Mick Jagger says one album from The Rolling Stones is ‘overrated’

An album by legendary rock band The Rolling Stones is “overrated” according to frontman Mick Jagger.

It’s not an opinion many fans of the band will share, but the Gimme Shelter songwriter is not fond of an album made during the peak of The Stones’ influential period. Speaking to Rolling Stone Magazine founder Jann Wenner, Jagger confirmed the period from Let It Bleed to Exile on Main St. is overevaluated by fans and critics. This period offers some of the band’s most recognisable songs, including Wild Horses, Let It Bleed, and Brown Sugar. But it seems the album to follow Sticky Fingers is of little importance to Jagger, who says it’s an “overrated” album from the band.

Though he praised the “raw quality” of Exile on Main St. Jagger says it simply doesn’t have the same “thematic” strength as Let It Bleed and Beggar’s Banquet. He told Wenner: “It’s [Exile on Main St.] a bit overrated, to be honest. Compared to Let It Bleed and Beggars Banquet, which I think are more of a piece, I don’t see it as thematic as the other two.

“I’m not saying it’s not good. It doesn’t contain as many outstanding songs as the previous two records. I think the playing’s quite good. It’s got a raw quality, but I don’t think all around it’s as good.”

Part of the problem for Jagger may have been the atmosphere the album was created in. Drugs were prevalent in The Rolling Stones’ camp at the tim,e and there were creative struggles, which meant the album was recorded in several parts of the world.

Jagger recalled: “Well, Exile on Main Street was done in different pieces. There’s this part which is recorded at Olympic [Studios], maybe a third. Another part is recorded in my house in the country in England. And half of it’s recorded in Keith’s basement in the South of France, and it’s all mixed in L.A.”

Fellow bandmate Keith Richards feels the same, saying it is not the place newcomers should start listening to The Rolling Stones. He said: “I’d say Exile on Main St.[because] it’s a double album, so there’s more range on it. But it also is the pointer. It’s amazing. We had to fight to put that one out, but eventually, everybody got it.”

Fans disagreed with both Jagger, but not with Richards, as they say Exile on Main St is a great album, but not the right place to start. One fan shared: “Keith Richards says Exile on Main St. is the best Stones album for people to start with. I disagree. While Exile on Main St. is my favourite, I think it’s a slow burner of an album that takes a while to understand. It’s great as a collective work that has a certain vibe and atmosphere, rather than one loaded with hits, so I wouldn’t say it’s the best album for a non-Stones fan to start with.

“I got into The Stones through Beggars Banquet myself, but if I were to recommend one for people to start with, I’d say Sticky Fingers as I think it’s the most comprehensive out of the big four. It’s a solid tracklist with a few hits too.