New reissue of Exile on Main Street

just got the reissued exile cd yesterday. gave it a quick listen last night and really enjoyed it. haven't listened to the original in a month or so can't compare sonics yet.....but i will.

initial impressions are positive. some of the new, previously unreleased cuts are pretty good too. however...a few of them are as expected, are mediocre at best. have always liked exile. don't think it's the "best stones ever" but do feel it has a place up top on the list somewhere. gritty, dirty and full of kick. it's only rock and roll but i like it!

ok......let me modify my comments regarding the bonus tracks. don't really care for any of the previously unreleased stuff. not horrible but not good either imho. they just don't fit in and it seems obvious why they were left out in the first place. the "alternate take" stuff is kinda cool but that's about it regarding disc #2.

the original releases on disc #1 do sound good. will need to do an a-b to confirm, but it seems cleaner with better detail. cleaner/better detail is usually an improvement for most recordings. not sure that's the case for exile though?. the re-master may "sound better" but exile was never about sounding better. often used words like "raw" and "gritty" were what made exile special imo. hoping the "edge" hasn't been lost while making it "better". will report back after a proper a-b comparo. it does sound pretty good though.

cheers
Lev

Has anyone heard the vinyl - compared it to original pressings? I'm just wondering if it's worth the $$$ and hype.

Stay away from the vinyl -- comes from a 24 bit/44.1khz file and doesn't come close to the original Artisan vinyl. These slabs are too loud, compressed & lack the dynamics of the originals.

Bob

Also the new vinyl issue is not mastered by Doug Sax (as some claim); he only cut it (mastered by Stephen Marcussen).

Bob