Guy is back in studio with MK

[tunnel85]

In case MK & GF read the forum to get new ideas for the next record, i have to say I don't like "after the beanstalk". 

[Love Expresso]

Well, it's very unlikely that they would record the song once more for another new record, wouldn't they?

 

LE

[Jules]

Well, it's very unlikely that they would record the song once more for another new record, wouldn't they?

 

LE

Do you wanna bet?

[tunnel85]

Well they record the same songs many times in every album 
Do you see or hear any difference in Shangri-La, The fish & the bird, Whoop de doo,  in the sky, Hard shoulder, The car was the one, Miss you blues, Monteleone, Don't forget your hat, Blood and water, Seattle .... ?  And a few other ones I don't even remember the title. 

[Love Expresso]

Not sure if you are joking now or serious about this? I cannot see any resemblance in those listed songs... ??

LE

[tunnel85]

Not sure if you are joking now or serious about this? I cannot see any resemblance in those listed songs... ??

LE

Half serious / half joking. Resemblance : same boredom 

[Love Expresso]

Thanks! 

LE

[JF]

I agree with tunnel. They are many songs which sounds the same (same chords, same structure, same tone, same overall sounding), far more than during DS era IMHO.
When I listen to a new MK album, I am rarely surprised. Even at firts listen, I tell myslef, "and now the next chord will be...and now the solo will come just now, and now we will have a bridge, etc...."
when a new album is released you can bet that there will be at least one or several :
- irish song
- blues song
- balad
- rocking tune

and each one will be in the same mood than previous ones in previous albums..

I think that DS album were far more surprising, I mean musically.

I think that you have more ressemblances between solo songs than betwween DS song


but, as Guy said some years ago, all in all we have only 8 notes in the end... so it's almots impossible to compose something totally NEW on each album.

And I think that it's not only MK's case, it's in the whole pop-rock music, even maybe in th music in general, or even maybe in art general.

Who can said that he  recently saw/heard/read something which hasn't any ressemblance with something done in the past ?

what is the last movie, or the last song, or the last painting about we can say "wow it has never been done before !"

About pop-rock music, I think that during 60ies there was a lot of band/artists/songs, almost every days which made people thinking "hey what's that ? I've never heard such a thing ? where does it comes from ? from mars ?"

Now, it's all in the "same" style. But it doesn't mean that I don't like it 

[Banjo99uk]

Thanks! 

LE

What are you expecting from a MK album. Its the same voice, guitar and writer with more years behind him. I dont listen to DS as I enjoy MK far more these days.

[Love Expresso]

Exactly, banjo! I agree. My "thank you" was addressed to Tunnel85 for  clearing up so fast my misunderstanding if his post was fun or not. All the songs he listened I do love wholeheartedly, apart from Blood & Water...

LE

[superval99]

but, as Guy said some years ago, all in all we have only 8 notes in the end... so it's almots impossible to compose something totally NEW on each album.

And I think that it's not only MK's case, it's in the whole pop-rock music, even maybe in th music in general, or even maybe in art general.

Exactly!    That is why Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Picasso, Rembrandt etc and also MK are instantly recognisable - because they have/had their own particular style!

[dmg]

but, as Guy said some years ago, all in all we have only 8 notes in the end... so it's almots impossible to compose something totally NEW on each album.

And I think that it's not only MK's case, it's in the whole pop-rock music, even maybe in th music in general, or even maybe in art general.

Exactly!    That is why Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Picasso, Rembrandt etc and also MK are instantly recognisable - because they have/had their own particular style!

Mozart...what was it he painted again?

With the greatest of respect Val, you can hardly say something like Haul Away and Hot or What both sound the same.

I've got to say that when I read Tunnels' post a few bells started ringing and then JF put down further words that were in line with what I was thinking too.  Then, last night I wrote a little post about the merits of Comminique (the album) and, to be more precise the songs that are on it, and I'm thinking that even the ones I don't like on that album are much better IMHO than anything he's written for over a decade.  Maybe more.

I think that there are many DS songs that are well known to other people outside of the DS fan base but no one knows any MK songs.  There must be a reason for that and I know that popularity isn't a scale on which one should judge how great a song is, but when people ask "who is Mark Knopfler?" then you just know his songs aren't making any kind of impact any more. If he's "tripping over songs" then I think he should do a little housekeeping and throw out all the rubbish.

That's the cat among the pigeons - now be gentle with me please!

[superval99]

but, as Guy said some years ago, all in all we have only 8 notes in the end... so it's almots impossible to compose something totally NEW on each album.

And I think that it's not only MK's case, it's in the whole pop-rock music, even maybe in th music in general, or even maybe in art general.

Exactly!    That is why Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Picasso, Rembrandt etc and also MK are instantly recognisable - because they have/had their own particular style!

Mozart...what was it he painted again?

With the greatest of respect Val, you can hardly say something like Haul Away and Hot or What both sound the same.

"Mozart...what was it he painted again?  "

Now come on, dmg, you know what I meant!   I'm sure I don't have to spell it out to you, do I?      

Regarding "Haul Away" and "Hot or What".   No, of course they don't both sound the same, but they are both MK songs and have his particular stamp on them, which I would still recognise as MK.  You can't have it both ways, you know - either you think everything sounds the same, or not, but it is still MK, just as Mozart always sounds like Mozart, whether it be Turkish Rondo or a Piano Concerto - both completely different, but recognisable as Mozart.   

[superval99]

".... but when people ask "who is Mark Knopfler?" then you just know his songs aren't making any kind of impact any more. "


That is because his solo material is largely ignored by radio and the media these days and we are force-fed what they want us to hear, so the general public have little exposure to his music - except for DS songs!

Regarding Communique.  It is probably my favourite DS album, but there are many more MK solo songs that I enjoy just as much, or even more than the songs on Communique, but then I am more of a solo MK fan these days.   

[Love Expresso]

Yeah, that's the question: What is a good song?

For me, it is often not the same as what media/other fans/general opinion thinks - but that might have to do with my missing knowledge of music, theoretical and practical. I know what I like and like not. For example, on Get Lucky, I like the whole album, but if you would ask me, which of those songs would probably stand the test in the eyes of the experts, what would be really a good, lasting song? I would guess: Hard Shoulder, Monteleone, Get Lucky and So Far From The Clyde. At the most. But my favourite track is: Before Gas & TV, because it collects brilliantly everything that's so great about MK and what we know about him.  On Privateering, I would say: Redbud Tree, Go, Love, Seattle. These are perfect to me. Can I judge if they are compositorical great, of if they are just a clone from other MK songs? No.  And these are not automatically the ones I listen very often to: The most played tracks on Privateering for me are Miss You Blues, Seattle, I Used To Could, Gator Blood...
 
Best song on STP for me: One Last Matinee. Does anyone agree? STP itself is a masterpiece sure enough, also because he used to play it live a lot. But the track I listen to the most on STP is El Macho, Wanderlust until the end of the record...

What I want to say: It depends on what you are looking for. In listing these songs, I don't mean the others are worse but only that these could be critically acclaimed as masterpieces. If the music is great AND the melody AND the lyrics AND the guitar AND the vocals AND the rest then it might be a very good song. Otherwise it is just the usual high MK standard...
Sorry, very strange post, couldn't say it better.
dmg is right. It seems MK has not really written a true masterpiece since let's say 2000, 2002.... Really great songs are rare. Song like SFA.  And Speedway. And Brothers. MK knows why he still plays them.

Lyrics are sometimes more important to me than some compositorical ideas in a song. The best melody can turn me off when the lyrics are stupid... seldom enough in MK's world of course...

For example I never understood what was so great about If This Is Goodbye. I remember lots of high praises among fans (still MKNews then). And although I felt the sadness about the event 9/11, I never got what was so emotional about these lyrics, I found them cheesy and almost inappropiate by using these pictures "..in tatters", "..made me feel I could fly" "...what we are made out of"" when speaking about love IN RELATION to 9/11. I know of course the idea behind it but for me, one of the rare occasions where MK's lyrics really failed. Sorry to say. Also the complete mood of the chosen musical style did not fit for me. Here we are again by me not having a clue about music!

To end not on this bitter note: A positive example for how great he is a wordsmith, the lyrics of Remembrance Day come to mind. He spoke about the memorials/monuments all over the country and they often listed the names of these young men as an inspiration for it, and isn't it phantastic how he works with the picture of this monument in another incarnation: "maypole", then "steeple", and another picture first "fielding on home ground"  later "stubbled ground" - when I heard these lines first, I though I really could smell the potatoe fires in autumn... and in German, we have the word "mow down" ("niederm