The Rolling Stones double album Exile On Main Street was received with moderate enthusiasm when it was released in 1972. Only later would it gain the acclaim it deserves, as arguably The Stones' best album. As usual with the band, the recordings were chaotic. Tax problems forced the Stones to move to France, where the record was recorded in Keith Richards' villa. This one had developed a heroin
… addiction around this time that frustrated the sessions, not to mention all the dealers and junkies on the floor. More often than not, the line-up was incomplete and the songs almost all have different line-ups. Bassist Bil Wyman, for example, can only be heard on eight of the eighteen songs. But it is precisely because of that loose feel and the unbalanced sound image that the album sounds so dark and exciting. Exile On Main Street is a mix of hypnotic blues, country, rock and roll and gospel. The chaotic state of affairs and the lack of major single hits pleased Mick Jagger only moderately, he repeatedly called it one of his least favorite records. But Exile On Main Street's no-compromise approach makes it the most timeless of all the classic Stones records. The record is now being re-released, re-mastered and provided with a CD with then rejected (but certainly not inferior) songs, alternative mixes of Loving Cup and Soul Survivor, and even songs reworked by Jagger and ex-guitarist Mick Taylor ( Following The River, Plundered My Soul). Interesting is the presence of Good Time Women, an early, barely recognizable version of Tumbling Dice. (MS)more
