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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
maritime51's avatar
maritime51
1,288 posts
 
🐈💩🙀
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Oh, it stuck. He wasn’t just dabbling. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
wtf's avatar
wtf
307 posts
 
I'm also a fan going back to Dire Straits. I disliked a few of his solo albums on first listen (The Ragpicker's Dream comes to mind) but ended up liking every one of them later on. Just a couple of days ago I was listening to One Take Radio Sessions, which is so intimate .. very much a "musician in the room" experience. It was closely mic'd and the sound quality is just superb. Can't wait for his new release.
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. 
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