Album Review: The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street (1972)

For a while I was somewhat hesitant to get into the Rolling Stones.  Yes, they are one of the biggest acts on the planet, and have put out more records than Mick Jagger has porked women.  But then I listened to Sticky Fingers and I loved it to bits.  It was sensational.  Then I swore to myself that I would get around to listening to the even more acclaimed Exile on Main Street.  So I finally did, and whilst it's a very good album, I wouldn't say it was for me, save for a handful of tracks - "Shine a Light", "Sweet Virginia", "Torn and Frayed", "Loving Cup" and "Tumbling Dice."  All great songs that I would be more than happy to revisit.  Songs like "Turd on the Run" and "Ventilator Blues" narrowly miss the favorites cut too.  There are nothing like what you would call "fillers" here, although I find this album a bit difficult to listen to when tired, even admittedly, somewhat tiring on its own.  But I can appreciate why this album is considered to be their best - the songwriting, the production, the music of course, all top quality, typical of a band at the top of their game.  But in terms of "shining a light", this album for me, at least, doesn't quite hold a candle to the real magnum opus - Sticky Fingers.  Listen to it nonetheless, it's not rubbish, it's a quality record, and it's definitely worth exposing your eardrums to it when you've got the time.  A-

Album Review: The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971)

The Rolling Stones, for me at least, were a band that were massive, always there, but I never found the time to get around to listening to them, outside of traditional media streams such as the radio, of course.  I always liked their hits to varying degrees - "Brown Sugar" and "Emotional Rescue" are the top two for me - but like some other megastar artists-slash-bands I never felt compelled to listen to any of their albums.  Up until now, that is.  Initially  I was looking to check out Exile on Main Street, but instead found myself listening to Sticky Fingers instead.  Waking up half asleep does have its surprises, I must admit.  But I'm glad my sleep-deprived proclivities led me down this path, as Sticky Fingers can only be described as bloody brilliant, energetic and yet comfortably sluggish and borderline melancholic at the same time.  Surprisingly, it was easy to pick the weakest song on the album - "Moving On" is good, but it's not quite in the same league as the rest of the album.  Taking "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses" out of the equation, despite being as good as they really are, what's ultimately left is still a pleasurable glut of songs well worthy of crawling their way up the billboard charts like they should have been doing.   "Sway", "Dead Flowers" and "Bitch" are the best of a brilliant bunch of songs, again, save for "Brown Sugar."  "Sister Morphine", "I Got the Blues" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" all make for mandatory listening as well.  An excellent album if ever I saw one.  I'm buying this one.  If you haven't already, you should too.  A+