Date: Fri 12-Apr-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-12

Quick Words:

Album-Knopfler-Golden-Dire

Full Text:

(rev album "Golden Heart" by Mark Knopfler, 4/12/96)

Album Review-

Knopfler's Heart Is Full of Memories

By Shannon Hicks

Mark Knopfler hasn't necessarily bowed out of Dire Straits, one of the

biggest-selling (85 million albums sold worldwide) and longest-standing (19

years and counting) rock bands of all time, and Golden Heart may not be his

first non-Dire Straits project, but it does mark the first piece of work from

the multifarious musician since listeners last heard from Dire Straits, whose

most recent album was released over five years ago.

Knopfler has a long-established reputation as a soundtrack composer ( Cal ,

The Princess Bride , Last Exit to Brooklyn ). His first "outside" project was

in creating the score for the motion picture Cal , 14 years ago.

Golden Heart now gives Knopfler fans another chance to relish the

singer-songwriter's broad-ranging talents.

Work on Golden Heart began following the two-year world tour for Dire Straits'

most recent group effort, On Every Street . Knopfler is keeping mum on whether

or not Golden Heart marks the end of the band.

Initial sessions were held in Dublin, the sound of which comes through in the

opening pipes of the album. Even before learning the instruments used in the

intro to the album's first cut, "Darling Pretty," include a whistle, an Irish

harp and a bouzouki (a long-necked stringed instrument which resembles a

mandolin), the haunting but lovely sounds are unmistakably Irish in influence,

if not origin. Golden Heart was recorded principally in Dublin and Nashville

over a two-year period, allowing Knopfler to take the time to hone the results

on this project while also working on others.

Drawing from his own traditional music background, Knopfler used childhood

memories, and what he calls "border music" he heard constantly during his

childhood, as a strong influence into Golden Heart 's songs. He culled

memories of Tyneside songs and Scottish music heard as a boy when writing some

of these songs, including album opener "Darling Pretty" and "A Night in Summer

Long Ago." The latter includes music created on Uillean pipes, as well as the

unusual instruments mentioned earlier.

The album features contributions from the likes of Sean Keane and Derek Bell

(The Chieftans), Paul Brady, Sonny Landreth, Michael Doucet, Steve Conn,

country superstar Vince Gill and long-time cohort Guy Fletcher.

Unlike soundtrack works of the past, this album by Knopfler features more than

instrumental songs. This may be the only drawback, for some, in buying an

album that is a solo project by Mark Knopfler and not another Dire Straits

release.

Being a chief word and music man for Dire Straits for nearly twenty years,

comparisons cannot help but be made between this fine collection of work -

Knopfler's solo effort - and any number of Straits tunes over the last two

decades. So as good as it is own its own merit, Golden Heart 's title song,

and others on the album, fall into this category.

But if listeners can get over the fact that Knopfler is flying on his own

these days - regardless of whether it is for the moment or for good - there is

a lot of good music to enjoy here. Knopfler's story-telling fashion ranges

from romantic stories to ones that rock.

Plans are in the works for a British and European tour supporting Golden Heart

, with Knopfler accompanied by a five-piece band composed of the heart of the

album's musicians. At press time, there was no word yet of an American tour.