As I noted in my Rolling Stone album ratings earlier this week, I think Exile on Main Street is one of the 5 greatest albums of all time, by any artist. It's a messy, shambolic run through a batch of styles that run together in an amazing fashion to create an album that is the definitive "grower" in rock history. The sound of Exile is one of it's most distinguishing features and also a reason that a full blown remaster of it is tricky. Cleaning the album up too much could easily rob it of some of it's mystique. For these reasons I was excited but skeptical when this remastered version was announced. I do have to admit that I have never heard an original vinyl pressing and all of my experience comes from the 1994 CD mix so that's what I'm basing my everything on.
The album is noticeably cleaner and longtime fans my cry foul. Jagger's vocals are predominantly higher in the mix throughout and from when female backup singers are used (at least half the tracks) they can almost overpower everything else. Guitars are definitely crisper and in general individual instruments are easier to pick out than before. That's not to say they ruined the album or anything, the songs are all far too great for the mix to be of great importance. If anything they have made the album sound much more immediate and I can easily see newcomers and casual fans preferring this mix to the old muddy one. As for me, I don't think at this point there's much that could diminish Exile in my eyes. The remastered version is probably what I'll put on my Ipod as the volume will now be closer to most everything else.
In addition to the remastered proper album there is a bonus disc with 10 "undiscovered" songs. There have been some overdubs made to all of them but the band claims to have tried to leave them as found as possible. None of them are on the level of what made the album but they are all more than just curiosities as well. "Pass the Wine (Sophia Loren)" has been heavily bootlegged for years and it is the vein of War's "Spill the Wine." "Plundered My Soul" is a decent mid-tempo rock song with newly recorded backup vocals that was the choice for a "new" single. "I'm Not Signifying" (also heavily bootlegged) is a pretty sweet country-blues that probably wouldn't have fit on the album but should have been revisited before now. The slow gospel of "Following the River" doesn't approach the Stones best ballads but it's not a bad tune by any means, though it does feel terribly overproduced. "Dancing in the Light" is a fun track that features the Stones at their most loose. "So Divine (Aladdin Story)" is basically a slow version of "Paint it Black" with horns substituting for Brian Jones' sitar. Alternate version of "Loving Cup" and a Keith sung "Soul Survivor" offer interesting vies of the songs development. "Good Time Women" is an early far lesser version of "Tumbling Dice." Finally "Title 5" is an apparently unfinished instrumental that is short but fun.
Exile on Main Street is a masterpiece no matter what mix you're listening too. Whether it's worth people buying is hard to say. Hardcore fans will want the bonus tracks but may be put off by the cleanliness. Newcomers will likely find it more immediate and closer in line to what they expect the Stones to sound like. Either way anyone with a interest in rock and roll should a copy of at least some version.
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