day the old blues masters still perform with Mick and the boys? "Shine A Light" is a glorious spiritual masterpiece with lovely gospel piano and organ provided by Billy Preston and two of the most memorable guitar solos ever performed in a Stones classic. Finishing up in a mad frenzy on what was a full two album set is "Soul Surivor" a tune that starts off hot and keeps getting faster, louder, and nastier as the song continues. Somehow the way the guitars keep chiming into a fade at the end gives the listener the idea that the journey continues long after the album stops playing.

It's muddy, it's dirty, but after the 1994 remaster, American listeners finally get to hear the Stones best album in its full glory. The American LP pressings were horrible, tinny and shrill with so much of the details and subtlties missing in action. The CBS release of the first CD was absolutely horrible. Did anybody do any premastering planning? The European record albums were beautiful and the 1994 CD finally gives the listener a chance to hear all the details in the massive wall of sound without compromising the rough and rowdy sound that the album strives so hard to maintain.

There's so much going on with every song. After all these years, it's still growing on me. I've worn out five LP's and two CD's enjoying this album.

No rock music collection is legit without this album, period. Play it as loud as you can handle it.

Muy bueno que siempre se sigan editando estos clasicos de los mas grandes de los grandes, los Stones y una de sus obras maestras. Ya no se hacen discos tan buenos como este sin tanta parafernalia electronica.

This cd album is awesome. I listen to it every day. This is a must for Stones fans.

It would be easy to find 2 or 3 Stones albums to take the place of Exile as the "Stones Best". I find Exile very slim on classic Stones tunes. If you enjoy the Stones playing acoustic blues-based songs this is a great album. If, however, you prefer the Stones playing their great, crafted songs, then choose something else, as this is more for the well-versed and initiated in the Stones. I would start with "Let It Bleed", "Sticky Fingers", Beggar's Banquet" or "Some Girls" even..

Don't get me wrong--Exile is an excellent album, but instead of being a quintessential Stones masterpiece, I would call it an encapsulation of the top British Blues Band playing their nod to great American Blues.

I think even the Stones would have agreed back in '72 when Exile was released. This was just after they had started their own label, and they were more isolated in the studio, arguably more in the throes of drug addiction, and they weren't at their creative peak. Interestingly the prior album Sticky Fingers--their first on their own label--is arguably their strongest album, but probably Let It Bleed is their greatest achievement. All the songs are strong and original on Let It Bleed (with plenty of blues to knock your socks off, and great slide work by Brian Jones). I think they were still struggling and Mick Taylor's contribution would not really come forward until later.

So basically I'm saying that if you acknowledge the Rolling Stones' best era as being between '68 and '78, mostly the Mick Taylor era with some early Ron Wood at the tail end of it, then Exile is certainly an important work. But if you realize how capable the Stones were of writing incredible tunes, then you have to admit that Exile on Main Street is a second-rate effort song-wise. It is still a great album by any standards, though...

Ahh the Stones........instrumentally probably one of the most average bands to make it big in the history of rock n roll, but they have always had that certain something that have kept them at the top much longer than most of their peers from the same era. In 2007 the Stones can still fill football stadiums more than 40 years after their formation. I don't have a lot of Stones on CD, but I have picked up a few of their albums over the years. Many Stones fans consider "Exile" to be one of the band's all time great albums. I like it, but probably not as much as a lot of people do. The production is muddy and lackluster even by 1972 standards. There is some good material to be found here, but like many double studio albums (the CD is a single) there is a lot of filler here too. The album really did not produce any huge hits for the Stones. "Tumbling Dice" and Keith Richard's led "Happy" were the two tracks to receive the most airplay with "All Down The Line" getting a bit on AOR radio as well.. The rest of the album is a mix of R & B, basic rock, blues and country. It is the Rolling Stones at their most basic, and they neither excel nor bomb on the majority of this album.

I'll begin by echoing what some other reviewers have mentioned: this is a terrific Rolling Stones album (actually, when released, it was a two album set), but without a lot of great singles on it. But that may be a part of why this is such a good work. There is rawness throughout the set of songs--and raggedness. It has an earthy rock and roll/blues sensibility and it works because of its rawness, as opposed to despite its rawness. One characteristic, too, is how difficult it is sometimes to make out the words to the songs (there is a famous quotation attributed to Mick Jagger that this was intentional at times).

The CD begins with two flat out neat rockers--"Rocks Off" and "Rip This Joint." Jagger growls and the band plays with a hard edge to it. Then, to one of the gems--the Stones' version of Slim Harpo's great blues number, "Shake Your Hips." Jagger sings it differently from Harpo, but he is effective in his own way. The Stones show that they can play blues well (and note a later piece on "Exile," once recorded by Robert Johnson himself, "Stop Breakin' Down").

One of the few "hits" off this work, "Tumbling Dice," well played here. Some interesting features: Jagger on guitar and Mick Taylor on bass. Then, "Sweet Black Angel" which, if my memory serves me correctly (please correct me if I'm in error), was inspired by activist Angela Davis. A catchy hook and tune. "Ventilator Blues" seems to focus on a bad hair day, with one line being "I feel like murder in the first degree." This is a down and dirty song, with some gritty instrumental work.

One of Keith Richards' earlier solos shows up here, the up tempo "Happy," featuring a nice guitar riff to start the song off, presumably Mick Taylor's work. And "Exile on Main Street" concludes with "Soul Survivor," a lively song featuring some guitar work and nice keyboards. Jagger's voice is ragged and, because of this, quite effective in the context of the entire CD.

The Stones near or at the pinnacle of their career--Jagger on vocals, Taylor and Richards on guitar, Wyman on bass, Watts on drums. "Friends" showing up: Keys on sax, Price on horns, Hopkins on piano, Stewart (an old Stone himself) on piano, and so on. A rip roaring rock and roll album.

"And I only get my rocks off while I'm dreaming,
I only get my rocks off while I'm sleeping."

One of the curious things about Exile on Mainstreet (1972) is that it is among my five favorite Stones' albums, and yet (with the exception of "Tumbling Dice" and "Happy") it contains none of my favorite Stones' songs. The double album followed the 1971 release of Sticky Fingers, and was recorded in exile at a chateau (Villa Nellcôte) in the South of France at Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice, where William S. Burroughs, Terry Southern, John Lennon, and Gram Parsons were frequent visitors. It was during this time that Richards discovered heroin. His open tunings further established the Stones' trademark guitar sound on "Tumbling Dice" and "Happy." Exile on Main St. has a raw and ragged sound, blending rock, blues, country, and soul. For me, the most significant things about Exile is that it marked the end of the Golden Age of the Rolling Stones, which is when the Stones were at their best (in my opinion). When the Stones later released Goats Head Soup in 1972, their sound was less raw, more polished, and noticeably funkier. Exile tracks include:

1. Rocks Off (1994 Digital Remaster) (4:32)
2. Rip This Joint (1994 Digital Remaster) (2:23)
3. Shake Your Hips (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:00)
4. Casino Boogie (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:34)
5. Tumbling Dice (1993 Digital Remaster) (3:47)
6. Sweet Virginia (1994 Digital Remaster) (4:26)
7. Torn And Frayed (1994 Digital Remaster) (4:18)
8. Sweet Black Angel (1994 Digital Remaster) (2:58)
9. Loving Cup (1994 Digital Remaster) (4:25)
10. Happy (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:05)
11. Turd On The Run (1994 Digital Remaster) (2:38)
12. Ventilator Blues (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:24)
13. I Just Want To See His Face (1994 Digital Remaster) (2:53)
14. Let It Loose (1994 Digital Remaster) (5:18)
15. All Down The Line (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:50)
16. Stop Breaking Down (1994 Digital Remaster) (4:34)
17. Shine A Light (1994 Digital Remaster) (4:16)
18. Soul Survivor (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:49)

G. Merritt

A Stones fan since 1965, I feel this album may not have their biggest hits, but I prefer some of the intangibles on this album. Let it Loose, Soul Survivor, All Down the Line, Shake Your Hips... are all great songs. One of my favorite Stones concerts was at MSG a few years ago and on that night they moved to the smaller stage and the entire set was from EXILE. It was Fantastic!

Simply the best rock and roll album ever made. Everything good about the Stones is here on prominent display. Keith's guitar never sounded as greasy, Mick's vocals never so sleazy. From the opening racket of "Rocks Off" to the hard rocking coda of "Soul Survivor", this record takes you on quite the trip. In between these two songs, you'll find elements of Boogie-Woogie ("Casino Boogie"), Blues ("Ventilator Blues", "Shake Your Hips"), Gospel ("Sweet Black Angel, "Shine a Light"), Country ("Sweet Virginia"), and mixtures of all of the above. This tasty gumbo, which sounds like it was recorded on back porches, in basements, and in garages still stands as one of the most important albums ever made. This is a must have for any serious music lover.

A rock `n' roll masterpiece if there ever was one, Exile On Main Street is a raw, nervy double shot of ragged musical goodness. Like Chuck Berry before them, the `Stones have distilled rock `n' roll to its glorious essence, serving up track after brilliant track of wild, edgy, evocative, and cathartic music. It's a gorgeous alchemy of blues, country, rockabilly, soul, and gospel, performed with the kind of beat-down mud caked boogie rock savantism that made the Rolling Stones' music so great in the first place. People who complain about this set's lack of standout songs have obviously never listened to "Rocks Off," "Rip This Joint," "Shake Your Hips," "Casino Boogie," "Tumbling Dice," "Sweet Virginia," "Torn & Frayed," "Sweet Black Angel," "Loving Cup," "Happy," Turd On The Run," "Ventilator Blues," "I Just Want To See His Face," "Let It Loose," "All Down The Line," "Stop Breaking Down," "Shine A Light," or "Soul Survivor." Not while they were in the right kind of mood, anyway. Highlights include all of the aforementioned tracks plus... well, that's the whole album, isn't it? This is pure sweaty, paranoid genius, and one of the greatest albums in history. Buy it.

I cannot understand how any one could possibly rate Exile On Main Street any less than 5 stars. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but I don't understand why. This is what rock n' roll is all about. It's unpolished, unproduced, and unfettered. This album drips with soul and you can feel the influence of old blues musicians in the deepest regions of your eardrums. The Beatles can suck a giant inflatable dick as far as I'm concerned because at least The Stones had the balls to play live unlike those elitist wankers (with the exception of George Harrison, he was the balls) There is something spiritual about this album and I have a pretty good feeling that God himself/herself inspired this album, unlike the Christian Bible.

This masterpiece is not one of the Stones' more immediately accessible works but repeated listening reveals its treasures. At first it might sound just raw and raucous but eventually the textures start making sense. Exile needs a complete play as the momentum builds through the various styles of the Stones at their most powerful. Vocals are down in the mix and there's a consistent intensity to the music throughout the album. I discern 4 distinct sections, the first of which culminates in the majestic Tumbling Dice.

The next segment, introduced by the yearning country strains of Sweet Virginia, starts off softer and slower. Torn And Frayed has a similar soulful country feel - these songs remind me of Far Away Eyes on the 1978 album Some Girls - whilst the catchy Sweet Black Angel with its buoyant rhythm is probably the closest to a pop song on the album. The tuneful Happy is the bridge between this sensitive segment and the harder or bluesier rock of Xxxx On The Run, Ventilator Blues, the atmospheric I Just Want To See His Face and Let It Loose, a stirring, soulful number.

The up-tempo hard rock of All Down The Line opens the final section, followed by Stop Breaking Down with its jangling guitars and then Shine A Light with its complex arrangement and changing tempo. The album concludes with the driving rock of Soul Survivor. There are moments on Exile, especially the slower songs, that remind me of 1971's Sticky Fingers while others evoke certain tracks on the aforementioned Some Girls. Exile On Main Street definitely belongs in the Stones top 5 and is a 1970s rock classic.

Remember all the top 100 albums of all time type lists. Albums come and go. 15 years ago U2 would have had a multitude of albums in the top 100. Now well who knows, but 'Exile on Main Street' is always there or there abouts.

This has all the swagger you would expect from the Stones. It maintains a link to their roots, which were essentially Chuck Berry and the Blues (indeed Exile includes Robert Johnson and Skip James covers), but the whole album has a completly different feel. Keith Richards guitar playing gets as much credit as anything for this. The album starts with with 'Rocks Off' and 'Rip this Joint'. Has there ever been a more rocking start to an album. It just carries on. 'Torn and frayed' is great, 'Shine A Light' etc etc.

The Stones themselves knew this was a great album as I've heard Mick Jagger quoted as saying they became complacent after its release in his words - "F**k it. We've done it".

No instant classics on the album but most of the songs are really good. For sure one of the best albums the stones have done. The only lacking song is "Loving Cup". Other than that it is the most consistent album that they have produced. "Shake Your Hips" is one of the best blues rock songs ever done. That song just cooks.

1972....Mick hadn't, as yet, begun sticking his nose into "pop" muzak to where it influenced/distracted him greatly; Keef's smack-habit hadn't disabled him yet (indeed, it made him, that year anyway, just about tops of the "Great #1 Cosmic Guitarist" heap; Mick Taylor was just peaking (listen to him at the very, very end of "Rocks Off"); and the #2 Rhythm Section of all eternity, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, were human metronomes (the #1? Al Jackson & Duck Dunn of Booker T & The MG's). So what more needs to be said? how 'bout: YOU CANNOT IMPROVE ON PERFECTION.

Oh yeah, I remember 1972! The Rolling Stones were coming to town, and people camped out in line at the Coliseum ticket booth for a week to get tickets (this was before Ticketmaster, the internet, or cell phones, and it was the only place to buy tickets). Of course, the tickets sold out in two hours. The Stones were still riding high on the success of their classic albums, Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers, and they had just released their mega-selling greatest hits package, Hot Rocks 1964-1971. They were, undisputably and without a doubt, "The World's Greatest Rock n' Roll Band". Then they go and release this great double album, Exile On Main Street, and of course, it's a classic, too. Anybody who had the money, bought it, played it, and loved it. To this very day, it remains my favorite Stones album.

From the wide-open and kicking Rocks Off and Rip This Joint, the bluesy and sensual Shake Your Hips and Stop Breaking Down, to the great hit singles Tumbling Dice and Keith Richard's career best, Happy, this classic ROCKS!

No, Exile On Main Street isn't polished and spiffy, and some might even say it's primitive or overdone, but I like the authentic and natural sound of the Stones on this one. I can imagine a lot of these songs being played live, in a swampy, smoky, and crowded juke joint somewhere down in Mississippi on a hot summer night.

This is Keith Richard's finest moment as a guitarist, and Mick Taylor's guitar playing is smoking hot on this one, too. Mick Jagger's voice and harmonica are in top form, and although he's sounded as good as he does here at other times, he's never sounded better.

Exile On Main Street explores many different types of music, including blues, country, and gospel, and it uses a variety of instrumentation, but the main attraction here is the bluesy, genuine, and as always, sensual and shameless, rock n' roll. By "The World's Greatest Rock n' Roll Band", of course.

I was never thrilled with the Rolling Stones supposed biggest album (though Let it Bleed and Sticky Fingers are probably more popular) titled "Exile on Main Street". Some of these tracks are absolutely great and filled with emotion such as "Sweet Virginia", "Torn and Frayed", and "Loving Cup". I also love the speedy and catchy "All Down the Line" and I also believe "Sweet Black Angel" is a pretty neat song. "Shine a Light" is pretty good as well.

So what happens after that? We're exposed to some really annoying tracks such as "Shake Your Hips", "Casino Boogie" and "Tumbling Dice", while other tunes like the closing rocker "Soul Survivor" is overlong, pointless and boring. However, I think critics were wrong to bash the album at the time of its release because it doesn't sound like the band sold out or anything. It still SOUNDS like the good ol' rock and roll sound we've heard countless times before. Also, the Stones would go on to have better and more consistently pleasing albums after this one. This is just an album with lots of filler.

The production is muddy, and most of the songs are forgettable. The entire album sounds like it was recorded in one afternoon, in a basement with very bad acoustics. The flat production was considered somewhat ballsy at the time: in an era when more and more albums were becoming "artistic" productions taking months or years, Exile on Main Street and its sort of...well...BAD sound was considered to be a deliberate rebellion against this. Or was it just bad sound? Hmmmm....

So, in response to a previous reviewer, I don't like going to the dentist, does that mean I should buy this album? I do go anyway, because I want to avoid the plaque.

This record is one of my favorite artifacts from one of my favorite periods in popular music, and it continues to entertain and inspire many. However, it has been suggested by some reviewers who don't get it that since Mick has made some disparaging comments (never saying Exile was a bad album, just not the Stones' best), it really isn't very good. By most accounts, Mick wasn't very happy with the process or the surroundings during recording of the album, which may have forever skewed his estimation of the quality of the final product. And it is Keith's favorite Stones album, which pretty much overrules Mick and closes the case for me.

joe fleckenstein here to give you his opion of this sucky band. they were sucky not half as good as led zepplin or metalica. Terrible muscianship blended in with mcjaggers whiny and awful voice. completely talentless utterly bnal trash. i would recomend this to you unless you enjoy going to the dentist. keith richards was a terrible guitarist. metalicas guitarist could play circles around him. you people who like stones dont know good guitar work. anyway terrible awful album avoid like the plaque.

I was imagining this is to be the Stones' "White Album", right? - a double album which coulda made an incredible single album. A big reason it's not is that the Beatles' opus was wildly eclectic, with 1930s crooners, art songs, even garage music. This '72 effort, with all the verbiage about rediscovered echoey dungeons in somewhere in France, has a very consistent sound, thanks to the Glimmer Twins and all their good friends (Bobby Keys, Jim Price, Bill Plummer, et. al.). Gotta say, though, there are some tentative "B-side" quality cuts, and it's to their credit that the Stones open the double-album with one of them, "Rocks Off". Let's see, we'll also put "Casino Boogie", "Ventilator Blues" on the shelf....just kidding.
"Rip This Joint" was probably the best pure R & R song for that whole year, despite the high profiles that year of '50s originators like Ricky Nelson ("Garden Party"), Chuck Berry ("My Ding-A-Ling" and "Reelin' And Rockin'), Elvis Presley ("Burning Love"), and Little Richard ("Rockin' With The King" - Canned Heat with LR). When it came to roots music, they could do it better than all of them (except for when Richard showed up with his full band, at that time).
They proved they understood the blues, too, delivering on Slimp Harpo's "Shake Your Hips" (saw Mr. Penniman perform it in Trenton, NJ, in 2003 - did he dig the Stones' version?). "Turd On The Run", despite the lousy title, brings 'em back to the '60s and their many Bo Diddley "tributes", this one takes off like an SUV leaving the parking lot of a New Jersey community college at 6pm on a Friday, and never slows down.
Now to the real heavyweights, and you can name 'em, "Tumbling Dice", the super hit; "Sweet Black Angel", a beautiful folk-blues said to have been written about Activist Angela Davis; "Happy", still sounding great.
"Shine A Light", featuring Billy Preston, re-emerges with even more brightness. A real gem, which should have proven to be a true Pop perennial.
"Sweet Virginia", almost straight ahead Country, also warrants reappraisal as an almost "lost" artifact.
Small criticism: voices are mixed too far back; this together with the occasional monochromatic sound image, can put the listener on edge.
I guess it's in the spirit of serious bluesmen, combing that dank and dusty basement overseas for some scent of the American Delta.

This is such an incredible two album set. From the opening guitar lick of "Rocks Off" to the final strum in "Soul Survivor" we know we have just listened to a amazing collection of music! This is not a hits album by any stretch! It is a record that sounds great from start to finish or picking random cuts. I am a musician and I have been a DJ in past years in clubs and pubs. I always got a great response from the hip customers when I would throw in "Casino Boogie" or "All Down The Line" in at the local pub. What some folks don't understand is how many different sounding songs are on this album! Most groups today have one or two songs and they just keep regurgitating them out over and over again to fill album after album. This is my favorite Stones album and it doesn't even contain my favorite Stones song! A timeless classic!

You know, I haven't visited this album in a long time; it has been one of my very favorite works of art since its release in '72, but it seemed like one of those things that might have been played out for me. I've been helping my wife load her iPod with things I think are essential, and naturally this came to mind, so in the process I gave it another spin. To say that I am reinfatuated is an understatement, which gives rise to this review. "Exile" is just such a work of uncommon depth and maturity and desperation and joy and carnality and the whole nine yards that it is nearly staggering. Plus it rocks harder than you ever will. Don't listen to haters who bemoan its lack of hits; it flows like nothing else...best digested as a whole. And anyways, "Tumbling Dice" was a certifiable hit back in the day; I know, I was alive then, and it was an indelible part of the soundtrack of the summer of '72. This listen brought me back to my very first needle drop on "Rocks Off" in '72 when I was 13 years old. From the first whomp of Charlie's drums I remember it as being a life-changing experience that gave me some idea of what adult music and life was all about. And the power and glory of this record is such that I have always been mystified over the critical response alluding to the allegedly murky mix, etc. To me it simply sounds like the perfect example of what rock and roll is supposed to sound like, and when words and phrases emerge from the mix they're almost always a surprise, even after thirty-five years. This record is proof positive of the enduring greatness of the Stones, and is to my ears their finest hour, and then some.

Quick question: My CD version of this is an original CBS era iteration (bought it like in '87-88), and it still sounds pretty good to me, even with the undoubted advances in mastering since then. Is this relatively newer Virgin version a BIG BIG BIG sonic upgrade, or just a sonic uptick? Thanks!

Exile on main street is one of the best. With a variety of styles it nrver drags. Great songs like Let it loose, Shine a light. Rocks Off, Soul Surivor Tumbling Dice and Ventilator Blues is a paint peeler. Sweet Virginia and Torn and Frayed are good country.Stop Breaking down and shake your Hips are good blues, good slide on stop Breaking Down Texas blues on Shake your Hips. Sweet Black Angel is great reggae.

This is just great..
Keith, Mick, Mick, and Nicky are at their best.