Knopfler

HaychHaych Frets: 5594
I grew up on Dire Straits and to this day they are still my favourite band (the shit I got at school for it was intense), but I have to concede that in recent years it felt like Knopfler had fallen out of love with the guitar.

Every now and again, though, he does something magical and with rumours of a new album due this year I hope there is more of this, his phrasing from about 2:50 is wonderful - wish I could find those notes.  He might not have the flare he did between 83 - 86 but I could listen to him play this kind of stuff all day:


There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife

Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky

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Comments

  • underdogunderdog Frets: 8334
    edited May 2018
    Never been interested in Dire straits as a band or him as a solo artist but he is without a doubt one of my favourite guitar players, I know that makes little sense, but he is.
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12253
    Tunnel of love is probably my favourite guitar playing anywhere, beautifully done but doesn't sound too show-offish.  I'm not a massive DS fan but Mr Knopfler is an actual genius.
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  • not_the_djnot_the_dj Frets: 7306
    Been listening to the Dire Straits back catalogue this last week in my car, I tend to purge on one artist for a while. Plenty of bona classics.....although goes down hill towards the end (On Every Street has some right stinkers on it!)

    I never really bothered to check out much of his solo stuff, what I've heard has some nice playing but overall dull songs.
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  • HaychHaych Frets: 5594
    Been listening to the Dire Straits back catalogue this last week in my car, I tend to purge on one artist for a while. Plenty of bona classics.....although goes down hill towards the end (On Every Street has some right stinkers on it!)

    I never really bothered to check out much of his solo stuff, what I've heard has some nice playing but overall dull songs.
    OES was a bit of a decline but as a band they were playing really good and it still has some good tunes on it for all that.  I've always said that Straits arrived at their peak and stayed there until BIA.

    Solo work; again, I think with OES you could see the direction he was going and I can understand why he threw Straits in the bin as I don't think a DS audience would have accepted the material he had coming.  Some of his solo songs seem quite bland and a lot of them just seem to be a vehicle for a good lyric.  

    That said he still pulls some really great stuff out of the bag.  However, whereas with Straits I'd love 95% of the work his solo work leaves me thinking 40% of it should have stayed off the album.

    Still, he's making a better living than I am doing what he loves so my opinion is worth naff all really.

    There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife

    Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky

    Bit of trading feedback here.

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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    Went downhill after he fired his brother and added keyboards.  First two albums are sublime, (I'll concede Brothers in Arms is good stuff).
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    I love some Dire Straits stuff, other songs I find very uninteresting. Sultans of Swing and Brothers in arms are just perfection solos for me. I loved Alchemy when it was released, but having re-bought a copy on CD in the past year I was pretty disappointed with the sound.

    Knopfler solo, I have found very disappointing. I have 2 or 3 CDs and they just seem like bland songs with zero solos of interest. 

    I would love him to sling a Les Paul on and record an album of instrumentals with Brothers in Arms type solos. It would be a thing of beauty, but it will never happen.

    I checked out the video/song, for me it's all way to understated and generic. If that what he want's to do then fine but it's not for me.
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    I met Knopfler at the Hope & Anchor in '77 with Dire Straits .. they didn't have a record contract. Just an ordinary bloke having a pint and playing guitar. Look where that got him ... :-)

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • HaychHaych Frets: 5594
    Jalapeno said:
    Went downhill after he fired his brother and added keyboards.  First two albums are sublime, (I'll concede Brothers in Arms is good stuff).
    I don't think he was actually fired, was he?  Thought it was just a bit of a brotherly dust up after which he stormed out and never went back.  I'm sure the two have worked together since.

    There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife

    Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky

    Bit of trading feedback here.

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  • richardhomerrichardhomer Frets: 24793
    Haych said:
    Jalapeno said:
    Went downhill after he fired his brother and added keyboards.  First two albums are sublime, (I'll concede Brothers in Arms is good stuff).
    I don't think he was actually fired, was he?  Thought it was just a bit of a brotherly dust up after which he stormed out and never went back.  I'm sure the two have worked together since.
    MK played on one of DK’s solo albums - but according to a recent interview with David, he doesn’t speak to Mark at all now.
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  • HaychHaych Frets: 5594
    edited May 2018
    Haych said:
    Jalapeno said:
    Went downhill after he fired his brother and added keyboards.  First two albums are sublime, (I'll concede Brothers in Arms is good stuff).
    I don't think he was actually fired, was he?  Thought it was just a bit of a brotherly dust up after which he stormed out and never went back.  I'm sure the two have worked together since.
    MK played on one of DK’s solo albums - but according to a recent interview with David, he doesn’t speak to Mark at all now.
    David doesn’t seem like a very balanced individual tbh. Might not have any bearing on their relationship though. 

    There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife

    Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky

    Bit of trading feedback here.

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    Jalapeno said:
    Went downhill after he fired his brother and added keyboards.  First two albums are sublime, (I'll concede Brothers in Arms is good stuff).
    I tend to think the opposite - although I like those three albums a lot, the best for me are Making Movies and Love Over Gold (albeit with one duff song on each, although I don't dislike them as much as I used to), and the absolute peak is Alchemy. Tunnel Of Love is probably my favourite song.

    On Every Street is effectively a Knopfler solo album, and like all of them it has great bits and a lot of so-so bits... a lot of which would be good on a movie soundtrack (which he's good at) rather than an album of songs.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • HaychHaych Frets: 5594
    edited May 2018
    Alchemy was an incredible moment.  Equally as good, and never released as an album, was the BIA tour concert from Wembley Arena.

    Tunnel of Love is a favourite moment also but the Alchemy version of Sultans is Knopfler at his best.  Funnily enough, contrary to most people's opinion I think SoS is the weakest song on their debut album.  The best is a toss up between In the Gallery and Lions.  

    This performance of In the Gallery is a favourite of mine:



    Edit: I also don't think DS were ever the same band without Pick Withers on drums, he had a feel all his own and is in my top 5 drummers list.

    There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife

    Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky

    Bit of trading feedback here.

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  • JonathangusJonathangus Frets: 4436
    100% the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place.  Actually don't think there's a Dire Straits song I don't like, even the stuff on On Every Street.  But Dire Straits ending roughly coincided with me discovering rock and metal, so his solo stuff passed me by.  Still in my top two or three of all time, though.

    I'll just leave this here.  Masterpiece.



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  • richardhomerrichardhomer Frets: 24793
    Haych said:
    David doesn’t seem like a very balanced individual tbh. Might not have any bearing on their relationship though. 
    There was a BBC Arena filmed during the sessions for Making Movies - it was an extra on the Alchemy DVD. David comes across as someone struggling with it - both musically and emotionally.

    Mark always comes across as a decent bloke - but the history of brothers in bands is littered with dysfunctional relationships.
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