Not in Exile

 

The Rolling Stones have never strayed too far away from the limelight. After their original run in the 60’s and 70’s, they staged their infamous comeback tours in the 80’s and 90’s. Over the last decade, even as jokes about their increasing age kept, well, increasing, they kept putting themselves out there: televised appearances, book and film collaborations focused on them. Of course, they did a Super Bowl Halftime show. But they kept making new music, kept fighting to stay relevant. Sure, they always broke out the old classics live, but they fought tooth and nail to make it clear they weren’t some relic, grasping only at the straws of nostalgia. Mick was still Mick, prancing and preening, laughing in the face of sexual conventions. Keith was still Keith, drinking and drugging, laughing in the face of biological conventions. They embraced MTV, then the internet. They were always moving forward, no matter how they were perceived. There would be no resting on laurels. There would be no rest, period.

Things began to change a few years ago, however. The Stones haven’t toured since 2007, and they recently made it clear that they have no plans to do so in the near future. A year ago came the announcement that about half of their catalogue (everything from Sticky Fingers on) would be re-mastered and reissued, in nearly every format. There’s no sign the band will soon (or ever) break up, but for the first time in their nearly 50-year-old history, the focus of the Stones’ universe is on its glorious past.

The reissue campaign is culminating this month with the release of the new bonus-filled version of their 1972 classic Exile on Main St. One of the more noteworthy activities in support of this is “Rolling Stones Week” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, which is taking place this week (thanks for the heads up WC), featuring live performances of Exile tracks from current acts like Green Day (meh), Sheryl Crow (ugh) and Phish (woo-hoo!). It’s also been hinted that the Stones themselves will play Friday night’s show, which will feature a tie-in to the upcoming premiere of “Stones in Exile”, a documentary about the recording of the double album. Here’s the trailer:

Additionally, Rolling Stone (the magazine) is featuring Exile this month, and there’s also a cool additional feature up on their website right now with quotes about the album from a ridiculously sweet list of rockers like Phish’s Trey Anastasio, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Elvis Costello, and the Beastie Boys’ Mike D.  

This all-Exile media blitz may not make that big a dent in today’s incredibly fractured music scene, but the Stones still command a ton of attention. As does Exile itself, even today. The album truly is a masterpiece, but this new mass re-evaluation of it may vault it from established classic to the very top of some future all-time greatest lists.

Because the thing about Exile is, it’s so unique, and it’s composition is so essentially and inherently “rock and roll”, it’s almost unfathomable. You’ve got the top British Invasion band, at the peak of their powers, blazing through melodic Southern rock/blues/country/soul with a California-psychedelia sensibility. It’s the absolute trifecta of rock. The album buzzes and tears along with a freakish, freewheeling, spiritual energy that is, I think, unparalleled in any other album of its kind. There’s big guitars, big horns and big choruses in the big hits like ‘Rocks Off’, ‘Rip This Joint’, ‘Loving Cup’ and ‘Happy’. But those are balanced with other weird, scuzzy, murky tracks and gospel-like affirmations, especially near the album’s end. And all of it shakes you to the point that it becomes impossible to not move your ass. It’s fearless, it’s art, and it’s real. And no matter what the Stones’ status is, thanks to their efforts, it’ll never be in exile.