The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street Remastered

Often called the world’s greatest rock-and-roll band, the Rolling Stones recorded what is widely regarded as their greatest album in less-than-favorable conditions. Having fled England amid a tax dispute with the British government, the group holed up in the south of France in the summer of 1971, in a luxurious villa rented by Keith Richards, who was busy feeding his heroin habit at the time. Mick Jagger, meanwhile, seemed more interested in his recent marriage to Nicaraguan-born model Bianca Pérez Morena de Macias. Despite the tensions, drugs and distractions, the Stones somehow managed to produce a masterpiece.

Released as a double album, Exile on Main Street featured a glorious mess of rock, blues, country and soul, inspired by Keith’s love of roots music and the band’s flagrantly decadent lifestyle. With classic songs like “Tumbling Dice” and “Sweet Virginia,” it went on to top the album charts in England and America and has grown in mythology ever since. Now the album’s stature is bound to rise even higher thanks to a new deluxe version that features 10 previously unheard tracks and a “super deluxe” edition that includes the revealing documentary Stones in Exile.

Among the reissued Exile’s highlights are bluesy numbers like “I’m Not Signifying,” “Plundered My Soul” and the sexualized howl of “Good Time Women,” an early incarnation of “Tumbling Dice.” But the most welcome new addition is “Soul Survivor.” Sung by a scrappy Keith rather than the posturing Mick, it’s raw, debauched rock ’n’ roll at its down-and-dirty best.