No Tour with the new album.

[Robson]

"Just to think some artists would finally assemble together and realise how many great songs MK wrote. On par, or even more than Simon!"

Exactly!

[dustyvalentino]

Just to think some artists would finally assemble together and realise how many great songs MK wrote. On par, or even more than Simon!

Everything is of course subjective but there are very few people in the world who would try to argue the case that Mark Knopfler is a better songwriter than Paul Simon I feel.

[quizzaciously]

Just to think some artists would finally assemble together and realise how many great songs MK wrote. On par, or even more than Simon!

Everything is of course subjective but there are very few people in the world who would try to argue the case that Mark Knopfler is a better songwriter than Paul Simon I feel.

Yeah, I guess so. Mark as we all know is far from fame and not a fan of this whole "recognition" thing, as in Tribute concerts, Hall of Fame inductions, etc.

If Mark wanted to, he could become somebody who can "rival" the likes of Paul Simon. I mean what's the DRAMATIC difference between "Silvertown Blues" and "Graceland"? Both songs are so similar, in the use of backing singers, bluesy backbone, naming after a geographic location, storytelling, etc. And yet, "Silvertown" is just another "obscured" solo MK song, and "Graceland" is a renowned masterpiece that everybody knows. So it's really, really, really subjective.

Both of them wrote iconic songs and were in big bands, but Paul Simon is definitely far more comfortable with fame and recognition than MK, and it's what he gets. However, I would argue that Mark's consistency and quality control are absolutely unrivalled. The man's got no writer's block in 50 years!

[Robson]

Just to think some artists would finally assemble together and realise how many great songs MK wrote. On par, or even more than Simon!

Everything is of course subjective but there are very few people in the world who would try to argue the case that Mark Knopfler is a better songwriter than Paul Simon I feel.

Yeah, I guess so. Mark as we all know is far from fame and not a fan of this whole "recognition" thing, as in Tribute concerts, Hall of Fame inductions, etc.

If Mark wanted to, he could become somebody who can "rival" the likes of Paul Simon. I mean what's the DRAMATIC difference between "Silvertown Blues" and "Graceland"? Both songs are so similar, in the use of backing singers, bluesy backbone, naming after a geographic location, storytelling, etc. And yet, "Silvertown" is just another "obscured" solo MK song, and "Graceland" is a renowned masterpiece that everybody knows. So it's really, really, really subjective.

Both of them wrote iconic songs and were in big bands, but Paul Simon is definitely far more comfortable with fame and recognition than MK, and it's what he gets. However, I would argue that Mark's consistency and quality control are absolutely unrivalled. The man's got no writer's block in 50 years!

The man's got no writer's block in 50 years!

I agree with every word.

[dustyvalentino]

Neither has Paul Simon and he's been going much longer.

There's a thing called "nose blind" - where you can get so used to the smell in a house that you are oblivious to it.

I think some people around here have become "MK" blind to the extent that they are delusional about his standing in terms of this stuff.

Yes it is all subjective but there is critical and popular consensus and trying to argue that MK is a better songwriter than Paul Simon would get you laughed out of any room in the world!

[qjamesfloyd]

Everything about music is subjective. Elton John is considered one if the greatest ever songwriters, but he does nothing for me, I only like one of his songs, but ask an Elton John fan and they might say the same about Mark Knopfler, who is right? Who is wrong? Hendrix is one of the greatest guitarists ever, but he does nothing for me, Mike Oldfield is far better in my view, but that is the point, it's an opinion, not something you can measure.

[JF]

Neither has Paul Simon and he's been going much longer.

There's a thing called "nose blind" - where you can get so used to the smell in a house that you are oblivious to it.

I think some people around here have become "MK" blind to the extent that they are delusional about his standing in terms of this stuff.

Yes it is all subjective but there is critical and popular consensus and trying to argue that MK is a better songwriter than Paul Simon would get you laughed out of any room in the world!

100 agree especially "I think some people around here have become "MK" blind to the extent that they are delusional about his standing in terms of this stuff. "

I said it many times, but I like to repeat myself : MK is my favorite artist, but I don't consider him as the greatest genius of all time

[quizzaciously]

Neither has Paul Simon and he's been going much longer.

There's a thing called "nose blind" - where you can get so used to the smell in a house that you are oblivious to it.

I think some people around here have become "MK" blind to the extent that they are delusional about his standing in terms of this stuff.

Yes it is all subjective but there is critical and popular consensus and trying to argue that MK is a better songwriter than Paul Simon would get you laughed out of any room in the world!

100 agree especially "I think some people around here have become "MK" blind to the extent that they are delusional about his standing in terms of this stuff. "

I said it many times, but I like to repeat myself : MK is my favorite artist, but I don't consider him as the greatest genius of all time

Quality of songs, quantity of songs, commercial success, popularity, awards and recognition, everything is independent. You can write shitty songs and still be rich and famous, hundreds of artists are living proof of this today.

I'm not blind, I'm just looking at the whole picture. How prolific the songwriter is, how many album fillers he's got, what their fans care about, who they are, how his playing live compares to album versions, etc.

In my opinion, Mark gets high points in every single category, hence you can become "MK blind". But it's true, he's really good. Not the best singer, not the best songwriter, not the best guitar player, not the best anything, but boy he's so good overall.

Any time you discuss music with somebody and mention MK, they go like "ahhhh, yes, this guy is the best", even though nobody mentioned his work in the whole conversation. That's exactly what he wants, it's exactly what he gets — being a subtle, discreet genius, as opposed to certain Nobel Prize laureates and knighted fellows.

[quizzaciously]

Imagine something like this with MK and Harry just geeking about old Range Rovers or something. Man, sometimes I wish Mark would be more prominent on the Internet.

[2manyguitars]

I think you have to take into account that in the UK we treat our successful musical exports differently than they do in America.

If Mark was American his work would be far more lauded than it is....

[JF]

Any time you discuss music with somebody and mention MK, they go like "ahhhh, yes, this guy is the best", even though nobody mentioned his work in the whole conversation.

  really ?
I never had the case personnally...

[quizzaciously]

Any time you discuss music with somebody and mention MK, they go like "ahhhh, yes, this guy is the best", even though nobody mentioned his work in the whole conversation.

  really ?
I never had the case personnally...

It's actually even worse than that. I remember when I was in school in the mid-2000s, in the whole school only 2 people knew who MK was, and 1 of them was me, and another knew it because I told him so. I remember the sheer shock of meeting the first MK fan in person when you could finally discuss this music with somebody not on the internet, wow. It's not like Russia was living under a rock back then, Mark actually already played there two times by 2005.

So it happens all the time, not only in online discussions, but Mark also rarely gets ranked and mentioned in big YouTuber videos. Like the video "20 best odd tuning songs", or "20 best acoustic guitar intros", and Romeo And Juliet is missing in all of them. What's wrong with this world? At least Rick Beato mentioned Money For Nothing as the #1 electric guitar riff on the planet, which is probably true, so at least that's something.

I know it's all stupid and unrelevant, and lists and ratings are just a bunch of BS, but I speak to MK fans regularly thanks to my lessons, and we all can't help but notice how underappreciated Mark is. But I already told a million times it's probably because he doesn't want to be overly appreciated and discussed in the first place.

Heck, even my lessons are a huge factor in that. Should Mark be more popular and appreciated, there would be a good hundred channels like mine teaching and discussing his music, and not a bunch of nerds you can count using only one hand. At least there are quite a few tribute bands playing his music live.

[quizzaciously]

I think you have to take into account that in the UK we treat our successful musical exports differently than they do in America.

If Mark was American his work would be far more lauded than it is....

Thank heavens Mark's not American! Seems like his friend Sting finally transformed into an American with his living in New York all these years. But Mark is still so wonderfully British. Don't get me wrong, I don't want this to change. This flying-under-radars thing suits MK fine.

[dustyvalentino]

I think you have to take into account that in the UK we treat our successful musical exports differently than they do in America.

If Mark was American his work would be far more lauded than it is....

I don't really think that is the case. You can easily roll off a list of British musicians who are highly lauded everywhere, McCartney, Jagger, Bowie, Sting, Annie Lennox, Clapton and Van Morrison, although the shine has come off the last two in recent years for non musical reasons.

[quizzaciously]

I think you have to take into account that in the UK we treat our successful musical exports differently than they do in America.

If Mark was American his work would be far more lauded than it is....

I don't really think that is the case. You can easily roll off a list of British musicians who are highly lauded everywhere, McCartney, Jagger, Bowie, Sting, Annie Lennox, Clapton and Van Morrison, although the shine has come off the last two in recent years for non musical reasons.

Well, all these guys would be popular anyway, should they emerge from anywhere on Earth, or extraterrestrial places for that matter. It's more impressive to me how somebody like ABBA can become a global phenomenon with their humble Swedish beginnings. But fame really sucks. I remember Sting said the only place he wasn't recognised all the time was something like the Tibetan Plateau of all places. That's why he lives in New York City, probably the only place on Earth where nobody cares about celebrities as they're everywhere. And so you can get why Mark is trying to battle his fame with all the ammunition he's got.