Exile on Main St.

yeah, it's endlessly great on vinyl, you see different things every time you pick it up.
was just lol-ing at this description on amazon: "The Digipak is printed in reverse board double white to keep an 'uncoated' feel like the original LP release."
thank god.

LA Times: Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and recent producer Don Was discuss the band's 1972 album and the rerelease's previously unheard material

This one's just as good:

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2010/05/mick-jagger-interview-exile-on-main-st-revisited.html

there's going to be a documentary on the bbc in a couple of weeks

that q&a session from Chicago Tribune is great, thanks Alfred for pointing it out. i think i might re-buy this after all, haven't replaced any of my old Stones CD's as of yet.

Does the "murk" vanish with repeated listenings I wonder? When I was first exposed to on cd in the late 80s / early 90s, yeah it sounded murky as hell. But i've been listening to it a lot lately (actually, the shit-hot vinyl rips alluded to (presumably) upthread)and these days, I dunno, it doesn't sound murky at all.

A long train journey + the 33 1/3 book + exile on ipod + beer = well, as good as it gets really.

Yeah - now that's the way to travel.

I've never used the word "murky" to describe this album, fwiw.

I'd love to hear a remixed version of this album. Remixed as in more obvious instrument separation, less noise and Jagger's voice much louder.

I know Mick Jagger would too.

noooo thank you

i mean, i think it's funny that these Q&As still have questions about the "murkiness" of the production. sure it's murky -- and it's awesome! we're not talking about a Steely Dan record here. The whole idea is grittiness, right?

lol geir that is prob the worst idea i have ever heard

would love to hear impressions of anyone who has the original vinyl and how that sounds vs. the new 180gram vinyl

replace mick jagger with damon albarn and all is well in Geir's world.

Is there a way to buy the new vinyl for less than $150?

My local store has the vinyl for $32. Only the silly version with the book and such is $150.

When Mick Jagger says "It's really not that expensive", you know it is.

Oh awesome... I had checked Amazon earlier and they only had the CD and the super deluxe vinyl thing, but looks like they have the vinyl only now. Will probably but this now.

This has never been one of the easier Stones albums to find cheap on used vinyl in good condition, for some reason.

Yeah I picked up a copy a few years back, but it sounds pretty bad in places.

I'd love to hear a remixed version of this album. Remixed as in more obvious instrument separation, less noise and Jagger's voice much louder.

I know Mick Jagger would too.

No longer true. From David Gates, "Torn and Frayed in the South of France" in the current issue of Rolling Stone:

"Back in 2003, Jagger said he'd love to remix Exile, 'not just because of the vocals, but because generally I think it sounds lousy.' Today he just seems resigned. 'I was right there in the room, so I'm just as much to blame for it as anyone else. If you want to hear the vocals louder, then I should stick it all up on iTunes so you can mix it yourself.'"

lol

I love Jagger interviews

the vocal mix is perfect on Exile, this is madness.

For those who wonder about compression and the like, this proved interesting. All the shots are from the 2:00 mark, where the song gets trippy and quieter.

A needledrop of the original vinyl:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_9fcPb-VtKkc/S_IK9pHmAYI/AAAAAAAAASg/0v5rUTvTlJo/s720/Rocks%20Off%2072.jpg

The 1994 Remaster:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_9fcPb-VtKkc/S_IK99na_nI/AAAAAAAAASk/GKO_TbEfab8/s720/Rocks%20Off%2094.jpg

The 2010 Remaster:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_9fcPb-VtKkc/S_IK9wQeRzI/AAAAAAAAASo/Jsyk84ibua0/s720/Rocks%20Off%2010.jpg

The latest version isn't quite brickwalled (it doesn't clip or plateau), but definitely missing some of the dynamism of the prior remaster. I don't hear the differences through speakers - this remaster actually seems clearer in many points - but I think headphones might be a different story.

The idea of mixing the vocals behind in the mix is always a bad one. After all, the vocalist carries the main tune, and the main tune is the most important element of the music. Plus being low makes him scream and screaming vocals are also always a bad idea.

Whispering Jay Hawkins..

The idea of mixing the vocals behind in the mix is always a bad one.

Unless it's Bobby Gillespie.

Even Bobby Gillespie sounds better a bit higher in the sound.

He's high enough, I thangyew....

new tracks sounding pretty awesome so far!

Plus being low makes him scream and screaming vocals are also always a bad idea.

this isn't even remotely true unless you're talking about mixing live sound

cause see when the singer is tracking, he's tracking to an unmixed track; where he's put in the mix is an after-the-recording-session decision

maybe geir is a stickler for studio headphone mixes?

who knows, would like to live in your world for like 20 minutes geir

might look something like this
http://www.scene-stealers.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/being-john-malkovich-001-1.jpg

"following the river" pretty much blows :/

http://old.trmw.org/uploads/2005/12/ymo.jpg

(xpost) Sorry, wrong thread...

Pretty close, though.

"would love to hear impressions of anyone who has the original vinyl and how that sounds vs. the new 180gram vinyl"

me too

would like to see some soundwave comparisons too

listening to rocks off....at the very beginning, i hear a weird organ sounding part! i don't think i've heard that before

That second disc is some weak shit. Can't imagine wasting my time listening to it again. I'll take the boots of murky outtakes over these crisp, clear outfakes.

^yeah they aren't great, but I like Keith's mumbling through "Soul Survivor"

I'm glad I heard the whole thing once. And yeah, Keith's "Soul Survivor" was at least interesting.

thank god they didn't use that alt take of "loving cup" though...that version is so slow and doesn't have the greatest drum fill ever

^^This.

was listening to this on vinyl yesterday -- SIDE 2! Best side.

No doubt about it. I think it was polled.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/arts/music/23stones.html?hp

oy vey....

That was one of those "OK then" stories.

"exile" remastered sounds great. GREAT. "Torn And Frayed" especially sounds like layers of grit have been lovingly polished off the pedal steel and drums. Gorgeous. Can't give the tracks with new Mick vocals more than a couple more listens - they're pretty inconsequential - but "So Divine" and the Keef version of "Soul Survivor" rule.