Mark Knopfler

Sailing To Philadelphia

On Every Street II?

Review Score:

(6/10)
If On Every Street were a double album, this could be the second disc. Same formula - countrified, downbeat take on Dire Straits - and in the important spots, pretty much the same line up of musicians - Pedal Steel whizz Paul Franklin and keyboard man Guy Fletcher in particular loom large.

There are some things Mark Knopfler does increasingly well as he gets older, and other things he just gets worse and worse at.

On the credit side, his guitar technique - and the tastefulness with which he employs it - postively blossoms on every outing.
From fairly one dimensional Richard Thompson impersonator back in 1976, Knopfler has prescribed an arc through Rock God via blues purity and Nashville flash he now heads ever more down the country/folk lane, and when in this mode, as he is on half the record, this is a fine outing. Over his 25 years in the business he's cultivated a superbly gravelly voice, too, and on the back half of this disc - most notably Prairie Wedding and Wanderlust - it all comes together in quite the Epihany.

On the negative side, he doesn't seem to be able to shake his propensity for duff lyrics with arcane subject matter and silly up tempo pop-rock songs. Even in the first Dire Straits LP Knopfler felt compelled to sing (amongst other things, admittedly) about predatory art dealers, and here he corals James Taylor to help him sing about the Mason Dixon Line. It's just not very rock 'n' roll.

Knopfler really can't rock out - and as a 50 something, nor should he; he should leave the growing old disgracefully to those who have earned the privilege, like Mr. Richards - and in Do America he proves that he's only getting worse at it. On Brothers in Arms it was the passable Money For Nothing; On Every Street had the somewhat wry Heavy Fuel; Golden Heart the fairly silly Imelda; Do America is thoroughly forgettable. Worse than forgettable, actually, because it interrupts the mood of studied cool that the album otherwise sets up.

Final analysis: The hard core fans will love it, the mainstream record buying public will, as usual, ignore it, and enough cafes and brasserie restaurants will pick it up to guarantee Mark can afford a new scooter to replace the one he was recently knocked off. Everyone wins.

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