1982 (Vertigo)
“Love Over Gold” is my favorite Dire Straits album and that is due to that fantastic opening track. The 14-minute Telegraph Road is full of wonderful organ work by Alan Clark and he also knows how to play the piano perfectly. Mark Knopfler himself is really going out of his wits with his typical way of playing guitar, in which he does not strike the strings of his instrument with a plectrum but with a kind of fingerpicking technique. In the meantime, he sings happily with his characteristic, somewhat monotonous voice, while being supported by the great rhythm section consisting of bassist John Illsley and drummer Pick Withers. There is also an additional guitarist present in the person of Hal Lindes. The song demonstrates the fact that Knopfler did not recline on this album, but confronts the listener with elongated music full of instrumental passages.
After Telegraph Road, Private Investigations is up next which can be heard here in full version. For the single release, the mysterious tone of the intro is skipped. On the album we hear more than six minutes of intriguing suspense with deep synthesizer, moody classical guitar, stinging piano, secret voices, popping guitar chords of the electric and a duel between marimba and acoustic guitar, among other things. It remains a bliss.
On to the next single, the mainstream rocker Industrial Disease. This average song has never made it to a big hit and that’s make sense. With the atmospheric title track and the beautiful album ending It Never Rains, Dire Straits continues the fascinating line of the earlier songs. It’s awesome to hear the combination of Knopfler and the organ chords.
I like to listen to the music of Dire Straits and especially the album reviewed here. Moreover, the motto of the title really appeals to me. The music is obviously made with love.
© Dick van der Heijde 2022