My first few takes of this have been that it's pretty good but lacks cohesiveness, lacks energy, etc... idk, I just listened to this again and I'm thinking that there's layers here I perhaps wasn't paying attention to - energy I thought was lackluster, but was smooth instead. Maybe it's cause I caught a bug and am now forced to be more mild.

Not a bad album, a couple of great tracks, some good tracks but many close to filler. Scrappy sounding (not a bad thing!) but rated too high on this site.

Up there in my top 5 albums of all time. Didn’t think much of it when it was first released surprisingly! It grew on me and I now think it’s The Stones best ever album. It’s got a groove of its own and they have struggled and failed to match it since. Not for everyone, but I love it.

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Although i can´t deny its imperfections, Exile has an intense aura of chaos... an inmense aura of Rock and Roll.
Maybe it is because of the raw production and the inclusion of wind instruments (for any other album it sounds like a wreck), but it creates an experiential sound.
Suddenly, you feel what the Stones were feeling at the time this album was recorded. Sex, drugs, Rock and Roll... This album is like a diary of the hard life of a rocker.
As the actual songs go, Rocks Off is an absolute masterpiece of a song, the best here
The other standouts: Tumbling Dice, Sweet Virginia, Loving Cup, All Down the Line, Let it Loose, Shine a Light
This record takes a while to be appreciated, as the songs itself (even the good ones) aren´t that great until you get the context and the mood of the album.
Only reason i have Exile as a 9 is the obvious filler. skip it or not, it is part of the experience.

Just seems to be your standard kind of blues/hard rock album to be honest. Probably a bit overrated in my opinion. I've never really got what's so great about The Rolling Stones.

How an album this inconsistent can be considered the 30th best album of all time?

My personal favourite Stones album. Perfect blend of blues, rock n' roll and bluesy hard rock. Best tracks are "Tumbling Dice", "Rocks Off", "Sweet Virginia", "Shine a Light" and "Happy"

A really solid Stones album. If you're new to the Rolling Stones somehow, don't start here though. I feel like you have to listen to Beggars Banquet-Sticky Fingers to really grow to appreciate the style of music on this album.

I Rolling Stones qui lasciano la forma per concentrarsi sulla sostanza e sono in una posizione unica per poterlo fare: una band già rodatissima, famosissima, ricca, potente, imitata ma ancora altamente creativa, ispirata. Possono suonare quindi con la scioltezza di una band esperta ed allo stesso tempo con la freschezza di un gruppo giovane e da questo perfetto ed irripetibile ( ed infatti irripetuto ) equilibrio nasce "Exile…", un misto di rock, blues e country con tanto soul ad irrobustirne le trame. Sporco e lascivo come l'uomo di cui è principalmente emanazione ( Keith Richards ), "Exile…" incarna meglio di ogni altro disco lo spirito del rock'n'roll. DEFINITIVO.