A Mark In Time
Mark Knopfler Discussion => Mark Knopfler Discussion Forum => Topic started by: Jimbo on May 23, 2025, 02:26:09 PM
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In my opinion DS are both in the studio and live the group that has made the least mistakes.
Their albums have very few flaws, yet here I want to look for the flaws, if there are any.
DS: very well recorded, perfect guitar sound, recognizable drumming, unique, full-bodied bass with excellent lines.
Also decisive is the rhythm guitar always by Mark and the only album where a third guitar also appears (David's rhythm).
For me the only weakness is Southbound again not adequately developed.
Communiquè for me is even superior to the first, the only mistake in my opinion is the short duration of Where do you think that with another minute would have become a masterpiece.
MM is more rock than the previous ones, with more drumming and with a less "robust" bass (essentially more rock and not blues), the rhythm guitar phrasings have been lost, but there is a lot of strength.
For me it has only one weak point, a big one: the duration (35 minutes is too little) and only seven songs.
LOG for me is the only album that has no flaws; in reality it has few songs but the insertion of a sixth song was not made possible by the LP format.
Shortening the conclusions of TR, It never rains and LOG would have been a crime.
The only flaw of BIA (on CD, because the LP lacks the endings of WW and the intro of YLT) is, for my taste, the lack of drumming.
Probably with more recognizable and rhythmic drumming the album would have sold half the copies....
but for me the drumming is a flaw.
OES has some weaker songs than the other albums (12 were maybe too many..), even in this case the drumming is missing (if I exclude Calling Elvis, HF and the ending of OES).
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The problem with this is what is a 'mistake'?
Pretty much all of your points are differences of opinion, subjective personal taste, not mistakes.
A mistake is going to the chorus while everyone else is still playing the verse. A mistake is staying up all night drinking and smoking so when you come to do your lead vocal the next day you sound weak and out of tune.
Very, very few records have 'mistakes', although some do. Often times people love those mistakes.
What you want to discuss is what you personally like and don't like about each record.
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As for the live shows, I think this.
BBC (I leave out TOF which sucks) is rough, it has a sound that I really like. However, it is very short, between half of a concert and a third of a concert (like the live part Ummagumma by PF).
RAINBOW is remarkable, I have difficulty finding faults, it has improvisational traits and conclusions with short solos by Pick that are truly excellent.
The fault could be the fact that, apart from a bit of Lions, the songs are not diluted and the performances tend not to become legendary.
I've already written about ALCHEMY elsewhere, it's the live I like the least even now that it's completed with the notable PB.
It has a drumming that's too invasive and a sound that's a bit confused in the songs with a lot of rhythm.
With OtN they made a big mistake instead.
It's well recorded and performed but when it came out without anyone between TOL, SOS and TR they made a big mistake.
In fact now with the box set it has gained two votes...
It was incomplete.
Another serious mistake relating to a single song is MFN in which the drum solo that completed it was excluded and which was one of the 3-4 top and most applauded moments of the concerts I saw in Milan and Munich.
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The problem with this is what is a 'mistake'?
Pretty much all of your points are differences of opinion, subjective personal taste, not mistakes.
A mistake is going to the chorus while everyone else is still playing the verse. A mistake is staying up all night drinking and smoking so when you come to do your lead vocal the next day you sound weak and out of tune.
Very, very few records have 'mistakes', although some do. Often times people love those mistakes.
What you want to discuss is what you personally like and don't like about each record.
Of course it's a personal opinion, which I'm writing here to understand if there were some choices (not technical errors) that made a good album or an excellent album become even better.
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Yeah, it's not mistake, just a different artistic opinion.
Regarding OTN, I wonder how many 12 to 15 minute songs an album could take, and still keep it affordable for fans on CD.
You could have filled the album with five songs and not given the fans a true selection from the show.
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there is a third guitar (sometimes more than three) on all albums, not only on the first one
check my list af all guitar parts on all albums : https://www.mk-guitar.com/gear-on-all-songs-for-all-albums-wiki/