themusicaddict's Greatest CDs Of All-Time: Mark Knopfler's "Sailing To Philadelphia"

Hello,

On September 26th, 2000 one of the most unappreciated CDs of all-time, "Sailing To Philadelphia", was released. The lead singer and guitarist for Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, focuses his strengths from Dire Straits on this CD. However he doesn't remain beholden to their sound. The subtle pleasures of this CD are many. From the subtle guitar work on "Baloney Again" to his duet with James Taylor on the song "Sailing To Philadelphia" to the humor of "Do America".

I quite like the jazz inflected guitar playing on this CD. (I know that sounds incredibly pretentious, but I don't know else how to write it.) This isn't the CD for you when you want to rock. This is one of those CDs when you just want some pleasant music to relax to. This is a fantastic CD, but I don't think I could just sit down and listen to it. However every time I hear a song played randomly on iTunes, I notice how great the song is.

I could write the same comment for nearly every track, butI won't. Every song is a gentle, subtle and pleasant look into the various aspects of life.

Enjoy:

1) "Sailing To Philadelphia" (Duet With James Taylor) I'm surprised this video has over 1,000,000 views, maybe this CD isn't as obscure as I thought. And in no way should it be obscure.



2) "What It Is", this is one of the more uptempo tracks on the CD:



3) "Who's Your Baby Now", another subtle delight:



4) "Baloney Again", a seeming tongue in cheek lament:



5) "The Last Laugh" another turgid, mellow ballad:



6) "Do America" This song has a great tempo and is one of my favorite songs on the CD:



7) "El Macho", another mellow delight. I really like this song, a highlight on a CD of great songs.



8) "Prairie Wedding" a tender romantic ballad, "Do you think you can love me Mary?":



9) "Wanderlust" this is probably the mellowest song on the CD:



10) "Speedway at Nazareth":



11) "Junkie Doll", the last amazing song on this CD. The last couple of songs don't quite measure up to the rest of the CD.



12) "Silvertown Blues":



13) "Sands Of Nevada":



While Mark Knopfler has released other CDs, so far he hasn't made another CD of this caliber. Although I did listen to "Get Lucky" on Spotify yesterday and that was a decent album.

themusicaddict