On this day—May 12th, 1972—Exile on Main St., the 10th (12th in the US) studio album by the Rolling Stones, was released. While the double album topped the charts in both the US and the UK and was preceded by the hit single “Tumbling Dice”, Exile received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom lamented its inconsistency. However, the album’s inconsistency was part of its point, as the band—Jagger in particular—was feeling increasingly more stifled by rock in general and their own brand of blues rock specifically after a string of critically acclaimed and popular albums. Loose, exploratory, and perhaps even a little shambolic, by the end of the 70s the album had been reappraised as a pivotal hard rock album and among the greatest albums of all time.