[3] The 10th released in the UK and 12th in the US, it is viewed as a culmination of a string of the band's most critically successful albums, following Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969) and Sticky Fingers (1971).

[4] Exile on Main St. is known for its murky, inconsistent sound due to more disjointed musicianship and production, along with a party-like atmosphere heard in several tracks.

Recording was completed with overdub sessions at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles and included additional musicians such as the pianist Nicky Hopkins, the saxophonist Bobby Keys, the drummer and producer Jimmy Miller, and the horn player Jim Price.

The band continued a back-to-basics direction heard in Sticky Fingers after the experimental instrumentation of previous albums, yet Exile exhibited a wider range of influences in blues, rock and roll, swing, country and gospel, while the lyrics explored themes related to hedonism, sex and time.

It included the singles "Happy", which featured lead vocals from Keith Richards, the country ballad "Sweet Virginia", and the worldwide top-ten hit "Tumbling Dice".

Mick Jagger said, "After we got out of our contract with Allen Klein, we didn't want to give him [those earlier tracks]," as they were forced to do with "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses" from Sticky Fingers (1971).

Many tracks were recorded between 1969 and 1971 at Olympic Studios and Jagger's Stargroves country house in East Woodhay during sessions for Sticky Fingers.

Jagger settled in Paris with his new bride Bianca, and guitarist Keith Richards rented a villa, Nellcôte, in Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice.

Thousands of pounds' worth of heroin flowed through the mansion each week, along with visitors such as William S. Burroughs, Terry Southern, Gram Parsons, John Lennon, and Marshall Chess, the son of the famous blues impresario Leonard Chess, who had been recently recruited to serve as president of the Rolling Stones' new eponymous record label.

[6] Work on basic tracks (including "Rocks Off", "Rip This Joint", "Casino Boogie", "Tumbling Dice", "Torn and Frayed", "Happy", "Turd on the Run", "Ventilator Blues" and "Soul Survivor") began in the basement of Nellcôte and was taken to Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, where overdubs (all lead and backing vocals, all guitar and bass overdubs) were added during sessions that meandered from December 1971 until March 1972.

The final gospel-inflected arrangements of "Tumbling Dice", "Loving Cup", "Let It Loose" and "Shine a Light" were inspired by Jagger, Preston, and Watts' visit to a local evangelical church[5] where Aretha Franklin was recording what would become the live album/movie Amazing Grace.

The extended recording sessions and differing methods on the part of Jagger and Richards reflected the growing disparity in their personal lives.

[10] Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for AllMusic, described Exile on Main St. as "a sprawling, weary double album" featuring "a series of dark, dense jams" that encompass rock and roll, blues, country, and gospel styles.

[13] With Richards' effectiveness seriously undermined by his dependence on heroin, the group's subsequent 1970s releases – directed largely by Jagger – would experiment to varying degrees with other musical genres, moving away from the rootsy influences of Exile on Main St.[6] According to Robert Christgau, Exile on Main St. expands on the hedonistic themes the band had explored on previous albums such as Sticky Fingers.

"[14] For Exile on Main St., Mick Jagger wanted an album cover that reflected the band as "runaway outlaws using the blues as its weapon against the world", showcasing "feeling of joyful isolation, grinning in the face of a scary and unknown future".

[20] The Seeff pictures were repurposed as 12 perforated postcards inside the sleeve, while Frank's Main Street photographs were used in the gatefold and back cover collage made by Van Hamersveld, which features other pictures Frank took of the band and their crew—including their assistant Chris O'Dell, a former acquaintance of Van Hamersveld who brought him to the Stones—and other The Americans outtakes.

[22] After the release of Exile on Main St., Allen Klein sued the Rolling Stones for breach of settlement because five songs on the album were composed while Jagger and Richards were under contract with his company, ABKCO: "Sweet Virginia", "Loving Cup", "All Down the Line", "Shine a Light" and "Stop Breaking Down" (written by Robert Johnson but re-interpreted by Jagger and Richards).

[25] Richard Williams of Melody Maker was more enthusiastic and deemed it the band's best album, writing that it will "take its place in history" as the music "utterly repulses the sneers and arrows of outraged put down artists.

"[26] Geoffrey Cannon of The Guardian agreed, stating: "Exile On Main Street will go down as [the Stones'] classic album, made at the height of their musical powers and self-confidence.

[28] In a year-end list for Newsday, Christgau named it the best album of 1972, stating the "fagged-out masterpiece" marks the peak of rock music for the year as it "explored new depths of record-studio murk, burying Mick's voice under layers of cynicism, angst and ennui".

[citation needed] In 2007, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame placed it sixth on the "Definitive 200" list of albums that "every music lover should own.

The garage-trash noise-rock band Pussy Galore released a complete cover of the album, titled Exile on Main St., that reflected their personal and musical interpretations of the songs, rather than paying tribute to the original sound.

[citation needed] The Departed, a 2006 film by Martin Scorsese, features a scene in which Bill Costigan mails Madolyn Madden an Exile on Main St jewel case containing an incriminating recording of Colin Sullivan conspiring with crime boss Frank Costello.

On 31 October 2009, American rock band Phish covered Exile on Main St in its entirety as the "musical costume" for their Halloween show in Indio, California.

A later episode in the sixth season featured a guest character waking up next to her musician boyfriend who had died from an overdose in the night in room "1009," a reference to the lyrics of "Shine a Light".

[66] In 1994, Exile on Main St was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, along with the rest of the post-Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out catalogue, after the company acquired the masters to the band's output on its own label.

This remaster was initially released in a Collector's Edition CD, which replicated in miniature many elements of the original vinyl album packaging, including the postcards insert.

[68][69] Of the ten bonus tracks, only two are undoctored outtakes from the original sessions: an early version of "Tumbling Dice" entitled "Good Time Women", and "Soul Survivor", the latter featuring a Richards lead vocal (with dummy/placeholder lyrics).

[73] The bonus disc, available separately as Exile on Main St Rarities Edition exclusively in the US at Target also charted, debuting at number 27 with 15,000 copies sold.

All tracks are written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where notedSources:[74][75][76] The Rolling Stones Additional personnel Technical 2010 bonus disc