MARK KNOPFLER
The Studio Albums 1996–2007 UNIVERSAL
Nick Lowe: the country craft years
7/10
Dire Straits mainman’s first five solo albums get the boxset treatment
Few major bands have fallen so totally out of fashion as Dire Straits, which has meant that Knopfler’s rather excellent solo output has perhaps received less acclaim than it deserves. On 1996’s Golden Heart he was still basically in “Money For Nothing” mode, but 2000’s Sailing To Philadelphia was more expansive, with guest appearances by James Taylor and Van Morrison. Then on The Ragpicker’s Dream (2002) and Shangri-La (2004) he stepped away from stadium rock tropes to embrace country music and reposition himself as a cross between JJ Cale and Chet Atkins. The folky Kill To Get Crimson (2007), which came on the back of a superb collaborative set with Emmylou Harris (sadly not included here), is perhaps the best of all. It seems inappropriate to call someone who sold 100 million records underrated, but in an odd way it’s not untrue.