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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
glupson
7,842 posts
 
slaw,

You are not making it easy for us.
weebeesdad
138 posts
 
I am also a  huge MK fan, and, like Bremner1 above, spend a disproportional amount of my listening sessions engaged with his music. While his Dire Straits and solo work have been well documented here and are essential, his collaborative efforts with Emmylou Harris and Chet Atkins and The Knotting Hillbillies, along with producing and playing on Dylan's Infidels and Randy Newman's Land Of Dreams, are also most worthwhile. Equally as enjoyable are his movie scores. I have listened to Local Hero probably more times than any other album I've owned, and the scores from Cal, The Princess Bride, Last Exit To Brooklyn, Wag The Dog, Metroland, and Altamira are terrific as well. I also agree with WTF on One Take Radio Sessions - intimate straight forward production with great sound quality.  
n80 OP
2,107 posts
 
I'm currently still luke warm on Privateering. Sailing to Philadelphia has not inspired me to buy it yet but I'll probably end up getting it at some point.

Get Lucky has grabbed me and I purchased it today.

The more I listen to Tracker the more I like it. Really getting to be one of my favorite albums and seems far out in front of his other stuff to me even though style and subject matter are similar. I feel like spending time with these other albums will elevate them for me too.

I've listened to the Emmylou Harris/Knopfler album twice. I know it isn't cool to say so but I've never been a big fan of hers. I have a few of her songs. I have very mixed feelings about her voice. At times it seems sublime to me but at other times it grates on my ears. The album is well done and there are a few really good songs in which her voice gives me chills but then some others that I simply don't want to listen to.

Looking forward to hearing  Down the Road Wherever later this week.
n80 OP
2,107 posts
 
I've listened to Down the Road Wherever twice now and I'm a bit disappointed. The Celtic themes are pretty much gone. Not complaining about that, he's hung with them for years now. Maybe it was time for a change.

But, not much to grab me on this new album. I'll give it another listen or two but don't see me buying this one.
old_sal
1 posts
 
  1. Yes sir! Have a special connection to the finest person and guitarist in the world! 
Old_Sal
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