Exile On Main Street

So, the Rolling Stones have resuscitated the classic "Exile On Main Street" and added some tracks.

10 "new tracks". Meh. Most Stones freaks have at least a handful of the "unreleased" stuff (I had 5 of the 10 already).

The remastered original tracks are brighter and have more emphasis on the horns and piano than the original muddier mix. Of course, since most folks listen to shitty mp3 versions on portable devices, your auditory mileage may vary.

A sharper eared comrade of mine is convinced that Jagger re-recorded some of the vocals on the "rare" stuff.

With regard to the "rare" stuff, there's nothing here that would have made the original album any better. There are traces of other Stones tunes in many of these (echoes of "Paint It Black" in
"So Divine", "Good Time Women" is a rewrite of "Tumbling Dice") and alt versions of others ("Soul Survivor" with a druggy Keef singing, "Loving Cup").

Is it worth the investment? Well, if you've been listening to your scratchy old vinyl version of Exile, than it's probably high time to go digital. However, if you already have it on cd, don't bother. You can source out many 1968-1972 Stones rarities on-line (in fact, scroll down, and I have posted a few trax that are NOT on the new re-release).

The documentary on the making of Exile is very very kick ass.



Hey, click this for a pretty funny bit with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards about the new Exile On Main Street re-release


Toonage:
Rolling Stones - Shine A Light (alt version)
Rolling Stones - Memo From Turner 2
Rolling Stones - Stop Breaking Down (alt version)
Rolling Stones - Sweet Virginia (alt version)
Rolling Stones - All Down The Line