Album Reviews

[stratmad]

I just saw that the German Rolling Stone Magazine announces MK on the cover, so there is apparently a review in it. I had no chance to buy it but will try tomorrow. Maybe somebody else is able to have a look?

LE

https://www.rollingstone.de/rolling-stone-april-johnny-cash-inhalt-2710657/
Funny how gets more press coverage in Germany than in the UK.

[stratmad]

He's spot on in the sense that Mark is a quality-oriented artist and cares about his craft and has done so since the early days. No-one can say any of his solo albums are bad, because they simply aren't, objectively speaking. But looking back at his solo career, I do wonder why he wasn't more daring and willing to challenge himself. Step outside the box. It's been a variation on a theme, all the way. He's financially independent and has total artistic freedom, and yet it's almost the same album again and again, with minor twists and tweaks. I'm really curious about what it is that makes him stick so close to the well-known.

I'm not sure I agree with "his albums are all the same". Yes, they do follow a similar formula - some shoe-tappers, some ballads, celtic stuff, bluesy stuff, a bit of country, the occasional rocker - but it's exactly that variety that I find astonishing. I don't know many artists that have such a broad palette. Compare that to, say, J.J. Cale (as much as I like him), and you'll know what I mean.

Now, because there's so much variety within each album, the songs from various album vary just as much. Put Don't You Get It (from Golden Heart) next to One More Matinée (from Sailing to Philadelphia) next to Quality Shoe (from the Ragpicker's Dream) next to 5.15 AM (from Shangri-La) next to The Fish and the Bird (from Kill to Get Crimson) next to Monteleone (from Get Lucky) next to Gator Blood (from Privateering) next to Silver Eagle (from Tracker) next to Heavy Up (from Down the Road Wherever) next to Watch Me Gone (from One Deep River), and you'll have 10 totally different songs.

I totally agree with Railking! He's always had a very wide range of styles, but to me, the music has become much more refined and perfected over the years, to the point where you really have to put on a good pair of headphones to hear all the subtle nuances!
Re "Step outside the box" - I think it's maybe because he IS the box 🤣
I'm convinced that he could've played anything, any style if he had chosen to. I mean, he did a better version of Django on Metroland (took me a while to figure out that it wasn't Django himself, in fact), in various songs there's a better "Hotel California" riff, a better "Another brick in the wall" riff, and many more like that, and he said in an interview once that he liked "shredding it" with his son occasionally, so he could probably out-satriani them all 🤣
But instead he just chose to make his own music, and be true to himself, as Pavel said.

[TommyJ88]

Here’s an article from French Rolling Stone magazine. I don’t know if this is the same interview as the German edition though.

As before, click the pages to download or see in higher resolution.

[TommyJ88]

And this is from Rolling Stone in Germany:

[Iron Hand]

I thought about it but no time at the moment, sorry. It is very much.

I have always doubts if he really has given all those answers. Everytime I read a German Interview, MK appears totally strange and completely different as in all the hundreds of videos I have watched with him over the years. Don't know why, maybe they translate it not correct enough. But that's just me.

LE

It's easy to mess up the "tone" of someone speaking if you aren't careful, for example if you miss the humour in a statement while translating.

So I bought the before mentioned German "Eclipsed" Magazine, it has an interview and an album review, which, from my point of view, is pretty bad. It gets 6 1/2 from 10 stars, but if you read it, you wouldn't expect more than maybe four. I try to sum up all important lines from it here for you:

-Last time back in 2018, the guitarist had shown how thrilling and versatile he can be (with DTRW), this time with his new album (apart form the perfect production) he failed to do so. He was not able to reach the same "caliber" with ODR.
-the opener, sounds cool, is called a "desert ride" (wtf?) which has its roots deep into J.J. Cales music, sounding laid-back and "rustic".
-a couple of times there are songs who are very country-like, swaying. "Smart Money" is called too laid-back and too easy-listening,
-The "quirky" Scanvengers Yard at least has some crying guitars. A harmless ballad, made into a nostalgic Waltz.
-Watch Me Gone at least has the little something.
-Only the gangster-epos Tunnel 13 gives an idea of the cinematic Dire Straits sound, that the storyteller used to be capable of in such a brilliant way in earlier times.
-Completely slowed down, but highly atmospheric, after some time finally the track "Sweeter Than The Rain" , an "outlaw-western" creates some goosebumps.
-the beautiful final title track cannot save the album.

A typical Knopfler record, which risks nothing, rests in itself and which is not enough for a Musician of his class.
Top-Track:   Two Pairs Of Hands.


Well, ouch!

The importance (or unimportance)  of reviews was discussed earlier, and I wonder how often these guys do listen to the records before they write it. How often do we  all need to hear new MK albums to find all the gems and the beauty in it? Me, i know for sure that it takes several spins often to really be able to judge a new album.

But then again, this sounds exactly the way that I was expecting the new album to be some weeks ago: If I will get lucky, there will be two or three decent (or even good!) tracks that I find ok. I have long ago given up the idea to expect another real masterpiece of MK. 

LE

I would take their rating with a grain of salt, since they rarely go beyond 8/10 and e.g. the recent two Alan Parsons albums were similarly reviewed, both of which became big favourites of mine. Your point about having to hear an album several times is certainly relevant, and if you have to review dozens of records every month, it's probably hard to give an album that amount of necessary attention and consideration. That said, the singles so far, though they're alright, don't really suggest I'll like the album as much as I like DTRW. We'll see.

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't recall his albums ever being so highly received before, even as DS.  Usually 3/5 was the norm.

Of course it doesn't really mean a jot unless it comes from a fan such as ourselves.

There seems to be, for want of a better word, a "hype" around this one, that even I'm drawn in despite not being too excited by the singles so far. 

[jbaent]

Strange that the interviews, and long, are in German and french!

[Love Expresso]

And this is from Rolling Stone in Germany:

Thank you very much!

Very short first thoughts:  the review states that the River strangely does not appear in any song on the album.
 The title track is about a Musician that died, the review takes a guess with Jeff Beck.   (In another review the journalist guessed it could be Jack Sonni.).  The river is called a metaphor about life and it is suggested that the river might be MK himself.

Black Tie Jobs is about his time at the "Evening Chronicle" in Newcastle. There was one Black tie hanging in the coffice in case a journalist had to go and write about a funeral. (My initial thoughts the death of Jimi Hendrix?)
 The author also wants to know who "Janine" is but gets no answer. He associates the song Janine with Knopflers studies about the Local Hero movie and the oil industry aspect. In the last part the journalist suddenly changes and obviously talks to Guy Fletcher ("who runs the British Grove Studios in London"). It seems he gave up in trying to.get clear answers from MK. Strange review.

LE

[stratmad]

The article also states that MK lives in Notting Hill  , which is "not far" from Chiswick. 

[stratmad]

Thanks to Tommy and LE for posting these!!!
The French one is really great. MK states that he still loves to play the guitar, which is wonderful news!

[Robson]

And this is from Rolling Stone in Germany:

Thank you very much!

Very short first thoughts:  the review states that the River strangely does not appear in any song on the album.
 The title track is about a Musician that died, the review takes a guess with Jeff Beck.   (In another review the journalist guessed it could be Jack Sonni.).  The river is called a metaphor about life and it is suggested that the river might be MK himself.

Black Tie Jobs is about his time at the "Evening Chronicle" in Newcastle. There was one Black tie hanging in the coffice in case a journalist had to go and write about a funeral. (My initial thoughts the death of Jimi Hendrix?)
 The author also wants to know who "Janine" is but gets no answer. He associates the song Janine with Knopflers studies about the Local Hero movie and the oil industry aspect. In the last part the journalist suddenly changes and obviously talks to Guy Fletcher ("who runs the British Grove Studios in London"). It seems he gave up in trying to.get clear answers from MK. Strange review.

LE

Thank you for more new and interesting news.

The fishing village of Pennan, however, has expanded... My loose reflection after reading the text "Janine"

[dustyvalentino]

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't recall his albums ever being so highly received before, even as DS.  Usually 3/5 was the norm.

Of course it doesn't really mean a jot unless it comes from a fan such as ourselves.

I think you’re right. I haven’t heard the album of course so maybe it is indeed the best thing that MK has ever done but I think it’s more likely that attitudes have changed from these journalist types towards MK - it was always easy to bash MK and DS as uncool but it’s not a thing anymore it seems.

[JF]

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't recall his albums ever being so highly received before, even as DS.  Usually 3/5 was the norm.

Of course it doesn't really mean a jot unless it comes from a fan such as ourselves.

I think you’re right. I haven’t heard the album of course so maybe it is indeed the best thing that MK has ever done but I think it’s more likely that attitudes have changed from these journalist types towards MK - it was always easy to bash MK and DS as uncool but it’s not a thing anymore it seems.

I think the same. Mark is old, and now seems to be more "respectable" in medias than he was before

[JF]

Maybe I'm wrong but I don't recall his albums ever being so highly received before, even as DS.  Usually 3/5 was the norm.

Of course it doesn't really mean a jot unless it comes from a fan such as ourselves.

I think you’re right. I haven’t heard the album of course so maybe it is indeed the best thing that MK has ever done but I think it’s more likely that attitudes have changed from these journalist types towards MK - it was always easy to bash MK and DS as uncool but it’s not a thing anymore it seems.

I think the same. Mark is old, and now seems to be more "respectable" in medias than he was before

maybe one day, someone will write a song about him in the same vein as he did for Beryl... he got a recognition, but maybe a little bit too late...

[hunter v2.0]

I think he has always been highly respected as a craftsman and lyricist, but the criticism has repeatedly been that he has played it very safe, and that his albums have been quite predictable. And for people who are only casual listeners - not like us who analyze every little detail and can hum his solos by heart  - I get where they are coming from.

[JF]

I think he has always been highly respected as a craftsman and lyricist, but the criticism has repeatedly been that he has played it very safe, and that his albums have been quite predictable. And for people who are only casual listeners - not like us who analyze every little detail and can hum his solos by heart  - I get where they are coming from.