Hi everyone,
I've never posted on here before, I'm just a lurker, but this thread piqued my interest quite a bit so I wanted to throw my two cents in.
I'm quite a new fan of Mark's work, so if I had to guess why my opinion might differ so heavily to everyone's here, it would be that. Personally as if shifted through Mark's solo discography over this year (yes that's how recent of a fan I am, I'm very late to the party) I've found his catalogue is beautiful and quite diverse which I'm sure isn't very groundbreaking to say. However, I find a real standout to me has always been the tracker album, especially the songs Basil, River Towns, and Silver Eagle. Yes, it's not his most musically interesting or technical album, but I find a lot of beauty in its retrospective atmosphere and storytelling.
Again I'm a new fan, I think it has a lot to do with why I feel like, "Oh wow this is incredible!" whereas I've gathered most of the people who regularly post on here have been living with his music for decades and have watched every album slowly trickle out. I can understand my opinion isn't worth much but I thought maybe a fresh-faced perspective on Mark's music would also be interesting to some of you. I'm certainly not trying to change anyone's mind on whether Mark still has the so-called "wow factor" but he definitely has a new fan in me and it's been a joy discovering his music.