Posted by Leonard the Lizard on February 20, 2000 at 03:42:29:
In Reply to: Re: Re: I'd Like To Discuss Exile on Main St.- The Greatest Album of All Time posted by Fleabit Peanut Monkey on February 19, 2000 at 22:23:58:
: So, I guess my summation would be: I don't think Exile is the Stones' best album, but YOU should because I almost do. Or something.
: Pass me the smack, please.
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YOU'RE going to have to pass ME the smack if you expect me to understand that last line. Actually, I already agree with you that LIB is the Stones' best album, though I would rank SF second (as mentioned before). And let me ask you this: Even granted that you weren't one of those who said VL sounds like "the Stones, paint by numbers," you do admit saying "damn, this sounds like a Stones album"--which I did too the first time I heard it, adding: "finally! They're back!" But for you, Mick, and the others who say it didn't break any new ground, what other Stones album would you say it sounds most like? To me it sounds completely unique--even more than Some Girls, which sounds to me like an outstanding elaboration of trends started during Black and Blue. VL to me stand out as distinctively unique from every other Stones album ever recorded. It sounds nothing like B2B, SW, DW, UC, TY, SG, B&B, and definitely nothing before (when Charlie was usually turned down too low). Sure, there are echoes of the Stones' tradition in all VL songs, but the same thing goes with every Stones record, and after all, you want some consistency. My whole point is that if people praise Exile for being the best Stones album ever but criticize VL for not breaking new ground, they're being hypocritical. First, Exile sounds too much like the 3 albums that preceded it (though that trend was starting to go limp), and second, VL sounds nothing like the albums that preceded it. Oddly enough, in fact, B2B sounds more like the albums that preceded VL (especially SW, UC, and the Jagger solo albums) than VL does. So do the Exile fans want a new direction or not?