No. It can be done very easily. Just leave out the supbar/superluous songs. There are a lot of them on Exile, almost as many as on VL.

It is impossible to leave any songs out of this album. This is pure Keith at his creative best, a pure ramshackle, raw, multi-genre musical genius



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-05-26 18:34 by desertblues68.

It would be similar to taking a full set of encyclopedias, and editing out the copies with letters you don't like.
It would be incomplete and doesn't make any rational sense.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

Exile isnt the holy grail of music - it´s just an album like any other. It contains great songs, good songs, average songs and superfluous songs.

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" - Aristotle

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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Hairball
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" - Aristotle

+1

Sides 1 & 2 are perfection IMO while side 4 is fairly mediocre – they should’ve saved All Down The Line for Goat’s Head – it’s slightly less boring than Silver Train, but only slightly. A totally overrated tune IMO. Stop Breaking Down and Soul Survivor are weak efforts, period. Shine A Light deserved better but the released version is too sterile. That raw outtake with the raspy Jagger vocal is far superior. Side 3 has lots of goodies but I’m sorry – as much as I wanna buy the slightly pretentious argument that every song is integral to the album(in fact I myself have put forward the same argument on occasion because it sounds so cool), if I’m honest with myself I Just Wanna See His Face could’ve been a few minutes shorter or blotted out. I think that promo song Jagger did on piano could’ve been a better segue into Let It Loose.

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Swayed1967
Sides 1 & 2 are perfection IMO while side 4 is fairly mediocre – they should’ve saved All Down The Line for Goat’s Head – it’s slightly less boring than Silver Train, but only slightly. A totally overrated tune IMO. Stop Breaking Down and Soul Survivor are weak efforts, period. Shine A Light deserved better but the released version is too sterile. That raw outtake with the raspy Jagger vocal is far superior. Side 3 has lots of goodies but I’m sorry – as much as I wanna buy the slightly pretentious argument that every song is integral to the album(in fact I myself have put forward the same argument on occasion because it sounds so cool), if I’m honest with myself I Just Wanna See His Face could’ve been a few minutes shorter or blotted out. I think that promo song Jagger did on piano could’ve been a better segue into Let It Loose.

Given your outlook on the Stones, presented in another thread, to consider your post here in the light of, I would like to ask: Which band/-s is / are really your favourite band/-s? Because there are more bands than one or two outside the Stones that I have a higher opinion of than you have of the Stones.

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Swayed1967

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DandelionPowderman

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Swayed1967
There are a couple of songs I'm not that fond of but I'd say Beggars is the only filler-free Stones album.

Beggars, Exile, Sticky, Gimme Shelter and the big singles (JJF & HTW, Miss You, Start Me Up) - that's the essential Stones. The rest is immature (the early stuff) or superfluous (thinK Dance Little Sister) or just plain crap (everything from Dirty Work onward). Three albums and some 45s - anyone who spends more than 50 bucks on this band's music is out of their head.

The album Gimme Shelter consists of lots of what you regard «immature songs» (For instance, the tracks from Got Live If You Want It). Surely you mean Let It Bleed?

No, I mean the song Gimme Shelter which was never released as a single (or am I wrong about that?). The rest of Let It Bleed is OK but mediocre by comparison - non-essential in my opinion but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to own LIB as well.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-05-27 11:06 by Witness.

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HMS
No. It can be done very easily. Just leave out the supbar/superluous songs. There are a lot of them on Exile, almost as many as on VL.

By comparative standards of the involved albums, when you have managed to reduce DIRTY WORK to a single (with two songs in total), first then I would find interesting if you are capable of taking away one or two songs from EXILE ON MAIN STREET as allegedly superfluous. (No, EXILE is not to me alone the greatest Stones album, to me it is among approximately twelve great albums. And no, I don't regard even DIRTY WORK as worthless, but there are still relative quality to judge.)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-05-27 11:25 by Witness.

Exile On main St is like the Chapel Sistine of rock'n roll. Just ask any of the many bands that came after the Stones and got inspiration from it. Every genre that gave us what we call "rock music" is on it. The Stones made the sum of the parts and created the greatest album of rock history. Period.
You can't remove anything from it (or add anything to it ...the Stones themselves tried to do so with mixed results to say the least) without ruining the album. I can't even imagine Let It Loose without I Just Want See His Face.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm not on a Beatles fan board...

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Witness

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Swayed1967
Sides 1 & 2 are perfection IMO while side 4 is fairly mediocre – they should’ve saved All Down The Line for Goat’s Head – it’s slightly less boring than Silver Train, but only slightly. A totally overrated tune IMO. Stop Breaking Down and Soul Survivor are weak efforts, period. Shine A Light deserved better but the released version is too sterile. That raw outtake with the raspy Jagger vocal is far superior. Side 3 has lots of goodies but I’m sorry – as much as I wanna buy the slightly pretentious argument that every song is integral to the album(in fact I myself have put forward the same argument on occasion because it sounds so cool), if I’m honest with myself I Just Wanna See His Face could’ve been a few minutes shorter or blotted out. I think that promo song Jagger did on piano could’ve been a better segue into Let It Loose.

Given your outlook on the Stones, presented in another thread, to consider your post here in the light of, I would like to ask: Which band/-s is / are really your favourite band/-s? Because there are more bands than one or two outside the Stones that I have a higher opinion of than you have of the Stones.

You seem to want to provoke me but I shan’t take the bait because it will soon be Happy Hour here in Tokyo.
Cheers!
P.S. I meant to say ‘anyone who spends much more than 50 bucks on this band’s music is out of their head.’ I personally have spent a small fortune on the Stones but it’s madness, you see. We’re all @#$%& mad. Three albums and some 45s – that’s all ya need.

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Swayed1967

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Witness

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Swayed1967

You seem to want to provoke me but I shan’t take the bait because it will soon be Happy Hour here in Tokyo.
Cheers!
P.S. I meant to say ‘anyone who spends much more than 50 bucks on this band’s music is out of their head.’ I personally have spent a small fortune on the Stones but it’s madness, you see. We’re all @#$%& mad. Three albums and some 45s – that’s all ya need.

As a fan of this band, I would say that one needs to have all studio releases as far as possible (for instance, I did not buy the vast GRRR-Box (if that is the correct title) to gain the addition of the new songs on it, I felt manipulated by that deal, but I really want to have those songs, too.) I sincerely can't understand that a fan of the Stones can be contented with three Stones albums. And like it or not, I have a much higher regard of the Stones output than what you expressed in words here and there. The difference was that large that I was certain that you would have had at least one other band that you were fan of, even if you, as I thought, to some extent like and respect a minor part of Rolling Stones music, however, so limited that I wondered.

As interested in rock music in the wide sense, I also see the need to have releases of many other bands as well. There are, in fact, many bands and creators of music with releases to love or at least to like parts of, even if there are only one Rolling Stones.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2016-05-27 12:26 by Witness.

<The rest of Let It Bleed is OK but mediocre by comparison - non-essential in my opinion>

I agree about GS being one of their best songs. However, I also place Midnight Rambler and You Can't Always Get What You Want in that category.

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DandelionPowderman
<The rest of Let It Bleed is OK but mediocre by comparison - non-essential in my opinion>

I agree about GS being one of their best songs. However, I also place Midnight Rambler and You Can't Always Get What You Want in that category.

The whole of Let It Bleed is classic Stones - essential on every count!

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HonkeyTonkFlash

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DandelionPowderman
<The rest of Let It Bleed is OK but mediocre by comparison - non-essential in my opinion>

I agree about GS being one of their best songs. However, I also place Midnight Rambler and You Can't Always Get What You Want in that category.

The whole of Let It Bleed is classic Stones - essential on every count!

Indeed. Pound for pound Let It Bleed is the Stones greatest album. There's not a dud note or song on it. Basically it has more truly magnificent songs on it than any otyher Stones' album - Gimme Shelter, Midnight Rambler, You Got The Silver, Monkey Man, You Can't Always Get What You Want. That's five and I've left out Love In Vain which really should also be included but I've pruned to the list to the untouchables.

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Silver Dagger

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HonkeyTonkFlash

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DandelionPowderman
<The rest of Let It Bleed is OK but mediocre by comparison - non-essential in my opinion>

I agree about GS being one of their best songs. However, I also place Midnight Rambler and You Can't Always Get What You Want in that category.

The whole of Let It Bleed is classic Stones - essential on every count!

Indeed. Pound for pound Let It Bleed is the Stones greatest album. There's not a dud note or song on it. Basically it has more truly magnificent songs on it than any otyher Stones' album - Gimme Shelter, Midnight Rambler, You Got The Silver, Monkey Man, You Can't Always Get What You Want. That's five and I've left out Love In Vain which really should also be included but I've pruned to the list to the untouchables.

I feel it's as indispensable any anything form the sacred big four era.

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Cristiano Radtke
The Forgotten L.A. History of The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St.

Thanks..another good read from you!

one of the best stones albums

Probably my favourite album in the whole world.

After listening too it regularly for nigh on 45 years ...I still don't think I've heard everything that lurks within that beautiful, evil & murky mix.

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Spud
Probably my favourite album in the whole world.

After listening too it regularly for nigh on 45 years ...I still don't think I've heard everything that lurks within that beautiful, evil & murky mix.

^ This

Great article, thank you for posting. I particularly enjoyed reading Venetta Fields account.

One question, though. The photo with Keith sitting on the sofa says that the reflection of the billboard poster can be seen in the window. I have to say, I can't really make it out, but would the billboard posters be up if, as the caption says, they were still working on the album?

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peoplewitheyes
Great article, thank you for posting. I particularly enjoyed reading Venetta Fields account.

One question, though. The photo with Keith sitting on the sofa says that the reflection of the billboard poster can be seen in the window. I have to say, I can't really make it out, but would the billboard posters be up if, as the caption says, they were still working on the album?

Good question, I was thinking the same.

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Spud
Probably my favourite album in the whole world.

After listening too it regularly for nigh on 45 years ...I still don't think I've heard everything that lurks within that beautiful, evil & murky mix.

I know it's been discussed but listening to the bonus songs not sure if new vocals should have added on some of the instrumentals. Especially So Divine, what a hack job. Love the Soul Survivor Outtake. Just heard Keith uttering "Et cetera et cetera" at the end, so cool.......

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peoplewitheyes
The photo with Keith sitting on the sofa says that the reflection of the billboard poster can be seen in the window. I have to say, I can't really make it out, but would the billboard posters be up if, as the caption says, they were still working on the album?

I think he means you can see the reflection ( upside down?) not of the billboard, but of a printed approval of the billboard. Seems there are just two pieces of paper on a note stand or something.

Great article btw! Thanks.

Anyone think EOMS would not be as good if they had finished the songs that were from the France sessions that came out in 2010 - Pass The Wine, I'm Not Signifying, Plundered My Soul and Following The River?

I think Pass The Wine, Signifying and Plundered would've fit just fine.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2018-01-21 21:32 by GasLightStreet.

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GasLightStreet
Anyone think EOMS would not be as good if they had finished the songs that were from the France sessions that came out in 2010 - Pass The Wine, I'm Not Signifying, Plundered My Soul and Following The River?

I think Pass The Wine, Signifying and Plundered would've fit just fine.

Pass The Wine & Signifying are strong tracks, yeah. Plundered is a TD variation, Following is a 90's Jagger ballad with '71 backing tracks - wouldn't have fit I think, maybe on Voodoo Lounge.

Superb album....not a bad song on it and the mix, history, musicians all add to its mystique. Would be my desert island album. As an aside, has anyone ever managed write down what the bits of talking in the back ground....it's there on a few songs and I can never make it out

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Swayed1967
Sides 1 & 2 are perfection IMO while side 4 is fairly mediocre – they should’ve saved All Down The Line for Goat’s Head – it’s slightly less boring than Silver Train, but only slightly. A totally overrated tune IMO. Stop Breaking Down and Soul Survivor are weak efforts, period. Shine A Light deserved better but the released version is too sterile. That raw outtake with the raspy Jagger vocal is far superior. Side 3 has lots of goodies but I’m sorry – as much as I wanna buy the slightly pretentious argument that every song is integral to the album(in fact I myself have put forward the same argument on occasion because it sounds so cool), if I’m honest with myself I Just Wanna See His Face could’ve been a few minutes shorter or blotted out. I think that promo song Jagger did on piano could’ve been a better segue into Let It Loose.

While I don't agree with the main sentiment of this post, I think this is an interesting , thought provoking take on side 4. I "kind of agree" with some of it though. You do start to sense a drop off in Quality, like there wasn't as much focus on EOMS. But it somehow ended up being great anyways, enough to put it on the same level as the previous three albums.. That's part of what makes it so cool.

Also, I think that's an interesting take on ADTL. It's one of my favorites though.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2018-01-21 21:58 by ryanpow.