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Any Mark Knopfler fans out there?

I have been a Dire Straits fan since they first started. Had most of their music when I was in college and enjoyed it on my roommates hi-fi system. (Never cared too much for Brothers in Arms).Those old tapes and LPs are long gone but since getting into hi-fi recently I am replacing them with CDs and really falling in love with them again.

Really didn't know anything about Knopfler's very prolific solo career until I got Tracker. Very different from Dire Straits but a really great album musically and sonically (with great DR!). I subsequently listened to some of his other solo stuff and it left me a little cold. Sailing to Philadelphia is okay to me, Privateering seems closer to Tracker in style and content. I ordered it on CD but it has not arrived yet.

His new album comes out later this month. Not sure what to expect. Some of the same band members will be on it. It is described as slow and folksy which is what most of his solo stuff has been. Hope it is not too much 'slower' than Tracker.

Any thoughts on Knopfler's solo career or this upcoming new album?
n80
n80 OP
2,107 posts
 
geoff, the interviews I heard from Dylan ( a few years ago) were very evasive and non-committal. Very unlike Bono, for instance. Maybe Dylan has changed his tune, I don't know. For Van Morrison it seems like it was an intense but passing phase. 

Agree, nothing wrong with it but I lose some respect for fadists.
n80 OP
2,107 posts
 
wtf, his solo stuff seems to follow a fairly common theme and common style. Nothing wrong with that but I think to appreciate them all, it becomes about subtlety and nuance and may take more time to grow on me. A lot of it is understated and slow paced, again, not a criticism, but I really like Laughs and Jokes and Drinks and Smokes in that even though it is a traditional folk sounding song it becomes quite 'big' and rousing. I'm hoping for more like that. 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,487 posts
 

Dylan was deeply interested and involved in spiritual matters long before and after his three overtly Christian-themed albums. In the pics of his living room from the late 60’s, you can see a large Bible on one of those stands made for them. The 1968 John Wesley Harding album is full of Biblical references and themes, as had been previous albums dating back to the mid-60’s. His focus at the time may have been more on the Old Testament than the New, coming from a Jewish heritage and upbringing. The burning desire to share with others a spiritual awakening eventually subsides, and one returns to a "normal" spiritual life. Dylan was been to Jerusalem a few times, praying at the Wailing Wall. 

Just because Dylan isn’t public with his current spiritual life doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one. He was also not public with his marriage to one of his background singers, and their child together. Does that mean his marriage and child are/were fads?! How many know Bob has a brother? To think we know all about his personal life is rather presumptuous.

n80 OP
2,107 posts
 
No presumption here whatsoever. Never claimed to know anything about his religious life except what he said publicly when specifically asked about it. We can, of course, take that sort of thing into account.

I also have no problem with a public figure being private in such matters and in fact generally prefer that they do.

I cannot cite the interview but I will look for it. As mentioned, he was somewhat evasive and equivocal in his answers. If he had said 'its none of your business' I would have respected that. Maybe he was having a bad day. Maybe he didn't answer as well as he would have liked to. Maybe he made a mistake. But for me to assume that would indeed be presumptuous. I prefer to take a person's statements at face value.

But, when it comes to a stance on religion I much prefer Bono's.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Dylan evasive? Whoa! What? OMG! Shut my mouth and call me corn pone!
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