Smiles
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones’s masterpiece album, “Exile on Main Street.”
Stones aficionados and critics have argued over the decades as to which Stones’ record is best—is it “Exile,” “Sticky Fingers,” “Let It Bleed,” or “Beggars Banquet?”
The thing is, they are all stellar and an argument can be made for each one of them being the Stones’ all-time greatest.
I find myself obsessing over “Exile” and “Sticky Fingers,” but in the end, “Exile” is my favorite.
“Exile” isn’t the most accessible Stones recording. You have to spend time with it for the music to fully resonate. It doesn’t grab you with a blistering opening track like “Sticky Fingers’” “Brown Sugar,” “Let It Bleed’s” “Gimme Shelter” or “Beggars's’” “Sympathy For The Devil.”
“Exile” launches with “Rocks Off,” followed by “Rip This Joint,” and “Shake Your Hips.” Three murky, obscure tracks that never generated much radio play. But imagine if “Exile” had instead opened with the shredding “All Down The Line,” followed by “Happy” and “Tumbling Dice.” Different story.
Of course, “Exile,” a double album, contains a host of gems: “Torn and Frayed,” “Let It Loose,” and “Loving Cup” to name just a few. Throw in songs like “Ventilator Blues,” “I Just Want to See His Face,” “Sweet Virginia” and “Soul Survivor,” and you have a timeless masterwork.
“Exile” was released as a record album—that’s what we had in ’72. Cassette’s and 8-Tracks weren’t that popular and CD’s wouldn’t hit shelves for another decade. In the album’s original form, “All Down The Line” was the first track on Side 4. Again, imagine if it was the first track on Side 1.
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