Sailing To Philadelphia

It seems he has left the stadium behind, the massive crowds and light shows, the need for showing how great a guitarplayer he is. What remains now is the necessity to write good songs, built on straightforward but layered lyrics and a brilliantly understated guitarstyle that suits the songs.

"Sailing to Philadelphia" is a beautiful collection of Knopfleresque more-than-meets-the-ear songs. Its music tells you the story of American music in Europe and vice-versa: Knopfler effortlessly blends country, blues, rock and soul - his trademark works better than ever - without sounding forced at all. The voices of Van Morrisson ("The last laugh") and Gillian Welch ("Speedway at Nazareth") fit the album perfectly in this way.

My personal favourite, however, is the album's title song, featuring James Taylor: this softly adventurous song sounds like a small boat has just come ashore on a clear morning. It sums up what makes this album so wonderful. Knopfler's and Taylor's voices contrast and blend at the same time, telling the story of Mason and Dixon, starting on an adventure in the big unknown America. The guitars tell a story too, though: a tremelo guitar reminds us of country, a soft acoustic one brings in folk. Still, Mark's Stratocaster determines the sound, and his simple but heartfelt notes respond lyrically to the song's themes.

STP is a big improvement over "Golden Heart" in terms of sound. Whereas GH still lingers between a folk and rock sound which may be compared to the Strait's last one "On every street", STP sounds much more natural and acoustic, less searched for. It suits the songs perfectly.

If you are willing to follow Mark on his journey now that he has left the Straits behind and see where he is heading, this album is a great start. You will not regret it.

"Sailing to Philadelphia" is a wonderful piece of storytelling, not only in Mark Knopfler's lyrics and vocals but, even more so, in the album's amazingly beautiful instrumentation. This is no record for those who are only into fast, harsh tunes; although in songs like "Baloney Again," "Junkie Doll," and "Silvertown Blues" Knopfler does take issue with modern society and its problems. More than anything, however, this album is a voyage - through time and space, from ancient Scottish citadels to 19th and 20th century America, and through musical styles ranging from blues to rock to folk to country; shining in its understated style as only Mark Knopfler's music can.

While "What It Is," the first track on the CD, is obviously reminiscent of the early Dire Straits, Knopfler said during his 2001 tour in support of the album that the song's intro and theme were actually (at least partly subconsciously) inspired by one of the Scottish folk songs he used to hear as a little boy in Glasgow. And indeed, it is hard not to picture Blue Bonnets (Over the Border) when you hear him sing about that Scottish piper standing alone high up on the parapet and the highland drums that are beginning to roll, all the while the garrison sleeps in the citadel "and something from the past just comes and stares into my soul."

From the cold tollgates of Caledonia, Mark Knopfler takes us to Durham and Northumberland and the coaly Tyne (where his own family moved from Glasgow, too, when he was still very young), and introduces us to Pynchon's heroes, the "Geordie boy" Dixon and Mason, the "baker's boy from the west country." While in many respects the guitar play in this song is vintage Knopfler, you can almost hear the waves of the Delaware River flowing out of the instrument. James Taylor's vocals, of course, are an ideal embodiment of Mason's character, and they perfectly compliment Knopfler's own voice which, it almost seems, has never been better than now.

"Prairie Wedding," the only love song of the album, carries on the theme of "A Night In Summer Long Ago" from 1996's "Golden Heart" - the poor medieval Scottish knight has become a 19th century farmer somewhere out on the American prairies, but he still takes his queen from the train station in the small town where she has arrived up the home trail, stunned by her beauty, embarrassed by the simplicity of his own circumstances and wondering, "Do you think that you could love me Mary? You think we got a chance of a life?" (Compare the last verse of " Night In Summer Long Ago:" "Then I did lead you from the hall and we did ride upon the hill, away beyond the city wall, and sure you are my lady still. A night in summer long ago the stars were falling from the sky and still, my heart, I have to know, why do you love me, Lady, why?")

In modern-day America, Knopfler takes up the themes of black migrant workers in "Baloney Again," of a race car driver's tour from Indie track to Indie track and from accident to accident ("but at the Speedway At Nazareth I made no mistake"), and of the "tables haunted by the ghosts of Las Vegas" and the "Sands of Nevada [which] go drifting away." And as always, the song's instrumentation and Knopfler's dark and coarse rendition of the lyrics are a masterful portrayal of the desolation of a Nevada ghost town and a gambler who has met his fate there ("in a wasteland of cut glass my dreams have all crumbled, and I've paid with whatever I had left for a soul.")

The album was released in three different versions, with only the British version containing all fourteen songs Knopfler intended to include on it. ("One More Matinee" was considered inappropriate for the American market, "Do America" omitted on the version published in continental Europe.) Thus true fans are well-advised to make a point of obtaining the album's British edition. Yet, regardless which version you buy: This is Mark Knopfler at his best, featuring guest appearances not only by James Taylor but also by Van Morrison (in "The Last Laugh"), Gillian Welch (in "Prairie Wedding" and "Speedway At Nazareth") and many other artists; including, of course, "honorary 96er" Paul Franklin.

Since the release of "Sailing to Philadelphia," Mark Knopfler has geared down again and changed pace for his most recent solo album, "Ragpicker's Dream," an acoustic diamond in the rough; thus proving yet again his versatility and his aversion to being type-cast. But regardless which aspect of Knopfler's amazing musical talent you appreciate most: This album will doubtlessly continue to shine as one of the brightest stars in the firmament of his creativity.