SPOILERS: John Illsley will publish a book about Dire Straits

[hunter]

It sounds more like Eric Clapton than DS, I think. Nice track, and cool guitar playing. Robbie?

It just has to be Robbie doesn't it?!

Sounds like it.

[quizzaciously]

John has written and published a book, then written, recorded and released a new album, before Mark has even had a full band in the studio    Guy wrote that the album has no timeline, so I should do as Mark sings, Let it all go... 
Johns new song is nice! Go John! 

Van Morrison released 2 or 3 albums by this time

But of course, with Mark, you'll get an album with a completely different level of quality over the rest.

[MagicElliott]

John has written and published a book, then written, recorded and released a new album, before Mark has even had a full band in the studio    Guy wrote that the album has no timeline, so I should do as Mark sings, Let it all go... 
Johns new song is nice! Go John! 

Van Morrison released 2 or 3 albums by this time

But of course, with Mark, you'll get an album with a completely different level of quality over the rest.

I do sometimes wonder how many folk who purchase his solo albums appreciate the quality. I suspect I don’t for one. My ears are not as good as Mark and Guy’s and so I wouldn’t be as “fussy” (for want of a better word.)
Part of me questions whether they take this much time mainly for their benefit or to get good feedback from others with excellent ears (Glyn Johns etc)

[dustyvalentino]

It’s not just the sound quality though, it’s the whole package.

The arrangements, choice of personnel, choice of instrumentation etc

At the end of the day you can’t polish a doo do and if the song isn’t good this stuff doesn’t matter, but a tremendous amount of care goes into an MK album clearly.

[NicoMK]

My idea is that MK and co could record the same album in half the time if they wanted -- covid appart. Thing is, MK likes to take his time and it's perfectly fine I suppose. But we all have albums (big names or not) recorded much faster and which sound as good as Mark's. Just my opinion. 

[dustyvalentino]

Everybody works differently.

Sorry to bring it back to The Beatles again, but they were recording two albums a year in the 60s!

[Knopflerfan]

John has written and published a book, then written, recorded and released a new album, before Mark has even had a full band in the studio    Guy wrote that the album has no timeline, so I should do as Mark sings, Let it all go... 
Johns new song is nice! Go John! 

 I'm not taking anything away from Dear John, but personally his music is not as crafted as MKs so of course John can churn out a few more albums than MKs. MKs albums are complete work of arts and are not just an album of ornate tunes, they actually all tell a story...just my thoughts..

[Love Expresso]

To me, it's pretty obvious a lack of inspiration which takes him so long. It's not good for Mark's output to lock in with Guy alone for months, fiddle around with all kind of nonsense gear and and try to find inspiration that way. Also his song writing has become more of a habit than real art during the last decade, it seems he doesn't know what else to do with his time. Sometimes time frames are good for creativity. When he was in rented studios, the work was much more concentrated and therefore the output was better - from my point of view of course. He should change Guy, change the band, change the studio. Ragpicker was recorded in a very short time compared to everything after and seems to be his best one still.

That last wherever album was testament to an artist not having new ideas, polished by a Guy (pun intended) who dreams of doing his own stuff but lacking creativity. It was never so clear to me that MK has lost interest after that last album.

I really don't even expect anything from this new effort. I used to hope for surprises but today it's just fear that it gets even more cringe. For me, Tracker was a good album with some outstanding tracks. I loved listen to it complete and enjoyed it very much. With the tour things were already getting worse. He should have stopped after that.

LE
 

[Love Expresso]

To get back to the topic more, I listened to the track Toe The Line yesterday and wondered if John really played that guitar? Do we know who played it?

I also found out that I like his compositions and the nod to Dire Straits sound very much but cannot stand his vocal style. I appreciate it very much that he keeps going on recording though.

LE

[Knopflerfan]

I agree with you wholeheartedly LE, although some not all tracks on the last few albums are good and are really quite classic MK. It will be very interesting to see what does appear on the latest offering from British Grove. I hope it's not too Guy orientated but I suspect it will be...

[Knopflerfan]

To get back to the topic more, I listened to the track Toe The Line yesterday and wondered if John really played that guitar? Do we know who played it?

I also found out that I like his compositions and the nod to Dire Straits sound very much but cannot stand his vocal style. I appreciate it very much that he keeps going on recording though.

LE

Toe the line is indeed a great track and have always presumed John did play the guitar part....

[NicoMK]

To me, it's pretty obvious a lack of inspiration which takes him so long. It's not good for Mark's output to lock in with Guy alone for months, fiddle around with all kind of nonsense gear and and try to find inspiration that way. Also his song writing has become more of a habit than real art during the last decade, it seems he doesn't know what else to do with his time. Sometimes time frames are good for creativity. When he was in rented studios, the work was much more concentrated and therefore the output was better - from my point of view of course. He should change Guy, change the band, change the studio. Ragpicker was recorded in a very short time compared to everything after and seems to be his best one still.

That last wherever album was testament to an artist not having new ideas, polished by a Guy (pun intended) who dreams of doing his own stuff but lacking creativity. It was never so clear to me that MK has lost interest after that last album.

I really don't even expect anything from this new effort. I used to hope for surprises but today it's just fear that it gets even more cringe. For me, Tracker was a good album with some outstanding tracks. I loved listen to it complete and enjoyed it very much. With the tour things were already getting worse. He should have stopped after that.

LE

It's a bit harsh but I understand what you mean. To his credit, Mark has been doing music for the last, what, 50 years ? It's really difficult to reinvent oneself over the years… I can't imagine myself doing the same stuff for 50 years and keep it fresh all the time, even if what I do for a living is my passion (and I'd be lucky if it were the case).

Mark still produces quality albums, whether we like them or not. What he's done after Get lucky is not quite my cup of tea but it's still quality music, especially when you consider the tons of sh*t on air these days.

[peterromer]

Does John ever mention anything in the book about him having written a song back in the DS days, that was close to becoming a track on one of the DS albums ?
I mean John published Never Told a Soul (1984) and Glass (1988) before the end of DS.

[quizzaciously]

To me, it's pretty obvious a lack of inspiration which takes him so long. It's not good for Mark's output to lock in with Guy alone for months, fiddle around with all kind of nonsense gear and and try to find inspiration that way. Also his song writing has become more of a habit than real art during the last decade, it seems he doesn't know what else to do with his time. Sometimes time frames are good for creativity. When he was in rented studios, the work was much more concentrated and therefore the output was better - from my point of view of course. He should change Guy, change the band, change the studio. Ragpicker was recorded in a very short time compared to everything after and seems to be his best one still.

That last wherever album was testament to an artist not having new ideas, polished by a Guy (pun intended) who dreams of doing his own stuff but lacking creativity. It was never so clear to me that MK has lost interest after that last album.

I really don't even expect anything from this new effort. I used to hope for surprises but today it's just fear that it gets even more cringe. For me, Tracker was a good album with some outstanding tracks. I loved listen to it complete and enjoyed it very much. With the tour things were already getting worse. He should have stopped after that.

LE

I think this is true to some extent. I believe Mark is very lucky since he discovered his main talent and still develop it after 50 years. You can do it for the rest of your life as many people did, leaving their newest works unfinished when they died, so I don't think what's happening with MK is a lack of inspiration. I think the guy never had a single day of writing block and is the most consistent songwriter I know.

He's just in an extremely peculiar position right now, I can imagine how he feels. A couple of his closest relatives recently died, as well as some of his friends, his touring is either dead or alive, nobody knows, he struggles with playing, yet he obviously wants more time to spend with his family but also writing songs, time moves away faster and faster. Everybody expects another brilliant album from him, filled with great songs, another staple of great recording and mixing, so the pressure on him is going all over the place from every conceivable angle.

As I'm not a fan of Guy's overproduction, I wish they would turn back to simpler recording but I don't this is even possible in Mark's own studio because they have everything in this world. Everything, except time! So, given these extreme conditions, I reckon the next album will be Mark's best one, or at least as best as he is able to do at the moment, so I'd rather wait for as long as needed, even if it will be out in 2025.

[Robson]

To me, it's pretty obvious a lack of inspiration which takes him so long. It's not good for Mark's output to lock in with Guy alone for months, fiddle around with all kind of nonsense gear and and try to find inspiration that way. Also his song writing has become more of a habit than real art during the last decade, it seems he doesn't know what else to do with his time. Sometimes time frames are good for creativity. When he was in rented studios, the work was much more concentrated and therefore the output was better - from my point of view of course. He should change Guy, change the band, change the studio. Ragpicker was recorded in a very short time compared to everything after and seems to be his best one still.

That last wherever album was testament to an artist not having new ideas, polished by a Guy (pun intended) who dreams of doing his own stuff but lacking creativity. It was never so clear to me that MK has lost interest after that last album.

I really don't even expect anything from this new effort. I used to hope for surprises but today it's just fear that it gets even more cringe. For me, Tracker was a good album with some outstanding tracks. I loved listen to it complete and enjoyed it very much. With the tour things were already getting worse. He should have stopped after that.

LE

No inspiration? I cannot agree with that. It's always worth waiting for the new MK album