I've been away from the forum for a couple of days, but feel like defending Pavel here. The fact that he's so critical of what Mark does only proves how much he cares about (and generally loves) his music. Mark should and will be happy to have such dedicated fans.
Pavel's main point - production ruining Mark's songs - is interesting regardless of whether you agree or not. I've had an issue with Guy Fletcher's influence ever since he came on board in 1985 (well, at least in retrospect, as I was still in kindergarten at the time). I generally think that Guy's approach to music doesn't blend well with Mark's. Pavel is right, it's not about the songs - they were and are always top notch -, but when it comes to how Mark's albums sound, my favourite moments always were the ones when Guy was almost or completely absent: the first Dire Straits albums, many songs on his solo albums, the whole of Shangri-La. Guy is a talented keyboard player, and he sure is useful with all kinds of things, but generally I totally agree with Pavel: Mark would be better off without him.
That said, I disagree with Pavel (yes, and it's NOT a problem!) on a couple of things:
1. For me, Guy's negative influence didn't start in 2012, but, as I said, in 1985. From all of Mark's albums, Brother in Arms is probably the one I like the least in terms of production. Things generally got better with Mark's solo career, as he was going for a warmer, more «organic» sound. Privateering, for example, was rather unharmed by Guy in my opinion (some exceptions like the tragically overproduced title song aside, as LE pointed out).
2. Things didn't get much worse with the change in production duties from Chuck Ainlay to Guy, in my opinion. A lot of the songs on Golden Heart, for example, are among the worst production-wise. I remember how I hated that sound back then. I'm not sure whether Chuck actually supported the super cheesy synths on this album, or the MOR sound of Darling Pretty, but he surely didn't do much to prevent them. Overall, I like the sound of Down the Road Wherever much better than that of Golden Heart.
3. I don't understand Pavel's issue with the drum sound in One Song at a Time. Actually, I loved that song right from the start, and the first thing I thought was «what great drums».
4. While I'd generally be the first to welcome Guy's departure (from Mark's studio, that is, don't get me wrong), his influence on some of the new songs (Back on the Dance Floor is the best example) is SO big that even I have to admit that their production approach somehow works. It's as if Guy was kind of smearing his things on otherwise immaculate songs in the past, while here, he's been allowed to operate from the core. To me it seems that IF you allow Guy to go down his road - and again, I think it would be better not to - it's best to let him go all the way. And to then balance those songs out with things like Nobody's Child or Just a Boy, which are pure Mark, the way I love him the most.