Artist: MARK KNOPFLER [DIRE STRAITS]
Album: SHANGRI-LA (CD)

Year: 2004
EAN/UPS: 0602498672600
Media type: CD

Mark Knopfler's first excursions outside of Dire Straits were film soundtracks, where his guitar mastery served him well. Starting in the mid-1990s, he embarked on a proper post-Straits solo career. By the time of 2004's SHANGRI-LA, Knopfler had almost entirely left behind the expansive instrumental textures of his former band in favor of a more straight-ahead singer/songwriter approach, which works wonderfully here. Knopfler keeps things low-key throughout most of SHANGRI-LA, with quietly intoned, often drolly sardonic lyrics, supple finger-picked guitar lines, and songs full of subtly crafted surprises.

There's a wealth of unusual topics on offer here; "Boom, Like That" is a first-person monologue by Knopfler in the voice of Ray Kroc, the man behind the McDonald's fast-food empire. The bluesy "Song for Sonny Liston" chronicles the famed boxer's brushes with the underworld. "Donegan's Gone" laments the passing of British folk/skiffle pioneer Lonnie Donegan, a key influence on Knopfler and scores of other British rockers. Departing from the more folk-oriented sound of its predecessor, THE RAGPICKER'S DREAM, SHANGRI-LA more fully develops the detail-oriented, irony-laced songwriting style Knopfler first hinted at in Dire Straits tunes like "Money for Nothing."

Recording information: Shagri-La Studios, Malibu.

All songs were written by Mark Knopfler.

TRACKLIST:

1."5.15 A.M." – 5:54
2."Boom, Like That" – 5:49
3."Sucker Row" – 4:56
4."The Trawlerman's Song" – 5:02
5."Back to Tupelo" – 4:31
6."Our Shangri-La" – 5:41
7."Everybody Pays" – 5:24
8."Song for Sonny Liston" – 5:06
9."Whoop De Doo" – 3:53
10."Postcards from Paraguay" – 4:07
11."All That Matters" – 3:08
12."Stand Up Guy" – 4:32
13."Donegan's Gone" – 3:05
14."Don't Crash the Ambulance" – 5:06

LINE-UP:

Mark Knopfler (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bottleneck guitar, Spanish guitar); Mark Knopfler; Paul Franklin (pedal steel guitar); Jim Cox (harmonica, melodica, piano, organ); Glenn Worf (bass instrument, upright bass); Richard Bennett (guitar, acoustic guitar, steel guitar, tiple); Guy Fletcher (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, harmonium, Clavinet, organ, Wurlitzer organ); Chad Cromwell (drums, percussion)