All the Roadrunning by Mark Knopfler and Emmy Lou


Anyone bought this disc or heard it? It sounds like it should be a great combo.
Amazon writes, "Over the last seven years, Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris quietly recorded an album by stealing "a few precious hours of studio time here and there," as the ex-Dire Straits singer/guitarist puts it. Good thing they kept it largely under wraps--expectations would have pushed through the clouds, especially as Knopfler conjured 10 of the 12 cuts, and Harris, who writes potently, but little, contributed two ("Love and Happiness," "Belle Starr"). Yet now that it's here, All the Roadrunning--while beautiful--seems somehow underwhelming, and without a true centerpiece. Anyone familiar with the artists' famous catalogues would expect the repertoire to be poetic and brooding, and that Harris's ethereal soprano would add light to Knopfler's dark Prozac rumblings. But the surprise is that the album is too tame, never breaks out of its midtempo groove, and never takes any big chances.

That said, there is much to like: The marital scrapbook romp of "This Is Us," the bluesy bickering of "Right Now," the wrenching poignancy of the 9/11-inspired ballad "If This Is Goodbye." Knopfler, ever the hypnotic guitarist, turns in some thrillingly droll and laconic vocals, and Harris brings the spirited coltishness of her early work to "Belle Starr." In the end, though, this is not so much a duet album as two famously melancholy musicians singing together--at times, strikingly so. --Alanna Nash
I'd sure like to hear others opinions
128x128sgr
not one of the better emmy lou records. adult contemporary in the worst way. nothing worse than a pointless record that sounds pointless.
Wow - not good. It was on my list today. The SF Chronicle thought quite highly of it on Sunday.

From CD REVIEWS SF Chronicle Sunday, April 23, 2006


MARK KNOPFLER/EMMYLOU HARRIS

Seven years in the making, this exquisite pairing of these idiosyncratic and iconic singers results in a tour de force, outshining anything either has done in recent memory. Dire Straits honcho Mark Knopfler's normally flinty edges are blunted and made more appealing and less anxious once Emmylou Harris fits her sparse harmonies around them. Her perfectly articulated and understated phrasing elevate the guitarist's restless travelogue of moving from space to space, in and out of love, in various vehicles and means of transport, making it matter little that he never quite gets to where he's going nor that he isn't able outrun his shadowy but well-drawn demons. But with her pristine vocals riding shotgun, the journey is more interesting than the destination. Harris' lead on "Rollin' On" is a like a paper-cut silhouette from a bygone era, fragile, yet haunting in its dark relief.

Jaan Uhelszki

Regards,
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