The Stones 'Exile on Main St.' returns to new appreciation

Exile on Main St. has always been the Rolling Stones recording that might not have given fans exactly what they wanted, but has proved to be exactly what we need.

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Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones attend a special screening of their new documentary "Stones In Exile" at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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A re-mastering of the 1972 rock opus was released Tuesday, with additional tracks recorded during the famously decadent sessions but never released. It also provides a crisper, cleaner (in the dirtiest and most disheveled way possible) version of the record and reminds us of a time when the Stones were untouchable.

Starting in 1968, the band released four albums (Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile ) in five years that cemented its reputation.

What's incredible is that Exile was met with apathy and, in some cases, hostility when it was released. Arriving hard on the heels of the more polished and cohesive Sticky Fingers, Exile was derided by critics and fans. The layered arrangements lacked some of the big hooks and soaring choruses of the band's earlier work.

Mick Jagger's vocal tracks, one of the more distinctive aspects of the Stones sound, were buried in the mix, surfacing from time to time to frustrate fans accustomed to his upfront approach. Stylistically, the record vacillated wildly, shifting from blues to country to driving rock. It's no wonder Exile confounded so many.

It's also no wonder it has come to be considered a rock classic and perhaps the Rolling Stones' finest.

For me, the magic of Exile has always hinged on its honesty. There's never the sense that the band is living these songs, inhabiting the characters, but there is an understanding that the songs are being played with authenticity. Earlier Stones experiments with country tones and textures had felt affected, a little like a British rock band playing with a musical form it had only recently discovered. On Exile , the country feels Nashville authentic.

There are a lot of rumors that have swirled around Exile and its labored production in England, Los Angeles and, most famously, a mansion in France. Some have said that the late, great Georgia-born songwriter Gram Parsons appeared on tracks and provided ghost guidance to Jagger and Keith Richards, the band's principal songwriters. That appears to be legend only.

Others stated that the 66 minutes of music released were only part of the Exile picture. That, quite happily, turns out to be true. More than mere throwaways, the new songs attached to the re-released Exile are cohesive parts of the whole. They retain the vibe and style of the album and a few, most notably Pass the Wine , rank with classic Exile tracks such as Tumbling Dice, Rocks Off and Loving Cup .

The sad truth is that Exile on Main St. marked the end of an era for the band. Although there would be occasional glimmers of its former glory on albums such as Some Girls and Tattoo You, the Stones never sounded as sweet or honest after Exile . Thankfully, there was just a little bit more to go around.