Exile On Main St. (studio album) by The Rolling Stones

Exile On Main St. by The Rolling Stones
Year: 1972
Overall rank: 43rd   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
85/100 (from 2,271 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1972 (2nd)
Award Top 20 albums of the 1970s (12th)
Award Top 50 albums of all time (43rd)

The Rolling Stones bestography

Exile On Main St. is ranked as the best album by The Rolling Stones.

The Rolling Stones album bestography « Higher ranked This album (43rd) Lower ranked (59th) »
-Exile On Main St.Sticky Fingers

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Exile On Main St. track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Track pick
Rating: 90 (525 votes)Comments: 12
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2.
Rating: 84 (387 votes)Comments: 5
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4.
Rating: 79 (359 votes)Comments: 4
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5.
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Rating: 90 (567 votes)Comments: 9
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6.
Rating: 88 (432 votes)Comments: 5
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9.
Rating: 86 (380 votes)Comments: 4
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10.
Rating: 86 (389 votes)Comments: 6
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11.
Rating: 78 (337 votes)Comments: 3
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14.
Rating: 86 (374 votes)Comments: 5
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17.
Track pick
Rating: 89 (477 votes)Comments: 6
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18.
Rating: 84 (352 votes)Comments: 3
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Exile On Main St. rankings

Exile On Main St. collection

Exile On Main St. ratings

Average Rating: 
85/100 (from 2,271 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 2,271 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
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38 hours ago Brigand99  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 37582/100
 
100/100
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09/25/2023 00:04 rubkill  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 29987/100
 
80/100
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09/21/2023 06:04 Sumbody  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 94776/100
 
100/100
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09/20/2023 22:05 walruswasringo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 8897/100
 
85/100
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09/19/2023 15:42 Robmc70  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 95679/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 85.5/100, a mean average of 84.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 85.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.1.

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Exile On Main St. comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 207 comments |
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Rating:  
80/100
From 05/15/2023 12:46
This is a much more bluesy attempt from the Rolling Stones who do a great job of mixing it into their classic style. The result of this is a more energetic and frantic blues record that has a lot of highlights which stand out due to their infectiousness. A few examples of this are Shine A Light, Tumbling Dice, Sweet Virginia and Rocks Off. As a whole the record runs very smoothly with the music anchored in that blues style which makes it a cohesive listen. It is so easy to just stick this release on and get lost in the music on here as the group never really break their stride. However, the issues I have with this release start when you take a closer look at some of the songs. There is a lot of filler on here which come in between some of the better songs meaning they can be easily missed if your are just casually listening. A few examples of these are Stop Breaking Down, Turd On The Run, Casino Boogie, Sweet Black Angel and a few more. In my opinion, there just isn't enough content on here to warrant the nearly 70 minute run time leading to a record that feels stretched and bloated. Overall, if this album was closer to the length of Sticky Fingers or Let It Bleed it would be their best as it has some of their greatest ever songs but unfortunately this release is too dragged out for my liking.
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Rating:  
90/100
From 04/26/2023 19:42
I get where you’re coming from wizardalien. Undeniably There are some great tracks but there are quite a few that just ramble on a little too long and feel a little lost. Not too surprising when you consider the environment in which they were conceived. Still a quality album overall but could have been so much better. See sticky fingers for an example of a classic stones album. No filler there anywhere
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Rating:  
45/100
From 04/26/2023 16:49
Love the Stones but this album disappointed me. Tumbling Dice is one of their greatest songs. Soul Survivor, Let It Loose and Shine A Light are great too. But the rest of it is mostly just the generic type of blues rock songs that I generally don't enjoy. And 18 of them is a bit too much for me. I don't think this one comes close to Let It Bleed or Sticky Fingers, for me.
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Rating:  
85/100
From 01/17/2023 11:49
It’s how the songs hang together that’s the key here. Dipping in and out for tracks won’t reveal the albums greatness. It’s also highly unlikely you’ll get it with the first listen, which is why it wasn’t particularly well received at the time.

After a while the atmosphere of the sessions, a bluesy back end of the party feel…an end of the 60s love and hope vibe, will take you over heart and soul.
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Rating:  
80/100
From 08/31/2022 03:24
Good album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 06/13/2022 08:10
Overall, as an album, the best Stones album.
Not the biggest "radio hits", but not one bad song. Ok "I Just want to see his face" is not their greatest song ...
If i had to pick one Stones record to listen for the rest of my days, it would be this one.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 04/27/2022 12:22
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Album of the year. 1972. Easily in the top 3 Stones LP's for me.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 04/19/2022 08:52
I can't really find why people think this is the best Stones album, some good songs on here, but songs like Sweet Virginia, Turd on the run, Sweet black angel just are not good. I Also think Let it Bleed and Sticky Fingers are better, due to the variation on these albums, not just 1 genre. Still good, but 3. best from Stones for me

Favs: Tumbling Dice, Rocks Off

Low Points: Sweet Virginia, Sweet black angel, Turd on the run
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/11/2022 10:29
Absolutely classic stones album. Every track works together with the rest. They are all unique but all work together. And an interesting back story about the making of it. Love it.
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Rating:  
90/100
From 02/12/2022 17:40
Definitely best, most consistent Stones effort and only Sticky Fingers comes close. They do here what is hard to do, they maintain to entertain you through the over hour of listening with no bad tracks. There isn't one obvious highlight on here like Gimme Shelter (Let It Bleed) or Paint It Black (Aftermath) but all of the tracks make this album collectively great. Even as not the biggest Stones fan I have to admit this is very good album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1972
1. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie
2. Exile On Main St. by The Rolling Stones
3. Pink Moon by Nick Drake
4. Close To The Edge by Yes
5. Harvest by Neil Young
6. Transformer by Lou Reed
7. Machine Head by Deep Purple
8. Thick As A Brick by Jethro Tull
9. Foxtrot by Genesis (UK)
10. Ege Bamyası by Can
11. #1 Record by Big Star
12. Clube Da Esquina by Milton Nascimento / Lô Borges
13. Can't Buy A Thrill by Steely Dan
14. Superfly by Curtis Mayfield
15. Acabou Chorare by Novos Baianos
16. Talking Book by Stevie Wonder
17. Vol 4 by Black Sabbath
18. Eat A Peach by The Allman Brothers Band
19. Argus by Wishbone Ash
20. Neu! by Neu!
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