Dire Straits nominated for Brit Award

[sweetsurrender]

MFN will barely make top 10 for my list of DS favorites.  But I totally agreed with dusty about the guitar riff.  It must have been one of the coolest riffs.  Speaking from a point of view of a big MK fan.  It was the first song my 12 year old son learned how to play when he was 11.  It's his most favorite MK song of all time.  And I think it's a wonderful song playing live.  

So little has been said about "ride across the river", but it's always the first song I listen to on BIA and  often I'll repeat it a few more times.  I love everything about the song.  especially the live version from Isreal.

Marie, agreed with you on "your latest trick" Love the sax part.

[superval99]

I like MFN very much, but it's nice to have a rest from it for a few years in concert - not forever though!   It does, actually, work for me live, especially Wembley '85 and I liked the 2005 Shangri-La versions a lot too.   

[Tally]

Yeah, it's not even close to being my favourite song of all time, but it's an amazing recording. As I've mentioned, the intro is great, but MK's guitar playing is incredible too. I mean, it's a great riff, but if you listen to it, he's actually playing the same part twice, panned left and right, but he's so good it sounds like oe guitar part, until the ed and he starts having fun.

Normally I'm a harsh critic of Guy's 80s syths, but his "stabs" on the DX7 really add to the track.

It's never worked live though. 

Dusty, are you saying there are two guitar tracks all the way through? Doesn't the second guitar come in now and then (or after awhile), like in the chorus and in the end. But not in the beginning?

I think MFN is great. The 1985 version had tremendous energy with Terry on them drums, and the 1991 version was great too. MK playing guitar solos without his brain but still fun. The solo years have treated MFN less well. 1996 was probably the best one, though the slide intro in 2001 was really cool. The 2005 version lacked energy.

[ds1984]

2005 version, unlike all previous tours does not feature rythm guitar on it.
It was a really great version full of energy when attending the show because you really had the "big sound" in the house that a recording can't capture (or that you can't reproduce at your home without waking up the whole neighbourhood) so I agree that the 96 live version is the more enjoyable to listen at home.   

The studio version sound basically like getting mainly only one guitar on it. The thing is that if we exclude the opening riff which is really rock oriented the rest of the song is a mid tempo and somehow free jazz feeling song.

[dustyvalentino]

Dusty, are you saying there are two guitar tracks all the way through? Doesn't the second guitar come in now and then (or after awhile), like in the chorus and in the end. But not in the beginning?

Well, I've got no way of knowing for sure but that's what it seems like to me. To my ears, MK is playing an identical part twice, making a "thicker" sound. It's kind of an old trick, though usually on vocals, all the early Beatles had vocal tracks recorded twice (they eventually invented "Automatic Double Tracking" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_double_tracking) and the Simon & Garfunkel records have both of them singing each of their parts twice.

But hey, I'm just guessing, I have no real way of knowing for sure.

[Simon]

If it's an identical part and it was only 25 years ago - it is more likely it was just copied (rather than played) onto another track to give the thickening sound. Most recordings these days double up on guitars so that it fattens the sound, also useful for panning wide left and wide right too if you have two identical tracks.

[ds1984]

There is an interesting guitar mix on "Live In 85"

Not a DS boot but the official Eric Clapton Video. During the extended solo of "Same Old Blues" Eric's guitar is panned right and left with one channel whitout additionnal effect other than the satured tone whereas the other has the volume pedal (or whawha) on.

[superval99]

Tonight's the night!    Everyone keep their fingers crossed for BIA to win!    

[Waterline Man]

Tonight's the night!    Everyone keep their fingers crossed for BIA to win!    

It would be brillant if it did & it would be 1,00000000000 times better than watching manu on the box:o

[dustyvalentino]

A tenner says Oasis wins. 

[dmg]

A tenner says Oasis wins. 

A tenner says the show won't be presented by Mick Fleetwood and Sam Fox!

[GennT]

ahhhhh DS didn't win!

[superval99]

   Oasis won!           Right again, dusty!   

[IrisRose]

It's usually the current in popularity who wins.   

[dmg]

It's usually the current in popularity who wins.   

These things are always just popularity contests.  In this instance the winner was not actually the best album of the past 30 years as they claim but the best album of the last 30 years according to BBC Radio 2 listeners that bothered to vote.