I am very pleased with this box, but there are some things that I wished had been done in another way, which is a matter of personal taste, and which does not infect the joy I got from this release.
The Rainbow Show is absolutey awesome, an absolute gem, I love it from the first minute to the last. Maybe because I never was too much into bootlegs, I am stunned by the versions of Portobello Belle, Lions, Southbound Again, Six Blade Knife. Also the historical dimension, the last show in the original line-up, is worth it. This show would have been worth a separate release on it's own and it still would have been justified. I am sure it will be received very well and the Box will reach very good sales because of this show alone. It is also great to hear the band play those last few rock'n roll tracks, they really sound so tight and absolutely energetic, Pick totally stands out, fantastic occasion to hear these tracks in a phantastic quality!
Speaking of bootlegs, sometimes I pity many of you for knowing TOO much. I have the feeling that you can't enjoy music anymore as you always start to compare with all the thousand versions you have in your head. Also the nitpicking about recordings, sound, drums, mix, track lengths, missing Thank you's and all that are only spoiling the fun from my point of view. After reading this thread, I expected to listen to a total crap amateurish recording, but the whole box sounds so crystal clear that it made be literally dream back to the times I became a fan and it gave me chills and I remembered very concrete concert moments from 1991 and 1992, much more than all the MK download shows could possibly ever do, even when I had been at the shows. Dire Straits Live and MK Live is a difference as Day and Night. Tunnel of Love is really epic, what a piece of music, I totally understand that he skipped it and never played it again solo as it is the high point of Dire Straits live performance. The meaning it must have had for him personally made it his best archievment.
Guy gave the band great justice, it sounds so fresh and finally Dire Straits Live get the treatment they really deserve. This Box is something I want to spread, I want to give to anybody to listen to, something that I had not felt with any MK solo album anymore since Shangri-La 2004.
There are two things that I wished Guy had found another solution, though. All new tracks on On The Night I love very much – Sultans, sounds great, Tunnel of Love and Telegraph Road, having both is phantastic, and I am addicted to these tracks already. When It Comes to You, Two Young Lovers, all sounding very nice and fully satisfying. BUT: As you might remember, the original release had to be a single Album as Mark felt it was too close to the Alchemy double album, so they made a single album, but left space in the CD case for the Encore CD. The Encores are no encores in the literal sense, The Bug and Your Latest Trick were standard set list songs. So the term „Encore“ meant more the physical thing as an addition instead of the real „encores“.
As they made it an double CD now, they could have put the original set list order on it, it was a two hour show, so every CD could have had space for another 15 minutes, like Tunnel AND Telegraph. The new songs that only had been played occasionally like Fade to Black or I Think I Love You Too Much, would have justified a new concept of Bonus CD, f.e. On „Another“ Night, if you like. So now it is the full show but not in the right order, which is a pity. The „Encore“ CD has no special value in this box is what I want to say here. The set list of the OES tour was working very well and f.e. The Bug was at a perfect place, also Going Home as the final track would have made the new double CD much better, more complete in the artistic meaning of the word.
Also the Live At The BBC show is not a valuable addition, the Mono/Stereo argument for Tunnel of Love is not enough, as that track always felt not right on that album anyway which was called Live At The BBC and not Live in whatever. I never understood why they attached it to the show.
Alchemy is great and more complete now, I can't agree to the Portobello Belle „desaster“ argumeas I never liked that version anyway, so I am happy it was shortened. Folks should listen to the Portobello Belle from Rainbow more which is superior to the Alchemy version in my opinion.
The lack of a 1985/1986 show can only mean that we get a Brothers In Arms Jubilee Box in 2025, it must be, it would be insane to leave something from that era out and put Live At The BBC into it instead.
So, that are my thoughts. I have to tell you that I got my box at the German Media Markt for 18,99 € which I am sure was a mistake by them. (I even said at the counter „wow, that's very cheap, isn't it, and the girl only said, well yes, CDs are not that expensive anymore...“ So I think it was just karma.)
I love this Box, and I hope it opens new ways of release politics. So 2024 will see a new MK album, no tour, 2025 the BIA Box, totally plausible to me. That box hopefully contains the Wembley 1985 show both audio and Blu-Ray. It seems the end of Mark Knopflers solo career finally opens the doors for long awaited gems from the vault.
LE
