Exhile on Main St. Paul

Overall Album Score: 7.9 out of 10

After the monumental artistic and commercial success that The Stones have seen on Let it Bleed (the best album EVER) and Sticky Fingers (one of the best albums EVER), The Rolling Stones decide that they're cool enough to release a double album. And, since The Stones have not released a clunker since 1965 at this point, I'm thinking "Hooray!" But when I listen to this material ... mmm ... I come out only *slightly* disappointed.

Don't get me wrong, though. I do enjoy this album. It only *barely* missed getting an 8 ... and any album that gets an 8 or near it is something that I enjoy! Nevertheless, the overall material here is significantly weaker than anything we've heard from the Stones for such a long period of time. The major shortcoming of Exile on Main St. has to be the fact that these tracks aren't well polished at all. Usually, with a few exceptions, they're well written songs, but they just don't have the glistening studio-treatment that most of their previous efforts received. Specifically Sticky Fingers. The material on both of these albums are similar in style, but since Exhile on Main St. wasn't produced very well, we don't get to enjoy the songs quite as easily.

There's nothing wrong with The Stones producing a double album, though I think they were lazy with some of the songwriting here. But that doesn't matter as much as the polishing! Even a relatively lousy song given decent studio treatment would have at least sounded nice. Just the same, there are still a few strong tracks in here. So, this remains an essential for Rolling Stones discography completists ... duhh ...

Overall Album Score: 7.9 out of 10 (A bit of a misstep for The Rolling Stones. Too much of this material is unremarkable ... I don't really want to complain about the lack-of-decent-material, but I do want to complain about the lack-of-hard-work-developing-this-material! The Stones are now off their big peak ... unfortunately.)

Average Song Score: 8.3 (Even if The Rolling Stones are going to do sub-par material, they weren't ready to go down in flames. Besides, there's lots of classics on here! ... Although, I didn't feel that any of these tracks deserved a 10.)

Album Tilt: 8.0 (This isn't the world's worst album to have to sit through ... In fact, even in its shortcomings, I essentially enjoyed it ... but it *does* have shortcomings.)

Artist Rating: 7.5 (This is a maaaaaaajor disappointment! Never before have I seen a worse combination of songs from The Stones since their pre-Psychedelic days! And such a poorly produced one at that!)

Track Reviews

Rocks Off 9/10

Boy ... this song *kicks*, but the arrangements are really off! That horn section really screws things up ... and I suppose the song is also a bit messed up at the end (even though they were intentionally screwing with it in the studio). It's a fun song to listen to, but it isn't without its little flaws. The fact that the song *kick*, however, pretty much makes up for these "little flaws."

Rip This Joint 9.5/10

Now this track kicks with a merciless boot. It's just typical R&B, but it's done with the skill of a refined rock band (unlike the Rolling Stones in their early career), and they have every bit of energy that they've always had! A nice one!

Shake Your Hips 7.5/10

A cover?! THE STONES ARE BACK TO DOING COV-Oh I guess this isn't too awful. It's a straight rhythm-and-blues song, though. Unlike the previous track, it doesn't *kick* with a merciless boot. Indeed, I'm finding it a little bit boring ... (This was written and previously recorded by Slim Harpo.)

Casino Boogie 7/10

Well, on the plus side, I am more attuned with liking boogies than bluesy songs. On the down side, this boogie severely fails to catch fire. I wish it were being played a little bit faster. Even Keith Richard's guitar solo fails to kick mightily. Sigh!

Tumbling Dice 9.5/10

Yessssss! This is the Rolling Stones the way that I want to remember them! It's not being played *particularly* quickly, but completely unlike the last two songs, this one *does* kick. It still can't hold much of a candle to the stuff on Let it Bleed and Sticky Fingers, however. But "Tumbling Dice" is every bit as much of a deserved Rolling Stones classic.

Sweet Virginia 8.5/10

"Sweet Virginia" might just be classified as a minor gem off of this album. It's a country-rock number, but it's fun to listen to. It doesn't soar or anything, though. So... I'm a tiny bit unenthusiastic about this one.

Torn and Frayed 8.5/10

Disappointing! Everyone says that this song is supposed to be great! It's still good, but it fails to *kick*, you see. That's what you need to make a great Stones song! ... And who better to do it than The Stones themselves? This one would also have benefited from some more careful mixing in the studio.

Sweet Black Angel 8/10

Not bad ... At least the melody is strong enough and the lightly strummed acoustic guitar chords are nice. I won't complain about this one.

Loving Cup 8.5/10

Loving Cuppppp! This is not bad at all! Sure, I might have fathomed something that kicked a little more ... and I'll admit that "Loving Cup" doesn't quite have as bold of a focus as did the Stones on the greatest of their songs ... But "Loving Cup" is entertaining.

Happy 9/10

This is a pretty good one! It's not as an utter classic as a lot of people like to put it off as ... but it certainly works. It's another R&B thing that returns us to the Rolling Stones' roots. The sound mixing here might have not been so danged muddy, though. That's the principle problem with this one.

Turd on the Run 6.5/10

Ewwwwwwww! That sounds like a song title that I made up! Speaking of "Turd," this track takes the muddy-mixing to new lows! This one's hardly even *listenable*!

Ventilator Blues 8.5/10

This has a cool R&B riff! ... And it doesn't suck at all. Thank goodness, 'cause I was hoping that "Turd On the Run" wasn't a new norm for the Stones.

I Just Want to See His Face 6/10

Goofy! This song *is* filler! All it consists of is a nauseating chorus singing the same thing over and over, and stupid muddy instrumentals. Yikes! This can't be by the same people who wrote Sticky Fingers! Say it ain't so!

Let it Loose 9/10

Pretty good! Although, this one might also have TRULY benefited from more careful sound mixing. Honestly, this one would have been about as utterly breathtaking as "Wild Horses," but it wasn't meant to be! As it stands, it's merely an average pretty song. The Stones really had no excuse with this one! It deserved better treatment! But, as it stands, it's a strong track ... indeed, one of the strongest in the album! Might have also benefited by being a minute shorter.

All Down the Line 9.5/10

Hey! The Rolling Stones haven't forgotten how to kick, *after all*! Here's another kickin' R&B tune that'll have you dancing along with the best of 'em! ... It's also a pretty good tune to dance with, I'd reckon.

Stop Breaking Down 7.5/10

This is kind of a cool song. I'm not going to submit it for a Grammy. But this R&B cover is coooooo. It's a bit too long, though.

Shine a Light 8.5/10

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, Mickkkky. I really like the piano here! But why did you need a whole minute to start-up this song? I'm glad that it *did* start up. And I really like that piano. The piano is coo. Apart from the first minute of it, this is one of the better songs on the album.

Soul Survivor 8/10

What's this? An Asia cover? ... Oh wait. That was "Sole Survivor." That was also an 80s song. Never mind. Hey! It has a nice riff! That's all I really care about. The glory-chorus of "SOUL SURVIVOR!" could have been more exhilarating, but so could my face. It's a good song. I enjoy it. This is a song for every piece of bubble-gum that ever successfully dodged the feet of passer-bys on a crowded city sidewalk. No wait, that's ...

I'm in exhile! Free me by leaving your comments about this album here!

plumpandround@aol.com (Zack) received June 20, 2005

Mr. Ignacio, your comments on Exhile are clearly everything an "anti-hypothesis" could define. You lack the understanding that the "raw, unpolished" sound is part of the effect and part of the artists' signature. Yes Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers did have a very finely tuned studio sound however The Rolling Stones went for that special unrefined Blues sound that they have based their career on. In other word Exhile on Main Street was their definitive album, it showed their style that they are most confortable playing with and it did not seem to be concerned with a critics opinion (which clearly you are) and did care for a musicians taste.