Fans of the legendary rock group The Rolling Stones are saying some of the band’s “unreleased tracks” are their very best works.
A post to the r/RollingStones subreddit saw one fan suggest that songs not released by the band at the time of recording are incredible and could have appeared on the album for which they were recorded. A post to the Reddit page has since praised Mick Jagger and the band for the “vulnerable” sound which features on these bonus tracks to Exile on Main St. The post reads: “First time listening to these tracks and I am mesmerized, this could’ve easily been an album, and a great one. The love and tribute to American music that is on Exile on Main St. is still there (obviously, because presumably these tracks were from the same recording sessions).
“But Exile on Main St. on the first listenings is kinda hard to love, just after four or five listens (or even more) you realise how big of a deal that album is and it becomes an unavoidable album in your rotation. With this collection of unreleased tracks, you love it right away, it has a very vulnerable feel to it, Mick sounds amazing in every single song, and the songs get stuck in your head, so in that sense, it is quite different from Exile on Main St.”
Fellow fans were full of praise for the second CD of Exile on Main St., which features songs like Plundered My Soul, Following the River, and an alternate take of Soul Survivor. One user wrote: “Plundered My Soul is so good. I don’t care for the 2010 remaster, though. I’m glad I have the previous CD versions (Virgin from the 90s).”
Another added that the bonus CD provided listeners with “the best Rolling Stones album.” A third wrote: “I don’t really consider them unreleased songs; they’re repurposed outtakes with new vocals and guitar parts.
“Title 5 isn’t even from the Exile sessions- it’s from a few years earlier. I would have much rather we got a few more alternative versions – like the brilliant All Down The Line that they inexplicably only put on the Japanese release – than these.” A full tracklist for the unreleased materials can be found below.
- Pass the Wine (Sophia Loren)
- Plundered My Soul
- I’m Not Signifying
- Following the River
- Dancing in the Light
- So Divine (Aladdin Story)
- Loving Cup – Alternate Take
- Soul Survivor – Alternate Take
- Good Time Women
- Title 5
The bonus disc came as part of a 2010 release where the band revisited the album and made small rearrangements to the instruments and lyrics. Keith Richards said of the bonus CD: “Well, basically it’s the record and a few tracks we found when we were plundering the vaults. Listening back to everything we said, ‘Well, this would be an interesting addition.'”
The release shot to number one in the UK charts, thirty-eight years after it was first released. It entered number two in the US charts, while the bonus disc, which was released separately in the US under the name Exile on Main St Rarities Edition, debuted in the charts at number twenty-seven.
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
