The Stones released this Double album at the peak of their musical prowess and stardom- the result- An album that is regarded almost universally as their best , and is now a monument in the history of Rock and Roll
The early and mid 60s saw the Stones as a mediocre band who marketed their bratty, rowdy, anti-conformist image against the Beatles- and made quite a bit of money through it
Their songs were clever but there was going to be no way they were going to catch up with the Beatles -the genius of the Fab Four seemed out did theirs with every successive album
The Good thing about the Stones is that, unlike the Beach Boys who messed it all up trying to catch up, these guys just hung around creating good music within their own constraints and marketing them well enough to create the myth of The Biggest Baddest Band
And then...it happened.
The Legend of the Beatles, bored of its own magnitude, broke up and the Stones stepped in to take the burden...
The late sixties saw the sudden growth of the Stones into a band who could produce magic The first was ’Beggar’s Banquet’, followed a year later by Let it Bleed-another contendor for the Stone’s best ever
(Let it Bleed saw the death of Key member Brian Jones and the entrance of Former Blues Breaker guitarist Mick Taylor)
Then came ’Sticky Fingers’ and ’Exile on Main Street’-The albums which proved that the Stones were not a thing of the past but a force to be reckoned with-the leaders of Rock’s progress in the mid and early 70s
Never before or later had the Stones ever displayed such musical prowess as in these years Exile is the Stones most carefully tailored (Taylor-ed?) album while they try to sound deceptively unplanned
It’s all there the rockers, the return to roots blues, ballads-all aided by amazing horn sections and the new recruit who made all the difference-Mick Taylor on the guitar!
Rocks off, Tumbling dice, Torn and frayed, Shine a light are all classics which keep this album high up there and make it an essential possession for any true rock fan-whether you like the Stones are not
The album features many Stones interpretations of classic Blues songs like Shake yer Hips, Stop Breaking Down- a statement that proved that the Stones would always have an affinity for the Blues which started their career off
With so many overdubs and rich guitar layering- most of the times one can hardly make out what Jagger’s singing about
Infact ’’I just want to See his Face’’ was recorded with him standing some 6 feet away from the microphone
This is also the album where one realises how essential bassist Bill Wyman and pianist Ian Stewart where to the band’s development in the 70s
To sum it all up-listen to Charlie Watts pound off in ’’Loving Cup’’- note the confidence and defiant smirk that only the Greatest Rock and Roll Band could put proudly on display!
1 Rocks Off () 2 Rip This Joint () 3 Shake Your Hips () 4 Casino Boogie () 5 Tumbling Dice () 6 Sweet Virginia () 7 Torn and Frayed () 8 Sweet Black Angel () 9 Loving Cup () 10 Happy () 11 Turd on the Run () 12 Ventilator Blues () 13 I Just Want to See His Face () 14 Let It Loose () 15 All Down the Line () 16 Stop Breaking Down () 17 Shine a Light () 18 Soul Survivor ()