Exile On Main Street (Remastered)

Greeted with decidedly mixed reviews upon its original release, Exile on Main St. has become generally regarded as the Rolling Stones' finest album. Part of the reason why the record was initially greeted with hesitant reviews is that it takes a while to assimilate. A sprawling, weary double album encompassing rock & roll, blues, soul, and country, Exile doesn't try anything new on the surface, but the substance is new. Taking the bleakness that underpinned Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers to an extreme, Exile is a weary record, and not just lyrically. Jagger's vocals are buried in the mix, and the music is a series of dark, dense jams, with Keith Richards and Mick Taylor spinning off incredible riffs and solos. And the songs continue the breakthroughs of their three previous albums. No longer does their country sound forced or kitschy -- it's lived-in and complex, just like the group's forays into soul and gospel. While the songs, including the masterpieces "Rocks Off," "Tumbling Dice," "Torn and Frayed," "Happy," "Let It Loose," and "Shine a Light," are all terrific, they blend together, with only certain lyrics and guitar lines emerging from the murk. It's the kind of record that's gripping on the very first listen, but each subsequent listen reveals something new. 

The 2LP is the Abbey Road Half-Speed Mastered edition, from 2020.

2LP :

1 Rocks Off
2 Rip This Joint
3 Shake Your Hips
4 Casino Boogie
5 Tumbling Dice
6 Happy
7 Turd On The Run
8 Ventilator Blues
9 I Just Want To See His Face

CD:

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

2CD Version includes:

Bonus Tracks
2-1 Pass The Wine (Sofia Loren) 4:54
2-2 Plundered My Soul 3:59
2-3 I'm Not Signifying 4:54
2-4 Following The River 4:52
2-5 Dancing In The Light 4:21
2-6 So Divine (Aladdin Story) 4:31
2-7 Loving Cup - Alternate Take 5:25
2-8 Soul Survivor - Alternate Take 5:25
2-9 Good Time Women 3:21
2-10 Title 5 1:47