Posted by 2000 Man on July 21, 1999 at 21:00:40:
I finally looked at a few of the posts about Exile, and some of hhall's huge generalizations about the people that listen to classic rock and what they like or know about it I find funny.
I can't stand classic rock radio either, far too much Pink Floyd and Aerosmith for me, and the only new material seems to be whatever pablum EC is puking out these days, but I still listen to it. It's often the only choice in most cities, or I'm in the car and I've got all those buttons so any note I'm not in the mood for can be instantly changed into something else, but usually 70's rock music sounds really good. I know I'm not in a small minority since these stations flourish, and I think most of the listeners grew up listening to albums. So a song like Sway or All Down The Line is certainly familiar to them. I know people that own absolutely NO Stones albums and ask me to play Out Of Time, Monkey Man, Far Away Eyes and lots of others. They're also big on the "Lost Classics" weekends on the Classic rock stations.
Exile is crammed with great stuff, as were the three preceding albums. But dismissing it as studio trickery or considering it less than a masterpiece because of a lack of hit singles is ludicrous. Are you saying that Thriller really is the defining moment in rock history?
People want more than Hot Rocks and Sticky Fingers. Ever notice that ABKCO still charges top dollar for those old Stones discs? That's cuz they get it, and they still sell great. Even Now! and 12x5 are still top price, and there aren't many hits there. Check the prices on Who and Zep cd's - they've got Nice Price stickers all over them. Don't sell the public short.