Is MK really going on?

[Love Expresso]

...it's just that we all move on and this band is BY FAR the best band I've ever been involved with. What is more, we keep improving. This is important. We were all younger then, and it was a long time ago. If you don't improve, what's the point of being a musician?

This is what Guy wrote in his forum today, asked about Dire Straits and his sometimes harsh reaction to those questions. Got me thinking and I was about to ask him this question, but I am far from getting a harsh answer, so I ask it here: Do you think Mark Knopfler really is evolving with this band? Is he putting new stuff, I mean really new stuff to his catalogue (a new instrument like the cittern is not what I really mean here...). In my opinion Mark's compositions get more and more irrelevant. A lot of stuff is an echo of older songs, and there is nothing really new. How fresh was On Every Street, even if it had the so-called "conservative" country elements, but hey, those songs had a totally other caliber. Again in my opinion, since 2002 Mark is standing still. The same band, the same "pants", more or less, and songs getting shorter and shorter and sound more and more similar. The meaning of Mark Knopfler in my life is fading more and more sadly I must report.

Maybe this post is a little bit risky in the middle of this tour where everybody is excited and looking forward to see him. But Guy is giving the same answer every time, and I just want to ask: Where exactly IS the evolution?

A remarkable part of the AMIT members is obviously thinking that we all can be grateful that he is still touring, and that he also could say he doesn't bother with this stuff anymore, and I respect that opinion, of course.  And of course I wish him all the best and think he is a friendly and likeable person, but nevertheless it should be allowed to ask questions about the content and quality of his art, compared to his own high standards from 30 years of composing.

What do you think?

LE

[herlock]

What I think is, first of all, that your post is courageous. Not very politically correct, but as trouble-maker frenchman, I can respect that. Seems like yelling "God does not exist" in the church during service
Now, talking about the evolution....
GH was the transition album.
STP was the almost-come-back of Dire Straits sound.
TRD was the liberation: maybe the best album ever done. Courageous, intimate, building on the Dire Straits qualities but being totally free from them.
SL & KTGC were... maybe the most difficult part - how to renew yourself without being accused of writing the same song 20 times ?
GL was the ultimate evolution, a great synthesis of MK's career. BR is almost on par with SoS; Piper to the End has almost nothing to envy to BiA. When I heard it for the first time I almost cried...
Think about it - how many 60 years artists are able to release one quality album every 2 years ??
The only think MK has yet to achieve, to me, is to produce a prog song on par with TG, and a rock song on par with ToL...
Long live MK ! He has changed my life.

[superval99]

LE - You say the meaning of Mark Knopfler in your life is fading more and more, while I can only say, honestly, the meaning of MK in MY life is becoming more and more vibrant and this couldn't have been confirmed more than when I saw him in Dublin with his amazing band, who are all master musicians themselves!   

I find, I listen to MK's solo work these days far more than the Strait's material, because I enjoy it more - it's that simple!       

[Pottel]

i get your drift LE. but besides the fact that i find it a pity that he does not do more for his biggest fans, like varying the setlists and releasing more b-sides, and live material and shit, i am really convinced that he is only getting better, except that KTGC was a bad hickup in an otherwise impressive career.

[Love Expresso]

Agree fully with you Pottel about KTGC... But funny enough, there are one or two songs on it that I think I could call "development" - In The Sky and
The Fish And The Bird...

Of course I still have my two shows in front of me and will probably re-think my opinion after those shows. But Guy's attitude in this case made a little...
fierce and I really thought this over... You know, not everything in those good old times was bad, whereas every tour with Guy as a member was the best so far, in his opinion... 

LE

[herlock]

Actually KTGC, to me, is underrated. Even by MK himself - the album is only second to Communiqu

[boboDS]

I think I agree with most of what you said LE.

Being a person that cares much more about the music than lyrics, I have to say the thing that disappoints me the most are the music compositions. We don't get any longer live versions with new arrangements. Last tour we even got SHORTER versions (What It Is,...) with left out solos! This was unthinkable in earlier years. Then there are these little pieces like imho the decline of Sultans (haven't listened to the current tour yet), less and less rock&roll, almost the same setlist every tour. Music-wise speaking, I don't like the direction where MK is going.

I rarely listen to newer albums like SL, K2GC, GL and tours. Thank god for (mostly DS) bootlegs.

Don't kill me for the next sentence, but maybe MK should take a break, for say 3-4 years and then come back full of energy, with great setlist and arrangements. Just like during the 1996 tour.  But he is older now, so it wouldn't work probably.

Like Pottel said it is a pitty that he doesn't do more for his biggest fans, and also for regular fans. I don't now if it is PCM or whoever, but what was this mess with the release of the GL album and the left out songs?? Also, Alchemy has been remixed, but not released on audio CDs. Would that be such a problem??  It has come to my mind many times, that how would it look like if MK had a YES-like (speaking of a band) attitude?? They have released so much material,  b-sides, demos, never released version with remixed albums, live concerts, you name it...

[Love Expresso]

Being a person that cares much more about the music than lyrics, I have to say the thing that disappoints me the most are the music compositions. We don't get any longer live versions with new arrangements. Last tour we even got SHORTER versions (What It Is,...) with left out solos! This was unthinkable in earlier years. Then there are these little pieces like imho the decline of Sultans (haven't listened to the current tour yet), less and less rock&roll, almost the same setlist every tour. Music-wise speaking, I don't like the direction where MK is going.

 

Don't kill me for the next sentence, but maybe MK should take a break, for say 3-4 years and then come back full of energy, with great setlist and arrangements. 
L

This is very well spoken my point. And by your leave, herlock, you are also put it into great words. However, "great sounding" is not what I am after.
That is just craftmanship in my opinion. Making Movies is surely not "great sounding" compared with RPD, SL or GL, but I prefer this kind of really "authentic" sound to the polished ones. God, I wish he would do an album like "Rattle & Hum" or "Time Out Of Mind" . But as I said, that might get another thread.

Calling Elvis 1996: Take the Vaison version, totally unique build-up, great key changes in it, really improvising. Or  TOl 1991... there were some musical thoughts about it. Now he seems to aim for the perfect reproduction of the album version on stage. Once recorded, so played forever. We are happy with every little change like the 2008 intro of TLWNF. And a "stolen" Ry Cooder riff seems to be the only musical suprise this tour?? But i won't get too
negative. These are just illustrations to my point of view. And the break of the 2-year-release-schedule would do him very good probably, no doubt.

LE

[herlock]

I can understand where you are coming from, re the "decline of Sultans", for instance. Yes, I would rather listening to the Alchemy version than to the current ones. I also don't like too much the new Telegraph Road - compared to 96 versions.
Yes, but....
Mark is 60.
And I take it as a good thing that he is not pretending to be 30 - as the Rolling Stones do, with the high risk of being pathetic.
Without saying it, Mark acknowledges his age, and also his eclectic musical roots.
Actually, he was never much of a rocker. This is MK, not The Who... even at the peak of his energy level, remember the Monthy Python describing Alchemy as some king of sleeping pill (!). If you want pure Rock & Roll... that's not what it is about. That was already not the case for "Brothers in Arms": 2 up tempo songs on the album, the other 7 are melancholic.., yet, it sold 30 million units.
Now look at the bright side: one album release every 2 years - who else does that ?  No new expanded live version ? what do you say of "Hill Farmer's Blues ?" a B-side song turned into a classic ! in a pure Alchemy tradition !
Ok, MK is not commerrcially orientated; he does not release a lot of DVDs and stuff; would I like one "Anthology" Blu-Ray ? oh, certainly. But am I going to like MK less because his live music is rare ? oh, certainly not. Quite one the contrary
Go and watch again the RLRR DVD, and tell me that this is not a great live show, with both energetic songs (Speedway) and sweet ones (I dug up a diamond)...

[herlock]

I do agree very much with one criticism, though - I am currently listening (again) to the new Alchemy sound mix on Blu-ray, and I think it is a real CRIME not to have released it on CDs !!
And I agree with TOL 91 - nothing can be compared to that. Not even the Alchemy version that I am currently watching. Great, but not divine as the 91 version...

[boboDS]

I can understand where you are coming from, re the "decline of Sultans", for instance. Yes, I would rather listening to the Alchemy version than to the current ones. I also don't like too much the new Telegraph Road - compared to 96 versions.
Yes, but....
Mark is 60.
And I take it as a good thing that he is not pretending to be 30 - as the Rolling Stones do, with the high risk of being pathetic.
Without saying it, Mark acknowledges his age, and also his eclectic musical roots.
Actually, he was never much of a rocker. This is MK, not The Who... even at the peak of his energy level, remember the Monthy Python describing Alchemy as some king of sleeping pill (!). If you want pure Rock & Roll... that's not what it is about. That was already not the case for "Brothers in Arms": 2 up tempo songs on the album, the other 7 are melancholic.., yet, it sold 30 million units.
Now look at the bright side: one album release every 2 years - who else does that ?  No new expanded live version ? what do you say of "Hill Farmer's Blues ?" a B-side song turned into a classic ! in a pure Alchemy tradition !
Ok, MK is not commerrcially orientated; he does not release a lot of DVDs and stuff; would I like one "Anthology" Blu-Ray ? oh, certainly. But am I going to like MK less because his live music is rare ? oh, certainly not. Quite one the contrary
Go and watch again the RLRR DVD, and tell me that this is not a great live show, with both energetic songs (Speedway) and sweet ones (I dug up a diamond)...

Yes, I know that it is not going to be as it was because of age and I am glad that he is not like Rolling stones.
I am also glad that he is not The Who, man I really don't like pete townsend jumping around the stage making those noises.

Well I want pure MK Rock&Roll You right, it certainly is not about it anymore, that's exactly my point. I was speaking of tours mainly, the albums were never about too much rock&roll. But earlier concerts had had a couple of "lighter" songs and the rest was more or less r&r. But now the ratio is being turned around.

Well, hehe, never knew Monthy Python described Alchemy as some king of sleeping pill Good thing it was a comedy.

You're right, I forgot about HFB. But if MK hadn't had that crash, this version would have likely been played in 2003.

Yeah MK releases an album every two years, but what good is it me, if I hardly listen to it?

I wasn't really speaking of live music being rare, because at least it is documented by bootlegs, so I don't think his live music is rare. I meant mainly demos, b-sides, never released tracks. And to me, audio is much more valuable than video and "DVDs and stuff".

[boboDS]

I do agree very much with one criticism, though - I am currently listening (again) to the new Alchemy sound mix on Blu-ray, and I think it is a real CRIME not to have released it on CDs !!
And I agree with TOL 91 - nothing can be compared to that. Not even the Alchemy version that I am currently watching. Great, but not divine as the 91 version...

Me personally, I don't like the 91 version. It is too "romantic" imho. And Terry W. is missing on drums... I love his style.

[herlock]

Me personally, I don't like the 91 version. It is too "romantic" imho. And Terry W. is missing on drums... I love his style.

Well, yes, it is romantic, that's precisely what I love about it I also prefer Terry W. to Chris Witten on drums, but drums is not what ToL is all about

[herlock]

Well I want pure MK Rock&Roll You right, it certainly is not about it anymore, that's exactly my point. I was speaking of tours mainly, the albums were never about too much rock&roll. But earlier concerts had had a couple of "lighter" songs and the rest was more or less r&r. But now the ratio is being turned around.

Well, a similar move than David Gilmour I guess; At first I was as shocked by the new "Shine On You, Crazy Diamond" being so quiet, as the new Telegraph Road. But I have come to like it. And "Echoes" is so fantastic but the whole thing scaled down, has become quieter and more intimate. Somehow I find "Live in Gdansk" more touching than "P.U.L.S.E". Oh well...

[boboDS]

I can't comment on that, because I don't have it. I mean I don't have any DG solo stuff (just some 1984 bootlegs and of course PF). He plays Echoes again? I thought it was last played on the MLOR tour...