"Missing... Presumed Having A Good Time" by Mark & a bunch of his old school chums who call themselves The Notting Hillbillies. Both of those are country flavored, but very well done." imho this is one of the best non hi-rez cd's I have from a production standpoint - outstanding SQ. Seek it out especially if you like Americana.
Knopfler's "Sailing To Philadelphia" would be the first CD that comes to mind. It may be superior from beginning to end. Again, the XRCD2 version of "Brothers In Arms" is the reference version.
If you like Knopfler's guitar and want to be blown away by two virtuosos on one recording, try Neck and Neck with Knopfler and Chet Atkins, as Egoss has mentioned....GOOD STUFF. BTW, it is available on LP too, if you look. I found one on a Spanish pressing that is excellent.
You should try the other Dire Straits albums. They are actually much better.
I would also recommend to you Peter Gabriel' "so" the Door's Greatest hits. You should also like the Dido album and the Counting Crows- August and Everything After, but not any of the other CC. If you like pop, try "irresistable bliss" by Soul Coughing, then try the other SC albums. It is unreal they are not more popular.
I also like Brother in Arms alot, but at least on the lp the sound seems off. Was there a digital recording/mastering problem here? I hope the remastered version that some posts mention has eliminated this problem. Does anyone have any insight into the sound quality? Thanks!
Hi gang- Does anyone agree with me that "Baloney Again" from "Sailing To Philidelphia" is one of the more interesting Civil Rights songs they've heard? The lyrics just blow me away. As for the well-recorded J. J. Cale, it's really tough to find a great one, but "Troubadour" is my favorite. It's kind of a hodgepodge of cuts from various studios, but some are pretty decent. My big complaint against J J isn't his laid-back musical style, which I really enjoy, but that it seems to carry over into the recordings as well. I guess his music is more for realxin' than hard listenin'. :-) And, if you're gonna listen to Peter Gabriel - which I highly recommend - you just gotta try some Talking Heads! Or The B-52s, one of the all-time great dance bands. Happy Listening! Ed
You know you have a good post when you get 15 responses in the first 2 days. Knopfler's virtuosity as a guitarist in all his work has is no secret. His work as a vocalist and producer, however have never been better than his latest "Sailing to Philadelphia". Skip the 1st track and enjoy the rest. It's been my reference CD for 6 months. My personal favorite is "Last Laugh". Good contributions by Van Morrison and James Taylor are also done tastefully.
Peter Gabriel "So", is not unlike "Brothers In Arms" because it is more mainstream than all of their previous albums. Both albums have a bit of satirical social commentary, great dynamics, along with some dark and moody tracks with guest appearances by other singers (Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson and Sting). Stylistically, however, of course, they are different, but it is worth a listen.
I've always loved Dire Straights too, and have benefitted greatly from all of your suggestions.
As to JJ Cale - IMHO, he's one of the most underrated artists of our times! I had the pleasure of seeing him live back in '95 or so at a very small forum in Kansas City. Not to turn the thread, but does anyone know of any well recorded JJ Cale disks? Most of his CD's are a bit murky to my taste.
Thank you all for your inputs. Especially to Egoss for many passionate recommendations. Why do I have a feeling you might have pulled out a few DS/MK CDs and spent some quality times all by yourself between your messages :)
I only have Brothers in Arms (both original & remastered) and Love Over Gold in my DS collection at the moment. But I guess I'll try a few more as well as M. Knoppfler's solos.
I really like M. Knoppfler's "Golden Heart", and glad to see the Subdudes and JJ Cale mentioned. I've been really impressed with XRCDs lately-- thanks for the reminder re Dire Straits. I think I have everything JJ has done and his latest "Live" album ROCKS---- gonna' have to dig out the subdudes soon too. Cheers. Craig
Knopfler is one of my fav rock guitarist and his style (lyrics,delivery,guitar) reminds me a lot of J.J. Cale. You might listen to him if you haven't already.
Knopfler has some great stuff out with Chet Atkins and the Notting Hillbilles which is a nice laid back Country recording.
Hi- I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a few other Mark Knopfler albums. The Dire Straits album "On Every Street" is, IMHO, better than "Brothers In Arms." Also, the first Mark Knopfler solo LP, "Golden Heart" is very good. If you like live albums that are well recorded, try the Dire Straits double LP "On The Night" or the hard-to-find European Mark Knopfler solo live "Break Of Day." They are both very good. If you're not tired of MK yet, try one of his collaboration albums: "Neck And Neck" with the late, great, Chet Atkins. "Missing... Presumed Having A Good Time" by Mark & a bunch of his old school chums who call themselves The Notting Hillbillies. Both of those are country flavored, but very well done. If you like cajun-flavored rock, try one of MK's buddies: "South Of I-10" by Sonny Landreth, quite possibly the best slide guitar player in the world. Last word. (Promise) Try any album by any of these artists, since they have yet to release a bad album amoung them: John Hiatt Lucinda Williams Marc Cohn Richard Thompson Keb' Mo' Long winded, but passionate... Ed
I am a HUGE Dire Straits fan as well all the albums listed above I own. One more album that you may be interested in is the Notting Hillbillies, Missing... Presumed having a good time. It features Knopfler as well as Buddy Guy.
Great tunes with typical Knopfler riffs and toe taping sound. Great recording as well.
If you love Dire Straits Brother in Arms and you don't own the JVC XRCD version of it you are in for a treat. Positively the definitve reference recording of Dire Straits! You can find it at www.amusicdirect.com
Hi-You might want to try some of the Mark Knopfler written soundtracks, there's some really nice music in these: Cal Last Exit To Brooklyn Local Hero The Princess Bride Wag The Dog Or, there's a really nice double LP called "Mark Knopfler - Screenplaying" which has one side samplers of each of the first 4 titles above. It's also available on CD. Or, if you want to venture in a delightfully different direction, check out the Mark Knopfler produced album by Willy Deville (one of the most underrated voices in rock) called "Miracle." The LP's sonics are outstanding, and the songs are really good. If you get "Miracle" on CD, make sure it's the Raven Record's "Collectors Edition" - the regular release sounds dreadful. Happy Listening! Ed
Any of the Dire Straits albums will work for me. BTW, the studio albums are all available as Warner Remasters now. If yours are the originals, it's time to replace 'em, the remasters are much better sonically, IMHO.
All the Dire Straits albums are great - get them all, they have nice remasters out now. (though I actually prefer the original version of Brothers in Arms). Most of Knopfler's solo stuff is great as well. He does a very nice piece on one of the Chieftans' albums, seek it out - well worth it and has performances by Sting, Sinead O'Connor, and others on there too. The fact that the D.S. albums are excellent recordings is just a sweet bonus.
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