To understand the driving force behind the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, all one has to do is open the CD jacket.

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger are doing vocals for the album, each nursing their throat with their own bottle of whiskey. It's this sort of drunken stupor that fills the album with some of the best blues rock 'n' roll ever recorded.

I'm not saying that Jagger and Richards are the world's greatest role models. They're just some of the best rock 'n' rollers, and Exile definitely proves that.

The Rolling Stones were never extremely innovative, and experimentation does not exactly run rampant on Exile on Main Street.

But the best songs on the album are ones that are not the trademark Jagger/Richards bar rock.

The album's opener, "Rocks Off," is a carefree stomp. Richard's guitar work flourishes through splashes of horns and drummer Charlie Watts' driving tempo.

Jagger's lyrics are almost inaudible, but the music seems to have little effect on what Jagger rambles on about. Even though "Rocks Off" sounds like a happy rocker, Jagger shreds through his emotions -- what little he has -- over his latest love conquest, his paranoid visions and his distaste for the light of day.

It's the kind of song that grows on the listener with repeated listenings, and the same goes for the rest of the album. The first time a person hears the song, it sounds as if the Stones put way too much instrumentation into it. Intricacy is the key on the album. Each part interweaves among others, with the listener able to discover new aspects each time he or she listens.

The next few numbers are trademark Stone's blues standards, enough to keep the listener interested, but really nothing spectacular.

Until out of nowhere, comes the anthem "Tumbling Dice," probably the most familiar song on the album. A chorus of background singers flaunts on top of Jagger's whining about his promiscuous lifestyle. The result is a drunken sing-a-long, with everybody screaming, "You've got to roll me, and call me the tumbling dice."

The next lineup of songs is some of the best country-rock ever written and the highlight of the double album. Many of today's alternative-country artists cite this album as an inspiration, and one can obviously see the influence.

Acoustic guitars and harmonica are used heavily throughout "Sweet Virgina," "Torn and Frayed," and " Sweet Black Angel."

"Torn and Frayed" tells the story of a vagabond who only finds solace in music and drugs. But the chorus will strike a note with many people who can find comfort in the spell of listening pleasures. The song talks about warming the soul with music and, ironically, does that.

"His heart is torn and frayed. He's seen much better days. Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away."

The triumph on Exile on Main Street is mainly Jagger's vocal work.

It seems as though it's another instrument within the arrangements. All the songs evoke paranoia, heartaches and drug addiction, but they all have the heart to address these subjects with a sense of remorse and honesty that stomps other Stone's work into the ground. These subjects are the bread and butter for the Stones, but on other albums they seem to flaunt their carefree attitudes rather more than to sound saddened and regretful about their hedonistic ways.

The next song, "Loving Cup," recognizable to Phish fans, is almost a tender song, until one realizes what Jagger is singing about. It doesn't really matter though, because the song is listening bliss, with a shout-able chorus and enchanting melody.

As an alcohol buzz eventually fades, so does the listening enjoyment of Exile. The album in general is too long. Excess has always been a staple of the Stones and this album is no exception.

The record, understandably, received a five-star rating from Rolling Stone magazine because the songs are all great. But it is too much music to digest in a short period, with little varying style.

This could be a good thing. The listener will most likely skip tracks and have an unending discovery of fresh sounds on the album.

Exile is not that cohesive of an album, but more a collection of gritty rock 'n' roll songs by one of the greatest rock bands ever.