"Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street"

British rockers have always had a fascination with American musical styles. The Beatles were heavily influenced by early rock and rollers like Elvis and Little Richard; Van Morrison blended jazz and soul and the blues and R&B in his records; Eric Clapton took up music to follow his idol Robert Johnson. The Rolling Stones are no exception to this fact--throught their careers, they have explored several American music styles, including the blues, gospel, rockabilly, and even country. Nowhere is this exploration more readily apparent or prefectly imagined as on Exile on Main Street.

The album takes a stab at working with every single musical style the Stones had toyed with throughout their career, and it works exceptionally well. Before, the Stones had merely been aping a genre, but with Exile they play each style as if that were the kind of music they'd always played.

The album has a loose, sloppy feel to it, but that works in the band's favor. Songs are energetic and spontaneous, feeling live and lived-in. If the Norah Jones album I talked about last week is a mellow afterparty, then Exile on Main Street is a drunken sing-along captured live while the party was in full swing. Vocals are buried deep in the mix, sometimes coming to the forefront, but never becoming clear or discernable. Lyrics are slurred and muttered, and Jagger spits out words like a drunken machine gun. The music is loose and off the cuff, with a grit and edge and enthusiasm to it that most bands could never hope to achieve.

The songs are all genre exercises, but never feel that way. Each song feels as though it is the epitome of that style, capturing the very essence of country, rockabilly, boogie, the blues, balls-out rock, or gospel. None of the songs feel forced or artificial; there is a naturalness to the music that defies belief. Each song stands up impressively on its own, stripping away the gloss and trappings of the genre to get at the core of what each style has to offer. For example, "Sweet Virginia" is a country song that most country musicians wish they could write; its feeling, lyrics, instrumentation, and sonic elements all combine to make the perfect country song. Unlike earlier Stones songs delving into country, such as "The Girl With Far Away Eyes," "Sweet Virginia" is not an ironic genre exercise, but a sincere exploration of themes and style. Taken as a whole, the album is a tour de force of American music, diving straight to the heart of what makes these styles so effective and meaningful. They also manage to merge and blend disparate elements into a coherent synthesis--the aforementioned "Sweet Virginia" features a saxaphone solo, but it fits into the song and doesn't seem out of place or jarring.

Most impressively, the Stones seem to tackle all this effortlessly. As I said, everything feels loose and spontaneous, as though these were musicians who had lived this music, not a bunch of guys who were just emulating song styles they'd heard elsewhere.

All in all, Exile on Main Street is damn-near perfect. The album never loses momentum or purpose, and there is no filler to be found (the album was originally a two-disc vinyl set, but all 18 tracks fit on a single CD). Most albums of half the length today can't make that sort of statement. For anyone who wants to experience American music--even if it's played by a bunch of Brits--this is an album you must have.

Plus, it's got "Tumbling Dice," one of the coolest songs ever.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Rolling Stones, "Rip This Joint"