This is the review of Exile On Main Street from Rolling Stone magazine. Personally, I'm glad this kind of over the top bullshit rock journalism is dead.


By Lenny Kaye
May 12, 1972

There are songs that are better, there are songs that are worse, there are songs that'll become your favorites and others you'll probably lift the needle for when their time is due. But in the end, Exile on Main Street spends its four sides shading the same song in as many variations as there are Rolling Stone readymades to fill them, and if on the one hand they prove the group's eternal constancy and appeal, it's on the other that you can leave the album and still feel vaguely unsatisfied, not quite brought to the peaks that this band of bands has always held out as a special prize in the past.

The Stones have never set themselves in the forefront of any musical revolution, instead preferring to take what's already been laid down and then gear it to its highest most slashing level. Along this road they've displayed a succession of sneeringly believable poses, in a tradition so grand that in lesser hands they could have become predictable, coupled with an acute sense of social perception and the kind of dynamism that often made everything else seem beside the point.

Through a spectral community alchemy, we've chosen the Stones to bring our darkness into light, in each case via a construct that fits the time and prevailing mood perfectly. And, as a result, they alone have become the last of the great hopes. If you can't bleed on the Stones, who can you bleed on?

In that light, Exile on Main Street is not just another album, a two-month binge for the rack-jobbers and then onto whoever's up next. Backed by an impending tour and a monumental picture-book, its mere presence in record stores makes a statement. And as a result, the group has been given a responsibility to their audience which can't be dropped by the wayside, nor should be, given the two-way street on which music always has to function. Performers should not let their public make career decisions for them, but the best artisans of any era have worked closely within their audience's expectations, either totally transcending them (the Beatles in their up-to-and-including Sgt. Pepper period) or manipulating them (Dylan, continually).

The Stones have prospered by making the classic assertion whenever it was demanded of them. Coming out of Satanic Majesties Request, the unholy trio of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Street Fighting Man" and "Sympathy for the Devil" were the blockbusters that brought them back in the running. After, through "Midnight Rambler," "Honky Tonk Women," "Brown Sugar," "Bitch" and those jagged-edge opening bars of "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," they've never failed to make that affirmation of their superiority when it was most needed, of the fact that others may come and go but the Rolling Stones will always be.

This continual topping of one's self can only go on for so long, after which one must sit back and sustain what has already been built. And with Exile on Main Street, the Stones have chosen to sustain for the moment, stabilizing their pasts and presenting few directions for their future. The fact that they do it so well is testament to one of the finest bands in the world. The fact that they take a minimum of chances, even given the room of their first double album set, tends to dull that finish a bit.

Exile on Main Street is the Rolling Stones at their most dense and impenetrable. In the tradition of Phil Spector, they've constructed a wash of sound in which to frame their songs, yet where Spector always aimed to create an impression of space and airiness, the Stones group everything together in one solid mass, providing a tangled jungle through which you have to move toward the meat of the material. Only occasionally does an instrument or voice break through to the surface, and even then it seems subordinate to the ongoing mix, and without the impact that a break in the sound should logically have.

One consequence of this style is that most of the hard-core action on the record revolves around Charlie Watts' snare drum. The sound gives him room not only to set the pace rhythmically but to also provide the bulk of the drive and magnetism. Another is that because Jagger's voice has been dropped to the level of just another instrument, burying him even more than usual, he has been freed from any restrictions the lyrics might have once imposed. The ulterior motives of mumbling aside, with much of the record completely unintelligible — though the words I could make out generally whetted my appetite to hear more — he's been left with something akin to pure singing, utilizing only his uncanny sense of style to carry him home from there. His performances here are among the finest he's graced us with in a long time, a virtual drama which amply proves to me that there's no other vocalist who can touch him, note for garbled note.

As for Keith, Bill and Mick T., their presence comes off as subdued, never overly apparent until you put your head between the speakers. In the case of the last two, this is perfectly understandable. Wyman has never been a front man, and his bass has never been recorded with an eye to clarity. He's the bottom, and he fulfills his support role with a grace that is unfailingly admirable. Mick Taylor falls about the same, chosen to take Brian's place as much because he could be counted on to stay in the background as for his perfect counterpoint guitar skills. With Keith, however, except for a couple of spectacular chording exhibitions and some lethal openings, his instrumental wizardry is practically nowhere to be seen, unless you happen to look particularly hard behind Nicky Hopkins' piano or the dual horns of Price/Keys. It hurts the album, as the bone earring has often provided the marker on which the Stones rise or fall.

Happily, though, Exile on Main Street has the Rolling Stones sounding like a full-fledged five-into-one band. Much of the self-consciousness that marred Sticky Fingers has apparently vanished, as well as that album's tendency to touch every marker on the Hot 100. It's been replaced by a tight focus on basic components of the Stones' sound as we've always known it, knock-down rock and roll stemming from blues, backed with a pervading feeling of blackness that the Stones have seldom failed to handle well.

The album begins with "Rocks Off," a proto-typical Stones' opener whose impact is greatest in its first 15 seconds. Kicked off by one of Richards' patented guitar scratchings, a Jagger aside and Charlie's sharp crack, it moves into the kind of song the Stones have built a reputation on, great choruses and well-judged horn bursts, painlessly running you through the motions until you're out of the track and into the album. But if that's one of its assets, it also stands for one of its deficiencies — there's nothing distinctive about the tune. Stones' openers of the past have generally served to set the mood for the mayhem to follow; this one tells you that we're in for nothing new.

"Rip This Joint" is a stunner, getting down to the business at hand with the kind of music the Rolling Stones were born to play. It starts at a pace that yanks you into its locomotion full tilt, and never lets up from there; the sax solo is the purest of rock and roll. Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips" mounts up as another plus, with a mild boogie tempo and a fine mannered vocal from Jagger. The guitars are the focal point here, and they work with each other like a pair of Corsican twins. "Casino Boogie" sounds at times as if it were a Seventies remake from the chord progression of "Spider and the Fly," and for what it's worth, I suppose I'd rather listen to "jump right ahead in my web" any day.

But it's left to "Tumbling Dice" to not just place a cherry on the first side, but to also provide one of the album's only real moves towards a classic. As the guitar figure slowly falls into Charlie's inevitable smack, the song builds to the kind of majesty the Stones at their best have always provided. Nothing is out of place here, Keith's simple guitar figure providing the nicest of bridges, the chorus touching the upper levels of heaven and spurring on Jagger, set up by an arrangement that is both unique and imaginative. It's definitely the cut that deserved the single, and the fact that it's not likely to touch Number One shows we've perhaps come a little further than we originally intended.

Side Two is the only side on Exile without a barrelhouse rocker, and drags as a result. I wish for once the Stones could do a country song in the way they've apparently always wanted, without feeling the need to hoke it up in some fashion. "Sweet Virginia" is a perfectly friendly lazy shuffle that gets hung on an overemphasized "shit" in the chorus. "Torn and Frayed" has trouble getting started, but as it inexorably rolls to its coda the Stones find their flow and relax back, allowing the tune to lovingly expand. "Sweet Black Angel," with its vaguely West Indian rhythm and Jagger playing Desmond Dekker, comes off as a pleasant experiment that works, while "Loving Cup" is curiously faceless, though it must be admitted the group works enough out-of-the-ordinary breaks and bridges to give it at least a fighting chance; the semi-soul fade on the end is rhythmically satisfying but basically undeveloped, adding to the cut's lack of impression.

The third side is perhaps the best organized of any on Exile. Beginning with the closest thing to a pop number Mick and Keith have written on the album, "Happy" lives up to its title from start to finish. It's a natural-born single, and its position as a side opener seems to suggest the group thinks so too. "Turd on the Run," even belying its gimmicky title, is a superb little hustler; if Keith can be said to have a showpiece on this album, this is it. Taking off from a jangly "Maybellene" rhythm guitar, he misses not a flick of the wrist, sitting behind the force of the instrumental and shoveling it along. "Ventilator Blues" is all Mick, spreading the guts of his voice all over the microphone, providing an entrance into the gumbo ya-ya of "I Just Want to See His Face," Jagger and the chorus sinuously wavering around a grand collection of jungle drums. "Let It Loose" closes out the side, and as befits the album's second claim to classic, is one beautiful song, both lyrically and melodically. Like on "Tumbling Dice," everything seems to work as a body here, the gospel chorus providing tension, the leslie'd guitar rounding the mysterious nature of the track, a great performance from Mick and just the right touch of backing instruments. Whoever that voice belongs to hanging off the fade in the end, I'd like to kiss her right now: she's that lovely.

Coming off "Let It Loose," you might expect Side Four to be the one to really put the album on the target. Not so. With the exception of an energy-ridden "All Down The Line" and about half of "Shine a Light," Exile starts a slide downward which happens so rapidly that you might be left a little dazed as to what exactly happened. "Stop Breaking Down" is such an overdone blues cliché that I'm surprised it wasn't placed on Jamming With Edward. "Shine a Light" starts with perhaps the best potential of any song on the album, a slow, moody piece with Mick singing in a way calculated to send chills up your spine. Then, out of nowhere, the band segues into the kind of shlock gospel song that Tommy James has already done better. Then they move you back into the slow piece. Then back into shlock gospel again. It's enough to drive you crazy.

After four sides you begin to want some conclusion to the matters at hand, to let you off the hook so you can start all over fresh. "Soul Survivor," though a pretty decent and upright song in itself, can't provide the kind of kicker that is needed at this point. It's typicality, within the oeuvre of the Rolling Stones, means it could've been placed anywhere, and with "Let It Loose" just begging to seal the bottle, there's no reason why it should be the last thing left you by the album.

Still, talking about the pieces of Exile on Main Street is somewhat off the mark here, since individually the cuts seem to stand quite well. Only when they're taken together, as a lump sum of four sides, is their impact blunted. This would be all right if we were talking about any other group but the Stones. Yet when you've been given the best, it becomes hard to accept anything less, and if there are few moments that can be faulted on this album, it also must be said that the magic high spots don't come as rapidly.

Exile on Main Street appears to take up where Sticky Fingers left off, with the Stones attempting to deal with their problems and once again slightly missing the mark. They've progressed to the other side of the extreme, wiping out one set of solutions only to be confronted with another. With few exceptions, this has meant that they've stuck close to home, doing the sort of things that come naturally, not stepping out of the realm in which they feel most comfortable. Undeniably it makes for some fine music, and it surely is a good sign to see them recording so prolifically again; but I still think that the great Stones album of their mature period is yet to come. Hopefully, Exile on Main Street will give them the solid footing they need to open up, and with a little horizon-expanding (perhaps honed by two months on the road), they might even deliver it to us the next time around.

Lenny Kaye was/is a great rock journalist/scholar, who compiled the original Nuggets album in '72. In terms of influence on musicians and music, the Nuggets compilation could probably be ranked right next to Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.


In addition, Lenny is a founding member (with Patti! ) and guitarist of the Patti Smith group.

Sometimes writers get it wrong. The dean of American film critics, Stanley Kauffmann, panned The Godfather when it was released that same year. But reading over Lenny's words I see him listening with great expectations, and not an awareness that this would be the end of a Golden Age.


I liked Lenny's line two years later in his Hit Parader review of IORR: "It's only rock n' roll? That's like saying the sun is only a star!"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-15 07:44 by loog droog.

Quote
This continual topping of one's self can only go on for so long, after which one must sit back and sustain what has already been built. And with Exile on Main Street, the Stones have chosen to sustain for the moment, stabilizing their pasts and presenting few directions for their future.

I think this is pretty right.

I get the feeling that a lot of the songs on Exile had been hanging around for a while and just didn't make the cut for Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers.

Even with Sticky Fingers, a fair few of the songs were ready to go in late 1969.

Exile seems to be full of country/blues fillers that didn't make the cut for previous albums, that are ok but not that great.

Tumbling Dice and Happy are the best known tracks and Happy's verse sounds sort of similar to Tumbling Dice's verse which sounds sort of similar to a previous Grand Funk song and I think the early versions of Tumbling Dice had a bit of a different verse feel as well.

So maybe they got 2 songs out of the same verse type thing possibly inspired by Grand Funk, but that's songwriting for ya.

Exile is the remnants of that late 60s country/blues period IMO.

John Lee Hooker type riffs etc.

I'd also agree that the Stones can't do straight Country without Yoking it up and Mick said that he and Keith could fake Country but it never sounded that genuine.

As the writer says, a band can only outdo itself for a certain time before levelling off and Exile is the levelling off.

Sticky Fingers is the last Stones album that possibly betters some previous Stones things but Sticky Fingers has it's roots in the late 1960s so I think that is when the Stones reach their plateau.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-15 09:03 by howled.

Still, talking about the pieces of Exile on Main Street is somewhat off the mark here, since individually the cuts seem to stand quite well. Only when they're taken together, as a lump sum of four sides, is their impact blunted. This would be all right if we were talking about any other group but the Stones. Yet when you've been given the best, it becomes hard to accept anything less, and if there are few moments that can be faulted on this album, it also must be said that the magic high spots don't come as rapidly.



I thought exactly the same when I heard it the first time 1972...could have written this review myself....

2 1 2 0

I think it was a brilliant review. I don't agree with everything, but this is what reviewing is all about - being subjective.

How could he know that after 10 or 15 more spins, he'd probably change his perception of the album completely.

Thank you for posting this article.


Regardless its content (which would deserve long debate/discussion) it amazing its high literary standard.

I still think that the great Stones album of their mature period is yet to come. Hopefully, Exile on Main Street will give them the solid footing they need to open up, and with a little horizon-expanding (perhaps honed by two months on the road), they might even deliver it to us the next time around.

I thought it was a good, sincere review. Take into perspective that the writer was unaware
of the things to follow. With hindsight some regard Exile on Main St one of their last
masterpieces. I was too young at the time to know, but it must have been nice to have
the expectations that there was something more to come that would blow the world away.
Actually, I still have those expectations...

Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

There's a live cd of a Patti Smith Group show from 6 or so years later (at which this reviewer Lenny Kaye is on guitar), and Patti praises the then-new Television album ADVENTURE -- and she says it's like EXILE, you gotta give it time and live w/it, which none of the EXILE reviewers of the day were allowed.

"Rock criticism" had a very short heyday in journalism (I'm not talking about bloggers) but in retrospect, wouldn't it have been interesting if publications like "Rolling Stone" had a column in which they reviewed select records @ one year after release, just for the sake of perspective?

For the record, "Rolling Stone" gave negative reviews to STICKY FINGERS, EXILE, and SOME GIRLS. GHS & IORR both got positive reviews.

I still think that the great Stones album of their mature period is yet to come. Hopefully, Exile on Main Street will give them the solid footing they need to open up, and with a little horizon-expanding (perhaps honed by two months on the road), they might even deliver it to us the next time around.

Well, let's see,

There was Starfxxker and then a bit of Disco and then ....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-15 11:26 by howled.

There was Starfxxker and a bit of Disco and ....




Little Indian Girl and other smash hits....



or Rolling Stones Songs on IORR....

2 1 2 0

"Exile on Main Street appears to take up where Sticky Fingers left off, with the Stones attempting to deal with their problems and once again slightly missing the mark"

Haha!

wow

Thanks for posting this review, it gives a nice glimpse into how the Stones were perceived in the early 70s. And thank goodness he doesn't bullsh!t about recording this album in a sweaty basement of a former nazi-headquarters building.

Kaye's review is quite interesting - I think it's an understandable review after listening to the album once or twice. I think he's only off the mark in his criticism of "Stop Breaking Down", which is utterly brilliant. I never thought of the resemblance between "Casino Boogie" and "Spider & the Fly"; they are pretty similar.

Exile didn't get rave reviews upon release. Lots of critics didn't think the individual tracks were that strong, and many didn't like the production - with the overwhelming view being that the sound was murky, and that the horns and piano were overemphasized. Mick himself, ever sensitive to critics, has been quoted as saying that Exile is not one of his favorites, and that he would like to remix it.

The reason that it is now regarded as among the best albums ever made is largely because regardless of what critics say, the fans know what they like and they loved the record then, and still do today. Fans loved those horns (or at least they loved Keys and Price) and the love Nicky and Stu on piano. And that dense "murky" sound reveals so many pleasures with repeated listening (vinyl please!) - The critics eventually came around. The "whooooo" in the fade out of "Rocks Off", Bill Plummer's uprite bass on "Rip This Joint", Mick Taylor's bass lines on "Tumbling Dice", the pedal steel on "Torn and Frayed", Keith's lead vocal on the last chorus of "Sweet Virginia", his Leslie'd guitar on "Let it Loose" . . . . I could go on for hours. The critics eventually came around.

Thank goodness Mick never got a chance to remix it. What a mess he would have made.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-01-15 15:54 by drbryant.

Quote
drbryant


Thank goodness Mick never got a chance to remix it. What a mess he would have made.

The last remaster is almost like a remix with the murky sound put to light and every single instrument or vocal brought upward.

Quote
drbryant
Kaye's review is quite interesting - I think it's an understandable review after listening to the album once or twice. I think he's only off the mark in his criticism of "Stop Breaking Down", which is utterly brilliant. I never thought of the resemblance between "Casino Boogie" and "Spider & the Fly"; they are pretty similar.

Exile didn't get rave reviews upon release. Lots of critics didn't think the individual tracks were that strong, and many didn't like the production - with the overwhelming view being that the sound was murky, and that the horns and piano were overemphasized. Mick himself, ever sensitive to critics, has been quoted as saying that Exile is not one of his favorites, and that he would like to remix it.

The reason that it is now regarded as among the best albums ever made is largely because regardless of what critics say, the fans know what they like and they loved the record then, and still do today. Fans loved those horns (or at least they loved Keys and Price) and the love Nicky and Stu on piano. And that dense "murky" sound reveals so many pleasures with repeated listening (vinyl please!) - The critics eventually came around. The "whooooo" in the fade out of "Rocks Off", Bill Plummer's uprite bass on "Rip This Joint", Mick Taylor's bass lines on "Tumbling Dice", the pedal steel on "Torn and Frayed", Keith's lead vocal on the last chorus of "Sweet Virginia", his Leslie'd guitar on "Let it Loose" . . . . I could go on for hours. The critics eventually came around.

Thank goodness Mick never got a chance to remix it. What a mess he would have made.

Me too, but he was referring to SBD being covered a lot, no?

In Lenny's defense Exile didn't come into it's own until it was mastered for CD. Listening to the original vinyl does not do it justice. It's funny that two landmark albums from the 70's, Exile and Layla were in fact very poor sounding LPs. Exile was really taken up a notch and it is from that perspective we're reading this review. No one could have expected him to predict that Exile, the ultimate concept album, a peek inside the world of masters, would become so imitated and timeless. The greatest rock album ever, how could Lenny have known that?

Quote
DoomandGloom
In Lenny's defense Exile didn't come into it's own until it was mastered for CD.

Uh...no.

Quote
DoomandGloom
In Lenny's defense Exile didn't come into it's own until it was mastered for CD. Listening to the original vinyl does not do it justice. It's funny that two landmark albums from the 70's, Exile and Layla were in fact very poor sounding LPs. Exile was really taken up a notch and it is from that perspective we're reading this review. No one could have expected him to predict that Exile, the ultimate concept album, a peek inside the world of masters, would become so imitated and timeless. The greatest rock album ever, how could Lenny have known that?

OK, I'll respond on behalf of all of the first generation fans and collectors here. This is just wrong. A good quality first pressing (from the UK, the US, West Germany or Japan), played on any decent analog set up, sounds much better than any digital version. The only exception is the SHM-SACD that was released in Japan about a year ago, and that costs $60 or so. Even later reissues in general sound better than the digital versions (the CBS pressing with the lettering in pink is one example of a great sounding reissue). By better, I mean more "air", better detail, far better dynamics and no blatant mistakes (like the volume "drop out" on "Sweet Virginia" on the original CBS and Sony CD's). The only exception is the piece of crap Virgin 180g vinyl (pressed at RTI) that was released a few years back - that sounds horrible.

Interesting to read 40 years later. Do any of you guys know what year/when Exile started to be considered the bands best?

Quote
JC21769
Interesting to read 40 years later. Do any of you guys know what year/when Exile started to be considered the bands best?

It took the lukewarm reception to GHS, the expectations but letdown of IORR, followed by the mixed bag of Black & Blue, to really end their early legacy and make people look backward. And then Love You Live, excepting the Toronto side, solidified the feeling that they weren't capable of the heights any longer. People began to appreciate Mick Taylor. When Some Girls rolled out it was seen as a small triumph, not great, but at least it was an enjoyable, coherent album that had an overall vibe. Then when Emotional Rescue came out, the greatness was gone again.

Tattoo You was fantastic, but most didn't like the first side, after Start Me Up, and the knowledgable realized the great second side was from their past. The Undercover album cemented their doom. And of course Dirty Work was seen as possibly their last LP. Steel Wheels showed them rallying for the last time before the pointlessness of the post Wyman era. Pick your point to get on the train and say, "Best new album since Exile". Any knowing fan just scoffed at such comparisons.

I always liked Exile. There were a few minor songs but they were good blenders into better songs. Their absolute best non-single Stones song is Rocks Off. A masterpiece. "The sunshine bores the daylights out of me...."

Quote
JC21769
Interesting to read 40 years later. Do any of you guys know what year/when Exile started to be considered the bands best?

A Creem review of Love You Live called it their "best since Exile..."

I used to collect ALL the music magazines from 1968 to 1980ish that covered the Stones. From Creem to NME, record mirror, Sounds etc, I put the articles into scrap books. It seems it took about 6 years for Exile to become the High Point, just before Tattoo You, which became the NEW reference point after the punks highlighted the sloppy mid 70's output.

Quote
24FPS

Quote
JC21769
Interesting to read 40 years later. Do any of you guys know what year/when Exile started to be considered the bands best?

It took the lukewarm reception to GHS, the expectations but letdown of IORR, followed by the mixed bag of Black & Blue, to really end their early legacy and make people look backward. And then Love You Live, excepting the Toronto side, solidified the feeling that they weren't capable of the heights any longer. People began to appreciate Mick Taylor. When Some Girls rolled out it was seen as a small triumph, not great, but at least it was an enjoyable, coherent album that had an overall vibe. Then when Emotional Rescue came out, the greatness was gone again.

Tattoo You was fantastic, but most didn't like the first side, after Start Me Up, and the knowledgable realized the great second side was from their past. The Undercover album cemented their doom. And of course Dirty Work was seen as possibly their last LP. Steel Wheels showed them rallying for the last time before the pointlessness of the post Wyman era. Pick your point to get on the train and say, "Best new album since Exile". Any knowing fan just scoffed at such comparisons.

I always liked Exile. There were a few minor songs but they were good blenders into better songs. Their absolute best non-single Stones song is Rocks Off. A masterpiece. "The sunshine bores the daylights out of me...."

This describes my experience perfectly. That said, in retrospect 30+ years later and outside of the shadow of the "big 4", most of those post-Exile have aged well and sound pretty good today.

Thanks guys. I was born in 1969 and by the time I was into the Stones (1981-2) I was thinking this "Exile'album is pretty good!

Yeah, it took a while for people to realize the Stones were not going to top Exile. There was no new peak. They could accept them being burned out on GHS after so much activity in the preceding 5 years. It was probably hearing the IORR single that made me think they'd slipped quite a few pegs. It wasn't very good, and I didn't like them saying that It's Only Rock and Roll. Then they didn't even bother to put out a new album for the '75 Tour of the Americas. We got that 'Made In The Shade' Greatest Hits package that seemed corny. Exile started looking better and better as the Stones studio output slid into the ditch. Mick's glam look seemed a little desperate to keep up with the Bowies and the Lou Reeds.

I attribute a lot of this to Keith's deepening Heroin addiction. After Exile it seemed to have finally affected his playing.

Damn, THAT Lenny Kaye was in Smith's band? Never knew. Astute writer,
but his skeptical ear was trained to hear Rolling Stones pop, so it's
no wonder his is a positive review with caveats.

Generally I think he's right, but as others have noted, it would've
been nice to read a reassessment down the road apiece. I too grimaced
at his panning of "Stop Breaking Down" and his praise for "Tumbling Dice".
Damn me, but I never liked it much.

I'd like to see the contemporary RS reviews for albums like Steel Wheels and Dirty Work. They gave Goddess in the Doorway 5 stars when I had a gift subscription in 2001.

Look for Lenny's Rolling Stone review of Led Zep 4 (or whatever you call it).

He's kind of underwhelmed.

To me it illustrates the time period we were living in then...just a constant flood of great, mind-blowing NEW music since '64...that just kept changing and getting better and better...



Who knew then that all that innovation would be winding down? We knew the music was great, but no one thought it was a "Golden Age" that would come to an end. Back then continuing great music all just seemed normal.


The thought of listening to music that was 40+ years old seemed unimaginable.

Quote
drbryant

Quote
DoomandGloom
In Lenny's defense Exile didn't come into it's own until it was mastered for CD. Listening to the original vinyl does not do it justice. It's funny that two landmark albums from the 70's, Exile and Layla were in fact very poor sounding LPs. Exile was really taken up a notch and it is from that perspective we're reading this review. No one could have expected him to predict that Exile, the ultimate concept album, a peek inside the world of masters, would become so imitated and timeless. The greatest rock album ever, how could Lenny have known that?

OK, I'll respond on behalf of all of the first generation fans and collectors here. This is just wrong. A good quality first pressing (from the UK, the US, West Germany or Japan), played on any decent analog set up, sounds much better than any digital version. The only exception is the SHM-SACD that was released in Japan about a year ago, and that costs $60 or so. Even later reissues in general sound better than the digital versions (the CBS pressing with the lettering in pink is one example of a great sounding reissue). By better, I mean more "air", better detail, far better dynamics and no blatant mistakes (like the volume "drop out" on "Sweet Virginia" on the original CBS and Sony CD's). The only exception is the piece of crap Virgin 180g vinyl (pressed at RTI) that was released a few years back - that sounds horrible.

Glad to see an audiophile's assessment. I prefer the CBS CD to all others including my pink reissue. Playing back the entire album in one sitting changed the way we listened to Exile, it brings you to a dark world immersed in drugs and sex, takes you on the road and finishes in a wash of desperate reverb and soul. The first time I heard it straight through on CD I was ripped apart.