A labour of discord?
According to the book, the band were on the run from the taxman, and were camped out at Keith's place in Paris. The album took a year to record and mix... which is a bloody long time in an age when many bands still threw albums together in a week or so. Mick disappeared for a stretch of time with his wife Bianca, and by the end of the process the band were tired of each other and ended up with fairly mixed opinions of the album as a whole.
To my mind, it holds together pretty well for a double album (the usual problems of duration and track fatigue not withstanding), covering all the Stones' usual areas of brash rock, country rock, brassy soul and even a bit of sneaky balladry.
This album aligns with the idea that when artists are on, it doesn't matter how many tracks they're cranking out, they'll still be pretty good. An example of this that I always turn to is the Smashing Pumpkins, because in my opinion, Billy Corgan was on during Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I enjoy all 28 tracks, and the 20-30 b-sides; but nowadays, I'm afraid to say, he can't write an album to save himself.
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