Hi there,

this is a question addressing the older ones here: how did you rate "Exile" when it was released in 1972? How did you rate "Some Girls" when it was released in 1978?

Exile with Some Girls.

???

I would rate both albums as among the best by the Stones (but they have made many good records - different - but good)- both have stood the "test of time" and hold up well - stand on their own for their strong music, etc.

When I became a fan in 75 exile was one of the first stones albums I bought and liked the "dirty" feel of the album. I still feel the same. No highs or lows, but great feeling. a classic! in 78 when I got some girls i fell in love with the songs and especially the kind of new york attitude. I also liked the fact that the sound was very different (i´m not saying better) than on black and blue. When i was in a bus holding the album for the first time i was on fire inside and waiting to hear the stones sound of 78. My all time favorite stones albums are sg and ghs. many albums are close to them.

I loved Exile when it was released in 1972. I played several times a day a couple of month. I haven't loved an album such as Exile. Ever.

Some Girls has never been one of my faves. Not even one of my Stones-faves.
Maybe because I was in to other music when it was released. Like Genesis, Camel, Zappa, Steely Dan, King Crimson, Bruford, Brand-X, Soft Machine and stuff like that.

Straneg I have been a fan all these years since both Exile and Some Girls left me kind of flat when I first heard them in the 70's. Indeed it too me a decade to apprecaite Exile for what it is.

As I Heard "Exile" first I had the "Goats Head Soup" feeling, my first Stones album. So I was a little frightened by the rough sound. In the following years I became a fan of "Exile" until nowadays. It is their greatest album. The runner up is in my opinion ABB. Concerning Some girls: I never understood the enthusiasm for this piece. It is okay, a quite good album with the absolute killer "Beast of Burden", my fav song of the Stones. But the live versions are better by far (e.g. on "Rarities"). Otherwise it is a quite good album, but I never have had any sensational feelings about it. So it is to me nowadays.

it took me years to get into Exile - but then it lasted and has been my favourite album now for about 30 years.

I immediately liked Some Girls - nowadays I think it's not their best to say the least.

Exile was my sixth Stones-album. As far as I remember I had mixed feelings when I first listened to it. I didn't feel it was as strong as eg Sticky Fingers. Some of the songs immediately appealed to me ( Rip this joint, Turd on the run, All down the line, Shine a Light, Sweet Black Angel + ). Tumbling Dice was supposed to be the hit-single, but for me it was their weakest single. I liked the cover a lot. The postcards immediately went up in my room. Luckily they survived all these years. I don't think I really understood the greatness of Exile ( and songs like Loving Cup, Let it loose + ) till much later. Like Thommie I was also into the art-rock stuff a lot. Genesis ( : w. Peter Gabriel, still ok ), ELP ( : god knows why ), Yes ( : The Yes Album is still a favourite, the rest boring ) etc. Exile was more pure "wild" rock compared to this. Whereas Sticky Fingers was full of more "composed" stuff. I think that's one way to explain what was going on inside of me.....

Some Girls was a relief after GHS, IORR and BaB. At least that's how I felt at the time. I liked @#$%&, Angie, Heartbreaker, 100 years ago on GHS. Luxury and Fingerprint File on IORR. Felt that the title track was simple T.Rex-style ( : Telegram Sam ). BaB : Well, it took ages for me to dig that album. Some Girls really put the Stones right back in front. Perhaps because I started disliking the art-rock scene in favour of groups like Clash.

Overall I think I have changed my mind several times regarding pre-Steel Wheels Stones-albums. I always listened to them. But some of them for sure suffered quite extended rest on the shelves.

I was 15 when Exile came out and bought it about 1 year later i think. At the time it was not one of my favourite Stones albums probably because it was a double and i wrongly thought that there was a lot of filler on there. I have changed my opinion now and it is an album i play a lot.

I was well into punk when Some Girls came out but i loved that album. It was something you could play to other punk fans and not feel embarassed about. Look the Stones are still relevant. I mean what sort of shit were Genesis and Yes etc putting out at that time.

Andy

>> I don't think I really understood the greatness of Exile <<

neither did i - it simply sounded just right to me, right from the start and all down the line. the only thing i didn't like was the cover art - smile: they might as well have printed "GIRLS KEEP OUT!" all over the album in big red letters - and the title Turd on the Run. but i was used to the Stones being obnoxious that way, so i slithered right into Exile anyway and made myself at home.

Some Girls astounded me. i don't know if anyone expected anything that powerful from the Stones at that point - i sure didn't. i'll never forget the night that thing first came sailing through my airspace like a huge radiantly-plumaged bird, all wild and muscular and graceful and so stupendously unexpected. it's not an album i listen to a lot now - i'm not sure why - but at the time it absolutely took my breath away.


"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

I was fifteen when "Exile" came out. For the longest time I was put off my the murky production of the record and intentionally lurid packaging. It came out a little over a year after "Sticky Fingers" which contained booming, clear presentations of carefully hewn songs, all with their own unique character (like LIB before it). The songs on "Exile" in comparison took a long time to reveal themselves primarily because their character was much more subtle as well as lost in that muddy mix. Think about it. "Exile" had eighteen songs. To this day only three are considered warhorses (TD, Happy, ADTL), Rocks Off and Sweet Virginia can still wow 'em live but I'll almost guarantee to you a lot of folks who consider themselves real fans (not the nut-cases like us) would scratch their heads and wonder, "What song is that?" if the boys trotted out "Soul Survivor" or "Torn'n'Frayed" for example.

Reviews in the era pretty much coincide with my perception as stated above. Most critics thought "Exile" was a muddy jumble. Two years later, after it had sunk in, it was suddenly the venerable masterpiece we know "Exile" as today.

In comparison, "Some Girls" rode in on the success of the smash hit "Miss You" which, despite being a disco oriented song, was simply great. The Stones renewed vigor was evident and those of us old enough to remember the classic period (I was 21) could shout its hossanas right along with folks who were discovering the band for the first time. Everybody loved "Some Girls." How many warhorses among its ten songs? Three: MY, BOB, Shattered, Every other song with the possible exception of "Lies" bring down the house to this day.

A lot of horsehit comparisons have been made of ABB to "Exile." Song for song. Attitude to attitude, ABB is MUCH more like "Some Girls."

Am I qualified as an "elder one" too? I became a fan in 1982 when being 16 and listening to TATTOO YOU and STILL LIFE. I always felt guilty because I didn't think EXILE ON MAIN ST was the Stones' greatest album. No doubt it is a fantastic album but in my opinion 18 songs are too much for any great album and it actually DOES contain fillers.

Of course neither DIRTY WORK nor A BIGGER BANG nor any other official album Stones relased since 1981 comes near EXILE. But for me the Rolling Stones anyway peaked already in 1968/1970 with "Jumpin' jack flash", BEGGARS BANQUET and GET YER YA-YA'S OUT!

I remember well buying Some Girls. I had to buy one myself, coz I wasn't alllowed to listen to my brother's one...

Some Girls hit me!!! And still does. It's so powerfull. Punk, rock, country/gospel, blues. It contains everyting, and it's an album, not a bunch of songs. Some Girls is a masyterpiece, and still is.

Beast Of Burden has it all, this song is what the Stones are all about for me, the unique sound of it is fantastic.

Thanks a lot folks, this is real Stones history to me!

exile was at the beggining not a such great album !!!after sticky fingers everething was difficult....a few years ago it was an icon of a rock and roll/country album......
some girls always was a very good album of the "rock'n roll stones"but without the delicacy of the music we heard in exile or sticky ....

i became a fan when exile was released..liked a few tracks...today i like it a lot more then backin the day...love some girls...i think its the 3rd best stones album of all time.
1. let it bleed
2. sticky fingers
3. some girls
4. beggars b.
anyway, some girls just blew me away......let it rock..

I thought Exile was brilliant from the first hearing, an absolute masterpiece. I thought Some Girls was very decent, half of it brilliant, half so so. I still feel exactly the same about both of them.

Tattoo You is one that's really grown on me over the years.

same for me with t.y...i loved about half the album..today i love the entire album....also it depends on how old you are when you 1st heard exile....i think the older the fans were when the album was released the more you would like it...say 26+ would be more into it than most 16 year olds..
some girls, ya ya, hot rocks, iorr, etc..offer more tracks to rock and party with..

Meise Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi there,
>
> this is a question addressing the older ones here:
> how did you rate "Exile" when it was released in
> 1972? How did you rate "Some Girls" when it was
> released in 1978?
>

GREAT QUESTION!!

And "most people can't handle the truth"...

The Truth is:

1) Exile had the "misfortune" of following on the heels of Sticky Fingers, the greatest Stones album ever, and maybe the greatest rock 'n roll album ever...

2) While Sticky Fingers was start to finish "one great track after the other"... make that "one masterpiece after the other", Exile was sort of a "rambling" hodge-podge... some great songs, some not so great, and some stinkers...

3) Exile also seemed like "too many songs". There have been some GREAT double albums, like Layla, for instance, but Exile almost immediately seemed like "one album too many" to alot of us dye-hard Ya-Ya and Sticky Fingers fans.

In the end, the impression Exile made on the friends in "my regiment" was that it had some great songs, but was not particularly a great album, primarily because it was "one album too many"...

I listened to it here and there but never bought it, and within a year or so it was rarely played... unlike Sticky Fingers, Ya-Yas, Let it Bleed, and Beggars Banquet which were played ad nauseum for years after their release.

Some Girls... who ever listened to that ? A few good songs, nothing exciting.

You asked for an "elder's" opinion... you got it.



"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-12-08 00:50 by BornOnTheBayou.

I was in Gr. 10 when Exile came out.
I thought it eas a bit ragged, and overlong.
Mostly I played side one; RO to TD, then SV, SBA,
ADTL and a few others from disc 2. I was surprised
TD and Happy were the singles. It didn't appeal
to me as much as SF at first, but with repeated
listens over the years, they both became my two
favourite Stones albums.

I think its been said here before that a lot of
fans didn't like the album at first, and figured
it was over for the Stones. Some thought me and my
friends were nuts for liking it, too young, had
missed out on the band.

I thought SG was a return to form for the band. I was
really excited about it and the tour. It seemed the
boys were back with a passion and a fury after
an uneven run of albums, tho I'd been fond of
GHS and B+B too. I played the hell out of
both sides of that album, and the original
Out On Bail boot, seeing htem twice during
that period in Buffalo 78 and Oshawa 79.
I also remember the ElMocambo side of
LYL bing a personal favourite around
this time.

Some fans thought it was kind of commercial,
sell out, especially the huge club hit
Miss You. And that the band wasn't playing
as good as they had back in the day, shoud
throw in tthe towel.

Somethings never change!

Hope this is of some help..........

I can't speak to Exile, but Some Girls was the first Stones album for me. Actually, I bought it new on eight track tape. I wore it out, playing it over and over and over, track by track by track. It was the greatest thing I had ever heard. Basically up to that point, my collection consisted of Elton John albums, The Monkees, and the Carpenters Greatest Hits. Wow.
It is STILL my favorite Stones release.

Meise Wrote:
> ________________________________________
>
> I can't imagine a world without the Rolling
> Stones! (A. Erthegun)


Hey Meise, do you know that there is no h in Ertegun?



Wasn't looking too good, but I was feeling real well.

I was a fan for a couple of years when Some Girls came out. I loved it immediately. I fitted perfectly in the time it was released when it was all soul, disco and glamrock on one hand and strongly emerging punk on the other.

It wasn't until late 1979 before I bought a copy of Exile. I liked it but to me it didn't really live up to the reputation it already had. Like many of you already said, it's a bit long, has some great songs on it.

I too had been a fan only a couple of years when SG came out. I probably played at least one side each day for 6 months. It still stands as one of their best (certainly most important in ushering in a new era). Not a bum track on it, IMO. Ah, those were the days, but then I do live in the past, apparently.

I bought Exile in July 1972 at the age of 15. It was my first Stones album. I put it on the turntable, Rocks Off came on ...and my life changed forever! I had never heard anything like it in my life and the bluesy rawness of it blew me away. It has been a life long love affair with me. Contrary to what others may feel, it contains no filler. Every song has a purpose and a place on this masterpiece!

I bought Some Girls when it came out and didn't care for it. The sound was too clean and the guitars had no balls to them. I like it better now but it is way down my list of favorite Stones albums.

Roger

My first current year Stone's release was It's Only Rock & Roll from 74......but I can speak to the initial excitement over Some Girls. It was the #1 album in the country with the #1 single, Miss You. Miss You dominated the dance floors of the discos of the day. It was a cross-over hit that gathered in many, many new fans. I did not take Some Girls off of my turntable for about 6 months. Some Girls ruled the day in 78!

Loved both albums but Some Girls was a massive hit right off.

I wasn't too hot about Exile, but I had to mature to really start enjoying it.

#......Go ahead....Bite the Big Apple....Don't mind the Maggots.....Uh Huh...#

I was let down by Exile upon it's release. I'm not let down by it now, but, I still don't see why it's considered 'the' Stones masterpiece, it was NOT a leap forward for the band. But, I guess if you hear anything often enough you'll begin to believe it, just ask GW.

As for SG, I liked it at the time 'cause it proved that The Stones weren't dead, but, I hated disco then and I still do. My favorite song(s) on it are: Before They Make Me Run, and, Far Away Eyes. Some of the (girls?) songs on it kind of irritate me, (When The Whip Comes Down) maybe that's why I rarely play it.

I ain't stupid, I'm just guitarded.