David Knopfler music

[Buckle-meister]

Dear all,

I was just doing a search for Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits albums available on DVD-A/SACD when I came across this:

http://www.knopfler.com/

Has anybody ever heard David Knopfler? Any good?

Regards

 

[mkossler]

You could try the song A Clear Day (St. Swithun's Day) day by David on his Wishbones album as a good example of his style. It's very good - although the lyrics are a touch uninspired, it's in my listening rotation.

I think you'll hear that his influences and style are clearly the same as Mark's, especially his earlier work. I don't find him as inspired or talented as Mark, but then again I don't find many people, period, that are. AFAIK, David was on the original Dire Straits album, before he and Mark parted ways.

 

[Buckle-meister]

Thanks

Your response reminded me that I could listen to (approximately) 30 second samples of each song from the album at amazon.com. I have just listened to the entire album.

Hmm...

Seems (from what little I can glean from 30 seconds/song) to be a case of 'more lyrics and less guitar'.

Regards

 

[Lulu]

Dear all,

I was just doing a search for Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits albums available on DVD-A/SACD when I came across this:

http://www.knopfler.com/

Has anybody ever heard David Knopfler? Any good?

Regards

I have come to prefer David's music to Mark's. Mark is a better guitar player, but honestly, his lyrics have become somewhat insipid, haven't they? Both brothers are incredibly talented. David's music is much more like Dire Straits was (great melodies and story-driven lyrics - it's like Dire Straits never went anywhere) whereas Mark, in my opinion, seems to have fallen into a country/bossa nova funk. The only way I can explain the way I feel about the difference in the brothers is David still sounds spiritually hungry whereas Mark sounds fat and lazy to me. David's CDs Wishbones is a good place to start - it's amazing, and can be found at iTunes.

 

[Buckle-meister]

I have come to prefer David's music to Mark's.

Blasphemy!


By the way, you're not the real LuLu are you?!

Regards

 

[Lulu]

Blasphemy!


By the way, you're not the real LuLu are you?!

Regards

Listen, it's great to find another Knopfler fan. I absolutely ADORE Mark Knopfler, but I'm full of tough love when it comes to his music because I feel he's been phoning-in his albums the past few years. I still buy everything he releases, even the soundtracks, and lots of stuff he guests on.

David just seems to speak to my heart and my need for poignant, well-crafted, innovative Dire Straits-ish music, and Mark seems to be branching off into other areas, which is certainly his prerogative. And for guitar virtuosity, nobody can hold a candle to Mark. And every once in awhile he still hits a homerun. I still thrill when I hear songs like "On Every Street."

As for being the real Lulu - I wish. Have you heard her recently? Her voice only gets better with time!

 

[Buckle-meister]

Listen, it's great to find another Knopfler fan. I absolutely ADORE Mark Knopfler, but I'm full of tough love when it comes to his music because I feel he's been phoning-in his albums the past few years.

I would have to rate Mark Knopfler my favourite artist, and I can't see that changing anytime soon. For me, he has only gotten better and better with time. I understand what you mean about his lyrics, but then, without being sexist; that's a chick thing! . For example, have you ever noticed that girls almost always know the lyrics to songs, but that many, if not most guys do not? It's simple really:

Girls listen to the lyrics, guys listen to the sound.

If the lyrics of a song mean something to a girl, she'll love the song. I personally couldn't tell you half the lyrics of Mark Knopfler's/Dire Strait's songs even though I've heard them many many times, but I do know every beat of the drum, every pluck of the string down to the smallest detail.

I prefer Mark Knopfler's newer material because as a guy, I'm attracted to the instruments more than the voice, and lets face it; whilst he certainly has a distinctive voice, it's hardly his strong point. His skill with a guitar however, is truly exceptional. Heck, fully half of some of his songs are just solo's. For me, this equates to audio nirvana!

I still buy everything he releases, even the soundtracks, and lots of stuff he guests on.

Guest stuff?, what guest stuff?

David just seems to speak to my heart and my need for poignant...

As for being the real Lulu - I wish. Have you heard her recently? Her voice only gets better with time!

Oh please! And you were doing so well there! LuLu?! Ugh! She now does a slot on BBC Radio 2 on Sunday afternoons. You can listen to her over the web here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/

As soon as she comes on, she goes off!

Regards

 

[mkossler]

My 2 pence

Hmm. I do like David's work, but I don't really think he compares favorably to Mark. David's style is very similar, like LuLu said very close to old-school Dire Straits, but I never saw the absolute mastery of poetry and the depth of emotion (that he can convey in that gravelly, understated way) that has been typically displayed by Mark. In a nutshell, the difference for me is that I enjoy David as background music, but I enjoy Mark when I'm giving the performance my full attention.

Do I find everything that Mark has done to be of the first water? Not at all. His body of work, however, and consistency over the years in delivering some of the very best the genre has to offer, has few equals. I admire his desire to investigate different sounds and styles; I loved his work with Chet Atkins, and would like to melt every last copy of I Want My MTV *grits teeth*.

David I again find consistent, but unchanging over time to any significant degree. He also seems (to me) to struggle at times with his lryics, sometimes falling back on almost cliche turns of phrase that may go over well enough from a rythmic perspective, but fit poorly with the flow of the song's message. Again, that's just my opinion.

FWIW, my all-time favorite for Mark solo is still Sailing to Philadelphia. For Dire Straits, the unbelieveable, uncomparable Love Over Gold.

Cheers!

Matty K.

 

[Buckle-meister]

I loved his work with Chet Atkins, and would like to melt every last copy of I Want My MTV.

Oh I don't know; whilst I rarely listen to Money for Nothing (give your chicklets to me! ), I think that it an ok song.

FWIW, my all-time favorite for Mark solo is still Sailing to Philadelphia. For Dire Straits, the unbelieveable, uncomparable Love Over Gold.

Funny story about the Soundtrack to 'Sailing to Philadelphia'. I had listened to the CD in the shop to see if it was worth buying. Apart from the song 'Sailing to Philadelphia', I wasn't impressed and so didn't buy the CD. After some time though, I remembered how much I liked that song, so decided to go and buy the CD just for it (I've done this quite a few times). After getting it home and skipping through the various songs, I confirmed that I still only liked 'Sailing to Philadelphia' and that was that. Then, about a couple of months ago, I just let the CD run it's course and you know what? I now rate that CD my favourite of any Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler CD's!!! Weird huh?!!!

My favourite Dire Straits Album is probably 'Communique', although 'Love over Gold' is a very close second. I also find though, that my favourite tends to shift with each new Mark Knopfler album that is released. First it was 'Golden Heart', then 'The Ragpickers Dream', then 'Shangri-la'.

But for me, 'Sailing to Philadelphia' takes the biscuit; especially the track 'Speedway at Nazareth'. It's an absolute monster of a song.

Regards

 

[Lulu]

I think my favorite Knopfler song ever is "Golden Heart".