Tag Archives: Exile on Main Street

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Song of the Day #5,557: ‘Loving Cup’ – The Rolling Stones

I’m not a big fan of quoting myself, but it’s been more than a decade since I wrote about The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street as one of my favorite albums of the 70s, so I figure I’ve earned the right. Here’s what I had to say at the time:

“The best albums are always greater than the sum of their parts. Sometimes that’s just a matter of putting certain songs in a certain order and tying it together with the right title and right cover and — bam! — you have a consistent, unified experience that works as an album.

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Song of the Day #4,957: ‘Casino Boogie’ – The Rolling Stones

A deep cut on The Rolling Stones’ classic 1972 album Exile on Main Street, ‘Casino Boogie’ is little more than a throat clearer before the excellent ‘Tumbling Dice.’

If the song seems to make no sense lyrically, that’s by design. Mick Jagger says the band utilized the “cut-up” technique popularized by William S. Burroughs to assemble the verses.

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Song of the Day #2,520: ‘Tumbling Dice’ – The Rolling Stones

exileonmainstreetAccording to a scientific poll of one (me), the second best album of 1972 is The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street.

This classic album sits atop many critics’ lists of the best albums of not just that year but all of the 70s. It’s The Stones’ undisputed masterpiece, a drunken lost weekend of rock-n-roll perfection.

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Song of the Day #2,080: ‘All Down the Line’ – The Rolling Stones

exileonmainstreet‘All Down the Line’ is one of the greatest songs on one of The Rolling Stones’ greatest albums, Exile On Main Street. It bursts with the energy and attitude of all their best work.

This was the first track recorded for Exile On Main Street and Mick’s pick as the first single, though he was overruled when the band went with ‘Tumbling Dice’ instead.

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Song of the Day #1,426: ‘Shine a Light’ – The Rolling Stones

Best Albums of the 70s – #7
Exile on Main Street – The Rolling Stones (1972)

The best albums are always greater than the sum of their parts. Sometimes that’s just a matter of putting certain songs in a certain order and tying it together with the right title and right cover and — bam! — you have a consistent, unified experience that works as an album.

But other times an album serves as a document of its creation. Listening to it puts you in the room with the musicians, delivers not just the sounds but the sights, smells and tastes of its creation. The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street is such an album.

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