album #21

exile on main street (the rolling stones)

I'm not really a fan of this album, and I couldn't figure out why it is so resoundingly heralded until I read a few reviews. The fact of its production is interesting- they made this record in pretty isolated circumstances, in the south of France, at the tail end of a very turbulent period. The record itself is a lot of rambly, honky tonk, country blues and soul influences. If you're into that sort of thing, it's pretty cool. I'm not unanimously opposed to this sort of music (I was tempted to write "they evoke the music of the american south really well, but hey, fuck the american south" until I remembered that just yesterday I was in love with a jenny lewis alt-country song.) I just was not into it too much here.

There's an anti-Stones bias amid some of my most trusted music friends, so I struggled to overcome that while listening. I'm not sure if I totally managed to avoid their bias. Here's the thing: I Like the Rolling Stones, I like the thick attitude of Mick's voice, I like when they're big and rocking and cocky. But their country stuff just bores me. It's like any good country record- I can respect it but I'm not excited for it.

Whenever they come closest to that patented Rolling Stones rock sound, that's when I liked the album most. "Rocks Off" kicks ass, it's So much better than the rest of the album. Great, bursting trumpets really seal the deal with that song. "Loving Cup" is also fantastic- this desperately lustful, almost angry, southern plea. Those are my two favorites. "Happy," apparently the work of Keith Richards and some studio musicians, is a fun, uptempo number, it was my third favorite. There's a heaviness to "Ventilator Blues" that I really like, a good, strong song. Makes me think of the sun- just a really hot, heavy, dusty day. Out of all their blatantly country/bluesy songs, "Stop Breaking Down" stood out as a pretty good, listenable one.

Those are the songs I'll keep in mind and will look forward to listening to again. The rest of it ranged from good to dullsville- like, they developed a kinda cool sound with this record, sure, but not a sound I'm super into.

I find it hard to believe that they've never released a better record. I'm sure that at Least they've released a better record for my tastes. I look forward to finding it.