Exile on Main Street - Rolling Stones (The) (CD 1994)

When I first heard Exile ON Main Street I was, to say the least, unimpressed. Monotonous, seemingly uninspired, overly simplistic, even irritating: these are hardly the kind of attributes that you would expect a great album to possess. Still, despite everything I found myself compelled to keep listening to what many consider to be the Rolling Stones finest hour. As time went on I found more and more to enjoy the melodies started to become more and more distinct, different songs started to stand out and I started to notice some truly inspired performances buried in almost every song. By, what may well be quite literally, the thirtieth time this genuinely difficult album found its way into my CD player, I finally understood the appeal. The last of the four classic Rolling Stones albums, Exile On Main Street is not a masterpiece in any usual sense of the word. The amount of unquestionably great, standout tracks, the kind that could compete with the very best of the Stones intimidating output, can be counted on one hand. The album consists of almost nothing but filler, only rather than sinking the album, these sub-par songs are the very things that raise the album to such dizzying heights. To put it simply, Exile is not merely a collection of songs but an album in the truest sense of the word. It s not the songs themselves that make Exile what it is but it s the way the eighteen songs gel together to form a cohesive, satisfying whole. Don t misunderstand me though, the songs are in fact very different from one another stylistically, it s just that the murky production mixed with the single underlying mood that is evident throughout the album causes every song to melt into one another. As for what the underlying mood is, well, let s just say it s somewhat hard to pin down but is essentially a combination of stark, dank reality with wistful, lighthearted old-time (druggy) rock and roll. Needless to say, it s a combination that should not work but apparently the old adage about oil and water simply doesn t apply to the Greatest Rock And Roll Band In The World. And let s be honest, why the hell should it, they are the frickin Rolling Stones, after all.

Much like most of their albums, Exile starts with one of the album s very best songs, Rocks Off. In a similar vein to Sticky Fingers Brown Sugar, Rocks Off is a down and dirty rock and roll song, complete with indecipherable lyrics and instruments that blend into one another creating a sound that could best be described as murky. Still, it is massively catchy and the murkiness actually works well here- as it does on virtually every song on the album. After setting the stage for the rest of the album with Rocks Off, the album moves into what is easily one of the most frantic rock songs the Stones have ever committed to record, called quite fittingly Rip This Joint. Unfortunately, it s also one of the few songs here that have never really grown on me no matter how many times I have listened to the album. Sadly, the following song, Shake Your Hips, is even worse: a boring, uninteresting cover of a Slim Harpo song that despite being less than three minutes long still manages to outstay its welcome. Nonetheless, regardless of how slight these two songs may be, they still fit perfectly in the overall flow of the album and are significantly more enjoyable when you take them in context.

The next song, Casino Boogie, also works best in context but unlike the previous two tracks, it s also enjoyable in its own right. The title basically sums up the song perfectly the boogie part, casino is in fact not a musical style it s really not much of an actual song but as a simple boogie it s great, what with its simple yet ultra-compelling melody and an unforgettable saxophone part. I understand why many consider this song to be one of the weakest here but as for me, I get a kick out of it every time it s on. Up next are two songs that are GREAT, even independent of the album. The first, Tumbling Dice is a perfect mixture of rock, pop and gospel (I kid you not) that actually manages to transcend all of these genres and become something else entirely. Sweet Virginia is somewhat more straightforward being your usual high-quality Stones country song. One thing the two songs do have in common though is that they have melodies right up there with the band s best material, the kind of melody that seems to get lodged in your head for days at a time. Also look out for some wonderful guitar work courtesy of Keith and Mick (Taylor that is) in the former and hilarious lyrics courtesy of Mick (the one that s not Mick Taylor) in the latter. Speaking of good Stones country songs, the very next track Torn and Frayed fits that description quite aptly at least it would if it weren t for the fact that it s a little bit too similar to the undoubtedly superior Sweet Virginia. I m sure this would be much less of a problem if the two songs weren t right next to each other! I love Torn And Frayed, really I do, I just wish there were at least two or three songs separating it from a similar song that is so obviously better.

After a very respectable four-song run we come to a dud of a song not a major dud but a dud nonetheless that stops it from being an even more respectable six-song run. Sweet Black Angel could best be described as an R&B pop song, which would of course be fine if it wasn t for the horrible fact that it s just not all that memorable. It is however entirely listenable and very short so there s no real need to skip past it. Whatever you do though, do not accidentally skip past the next song, Loving Cup which, although it took me a while to get, is a song worth getting to know. In the tradition of Salt Of The Earth, You Can t Always Get What You Want and Moonlight Mile, Loving Cup is Exile s epic ballad. In keeping with the rest of the album though, there is definitely much more of a soulful that is an R&B feel to it than even Salt Of The Earth but much like all the above mentioned songs it is most definitely a keeper.

Taking the high quality of Loving Cup and improving on it is Keith s solo vocal spotlight, Happy, the song that most people consider to be Keith s best moment as far as his self-sung songs go. Despite some stiff competition from Slipping Away and Little T&A, I find it difficult to disagree with the general consensus in this case however much I may want to. The before mentioned Little T&A aside, Happy is definitely the fastest song Keith has ever taken lead vocals for it s also surprisingly enough the most revealing- and I don t mean about his drug habits. The song basically revolves around a very simple idea/feeling, an idea that you can easily imagine Keith taking as his major philosophy in life: I need a love to keep me happy . The fun, upbeat and insanely catchy melody reinforces this message absolutely perfect and of course his humble singing doesn t exactly hurt either.

Next up is Turd on the Run, a song that tends to annoy me quite a bit so I ll just skip it. Ventilator Blues is a definite improvement, being quite possibly one of the best hideously simple songs you will ever hear. Built around what sounds like two or three chords to these untrained ears, the song nonetheless manages to maintain interest for its three and a half minute runtime because of some truly awesome instrumentation going on in the background. The next song is called I Just Want To See His Face and it is, to put it succinctly, BAD. The next song though is, to put it just as succinctly, GOOD. Really GOOD in fact. Again the Stones take a really simple melody and make it sound like the greatest thing ever recorded thanks to some wonderful instrumentation, incredible singing and a solid dose of what just may be genuine, authentic emotion. It may not be much more than a groove but what a groove! Now, just when you thought the album had slipped into the pattern of great-song-followed-by-not-so-great-song, All Down The Line comes along to completely eradicate that theory. Groovy, upbeat and catchy All Down The Line boasts the most enthusiastic performance on the entire album. Stop Breaking Down isn t quite as good but it s not far off. It s the album s second cover but it is much - and I do mean much better than Shake Your Hips. It keeps the fun atmosphere of All Down The Lines and applies it to a simple (well, what else were you expecting) blues song, which is in turn completely undermined by the heartbreaking beauty of the next track. Shine A Light is a gospelish tribute to fallen ex-band mate Brian Jones that not only contains my pick for second best melody on the album (what can I say, I just love Tumbling Dice) but also the second best guitar solo in a Stones song ever. The only problem I have with the song is that it doesn t end of the album. Instead we get the good but infinitely weaker Soul Survivor to bring the album to a close. Truth be told, I seldom listen to this track, opting rather to switch off the album with Shine A Light. Don t misunderstand me it s not a bad song or anything, it s just that after a fairly draining seventeen song sequence you need a particularly strong song to maintain interest and when it comes to this, Soul Survivor simply falls flat.

Now, looking back at the album from a song by song point of view it s fairly clear that Exile does have its share of filler. The monotony also makes it a fairly trying album to listen to all the way through, though to be fair this is counteracted by the wonderful vibe most of the songs give off. It s also by far the most difficult review I ve written yet: the line that separates the great from the less-than-great songs has never been thinner. It is also far and away the worst album to start your Stones collection with. Hell, I would go so far as to say that it should be the very last classic Stones album you should buy. Even then be prepared for a very difficult album that just may take months for you to get. Despite everything though, I still gladly reward Exile five stars for being probably the ultimate case of the sum being greater than its parts. Exile is probably the ultimate Stones experience when taken as a whole and no matter how weak some of the songs may be; they do nothing to change this simple fact.