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List Price: $17.98 | | Label: Virgin Records Us
Salesrank: 267479
Released: August 30, 2005 |
| Our Price: $283.84 |
| Used Price: $63.75 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Exile on Main St. Track Listing:
1. Rocks Off
2. Rip This Joint
3. Shake Your Hips
4. Casino Boogie
5. Tumbling Dice
6. Sweet Virginia
7. Torn and Frayed
8. Sweet Black Angel
9. Loving Cup
10. Happy
11. Turd on the Run
12. Ventilator Blues
13. I Just Want to See His Face
14. Let It Loose
15. All Down the Line
16. Stop Breaking Down
17. Shine a Light
18. Soul Survivor
Exile on Main St. Reviews:
Intensely powerful 
2007-11-25 -
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.
A Stones Masterpiece!
2007-07-26 - 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.
Maybe the Best Record Ever......
2006-07-05 - 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.
From Start to Finish Exile Delivers
2006-06-12 - This is certainly one of the best records ever made, everybody who is anybody in rock and roll agrees about this. I play it all the time. I personally own the record, the cassette and the CD of "Exile on Main Street." From the rocking "Rocks Off" to the dynamic "Soul Survivor," this record delivers. Mick Taylor's guitar gets under your skin, Keith's does too. Mick Jagger's voice has never been in better form. The band has never been so tight, kept in line by Charlie's Drums and Bill's Bass, but you can hear them straining at the bit as they push the music to new heights. When the record came out it was a hit right away, but it's my understanding that the reviews weren't all that good. I'd hate to be one of those writers who panned "Exile on Main Street," because did time sure ever prove them wrong. Exile is number seven on Rolling Stone Magazine's best albums of all time. It deserves the honor.
One of the Greatest Records of All Time
2006-06-11 - I can't tell you how often I play this record and the images it conjures up. I can imagine Mick and Keith sitting around drinking Bordeaux wine as they go over the recordings in Keith's house in Nice. If ever there was a rock and roll record, well this is it. How can you not get up and dance to "Rip this Joint" or "Tumbling Dice?" How can you not slowly sway to "Sweet Virginia?" Mick really sings his heart out on that one. The music here flows without effort between Rock, Gospel, Country and Blues and you never notice. This is one of those albums you have to take as a whole and as a whole it's an experience that if relived over and over again, hearing something new, imagining something different, each and every time. Right now I'm listening to Mick Taylor's gorgeous slide guitar work on "All Down the Line" and I'm reveling in it even while I can hardly wait for "Stop Breaking Down" and "Shine a Light," which is my favorite song on the record. This record has made the top hundred on just about everybody's all time list. It's twelve on VH1's, seven on Rolling Stone's (the Magazine's not the band's) and something like five on mine.
