Last week, I took the redeye back from Vegas while still slightly hung over from a blowout the night before. I hadn’t fully recovered a few days later, but that didn’t prevent me from stopping by my regular hangout. I decided to join Giles and Asregadoo on Bourbon Street, and was two sips into my first Knob Creek when I realized I was in the mood for Exile on Main Street by the Rolling Stones. I guess recapping the events of a weekend in Sin City for the staff was the closest I get to that album’s stoned-out decadence.

Unfortunately, the otherwise excellent jukebox lacks this particular masterpiece, and had to wait until I was done for the night when I could crank it up on the journey home. But I didn’t realize that my iPod was set on Shuffle, so after “Rocks Off,” I didn’t get the breathless rush of “Rip This Joint,” but rather “Let It Loose.”

Some albums hit you on first listen. Others remain outside your grasp for years no matter how many times you keep coming back to them. Then, one day, it all starts to make sense, opening up worlds you never thought existed. Exile is one of those albums. I knew “Tumblin’ Dice” and “Happy” from classic rock radio, but, like most double albums, it was too sprawling. The other albums the Stones put out in that period, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, and Sticky Fingers, were more accessible, more compact. Even worse was a muddy mix that made most of Mick Jagger’s vocals unintelligible. I could only pay it lip service, repeating what others had said about it, for fear of losing my credibility. (more…)