Did the 2010 ‘Exile on Main St.’ Reissue Make Critics Love It Less?

The short answer is no — the 2010 reissue of Exile on Main St. didn’t make critics reconsider the album downward. If anything, the bonus-disc set (with ten unreleased tracks like “Plundered My Soul” and “Dancing in the Light”) reminded everyone why it’s considered a peak, and a few writers bumped it up in their personal rankings. The new material was treated as a welcome appendix, not a revision of the original.

That said, a handful of critics grumbled that the bonus tracks felt like outtakes for a reason — rough, unfinished, or just less essential. The strongest pushback came from purists who argued the original double album’s ragged coherence shouldn’t be “expanded” at all. But the prevailing take was that the reissue didn’t touch the core album’s legacy. Most reviews landed around 9/10 or A-, the same as the original’s classic rating. The only real revision was upward: a few younger critics who hadn’t heard it before placed it even higher after the reissue reminded everyone of its swampy, messy genius.