vinyl, the 1994 Robert Ludwig mastered cd, as well as the new vinyl and cd remasters from this box set. In preparation for this review, I listened to the original Artisan cut U.S. The vinyl cutting is credited to veteran engineer, Doug Sax of The Mastering Lab, from a 24-bit/44.1 kHz file provided by Stephen Marcussen, who remastered the Deluxe Edition Cd. The fairly hefty regular weight vinyl arrived clean, flat and played throughout without noise. Also included are repros of four of the postcards, originally included with the first pressing vinyl. The inner sleeves holding the vinyl are faithful reproductions of the originals. The two discs of vinyl, two cds, and dvd are housed in a tri-fold gatefold design, rather than the Unipack design used for the original vinyl release.
the Rolling Stones, both of which are scheduled to have full releases in the fall. Rounding out the DVD is ten minutes each from Cocksucker Blues and Ladies and Gentlemen. Even the most jaded Stones fan should be fascinated by this. It features photos, video, and audio from the Exile sessions at Nellcote, interspersed with commentary from the band members and others present at the sessions. The thirty-minute video includes an eleven minute promo of the upcoming DVD, Stones in Exile. On I'm Not Signifying-one of the few tracks with an original, country-drawl vocal from Jagger, Richards isn't even listed as playing. Well, he can definitely be heard on more than a few of the bonus tracks-and he is credited on six of them.
When it began to leak out that Mick Taylor was in some way involved in this reissue, many fans couldn't believe it. Plundered My Soul, which was released a month ago, is arguably the best single from the band since Waiting on a Friend. The bonus tracks are a combination of alternate takes of favorites from the original album, such as Loving Cup and Soul Survivor, and unreleased tracks from the Exile sessions, such as the epic, Elton John-inspired, Following the River-most of which contain new vocals from Jagger, and some instrumental overdubs as well. It's been too much fun hearing this new material, and I think you'll enjoy listening and discovering it for yourselves.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time dissecting the ten bonus tracks found on the deluxe editions of this reissue. On May 19, 2010, this review was updated to include impressions of the final physical product. And I've got to say, I haven't enjoyed a new release from the Stones this much since Tattoo You. I've spent the last week or so with the tracks from the remastered Deluxe Edition, hi-res files of the cloth bound book, Exile on Main St, as well as an eleven minute promotional version of the upcoming DVD, Stones in Exile. Longtime fans and collectors have been left wondering whether it will be worth it to spring for the Super Deluxe set, when much of it will be available separately? This reissue will be released in four formats: Exile on Main St, Exile on Main St (Dlx), Exile on Main St, and the Super Deluxe Vinyl Box Set.
Next Tuesday, May 18, 2010, The Rolling Stones will finally release the highly anticipated Deluxe Edition of Exile on Main St.