The recording marked a change in direction for the band following the psychedelic pop of their previous two albums, "Between the Buttons" and "Their Satanic Majesties Request". Styles such as roots rock and a return to the blues rock sound that had marked early Stones recordings dominate the record, and the album is among the most instrumentally experimental of the band's career, as they use Latin beats and instruments like the claves alongside South Asian sounds from the tanpura, tabla and shehnai, and African music-influenced conga rhythms.