The 1972 double album, a raucous bastard of blues and boogie, was de facto “the first grunge record” – as Keith Richards once proudly proclaimed in an interview.
But behind the raw riffs of Richards and Mick Taylor, the lustful thrust of the Wyman Watts rhythm machine and Jagger’s tortured barking and consuming cajoling lies not only the Stones’ greatest album, but also the definitive statement from songwriters Jagger and Richards, who proudly accept the role of social outsiders.
In the rudimentary shuffle “Tumbling Dice,” the resigned country lament “Torn And Frayed,” and the whiskey-soaked glimmer of hope of “Shine A Light,” you feel like you can actually overhear the Stones at work in exile.
The Rolling Stones fled to France
From the media hunt, from the British drug sniffers, and not least from the top tax rate in England, they quickly fled to the south of France, where Richards’ villa served as a recording studio. The cover of “Exile On Main Street” shows a freak show of American underdogs, and “Sweet Black Angel” is dedicated to the imprisoned political activist Angela Davis – an outsider among herself.
The music clatters and rumbles, but – in songs like “Rocks Off” and “All Down The Line” – it gets straight to the point. “The Stones may not have a home anymore,” Richards said, “but we’ll still get our shit together. Whatever is thrown at us, we duck, we improvise and make the best of it.”
“Exile On Main Street” shows the Stones aggressive, with an armor of blues and the iron will to leave the ring as winners in the end. It’s not an exaggeration to call this album their masterpiece. And after that there would be decades full of sometimes outstanding music. Mick, Keith and the others kept at it.