Produced by Mark Knopfler
Released: 1982
This was one of the first albums I ever bought (as a present for my dad) and by the time I had
reached the end of "Telegraph Road" I felt that my life had been changed forever. Even though I was only 13, I knew I had just heard something special. When I listen to it 25 years later, on the original cracking and popping vinyl, there is still a trickle of anticipation when Pick Withers' drums gather speed and Mark Knopfler unleashes one of the epic rock guitar solos of all time.
The resounding success of the Springsteen-like Making Movies put them on the verge of being massive superstars, and Love Over Gold seems to have been conceived almost as a direct reaction to that album by being as far away from a pop record as possible. It could have been commercial suicide, but somehow it managed to work. Previously, Dire Straits had chugged their way through Cale-inspired blues tunes but here Knopfler applied his Dylan-like tales of workaday existence and melancholia to a broader, near-progressive rock framework. Unlike the highly contrived sound of most prog however, Knopfler's stripped-back approach makes each song flow naturally.
“Telegraph Road” ebbs and flows as it follows the rise and fall of an Anytown through ringing crescendos during the boom times to the quiet piano and crying guitar reflecting the crushing despair of shattered dreams. Like a world-weary character from Springsteen’s Born to Run, the man in the final verse of this 14 and a half minute epic is yearning only for a new beginning somewhere else where he no longer has to see “desperation explode into flames”; the marathon solo that follows echoes the same frustration.
Dire Straits follows this almost overwhelming track with “Private Investigations” where Knopfler plays the role of the jaded private eye looking at the world through the bottom of a whiskey bottle. The spoken, almost whispered lyrics reflecting the sombre mood of the piece with its gentle lilt that is carried toward its grand, almost orchestral finale of sudden crashing guitars by a sinister heartbeat-like bass throb.
“Industrial Disease” lightens the mood at this point, a jaunty romp laden with cheeky and satirical humour and built on a swirling organ riff. The sobering title track follows, a breathy ballad with a moral sting in its jazz-inflected tail that closes with the solemn observation “the things that you hold/Can fall and be shattered/Or run through your fingers like dust”. The album is then rounded out by “It Never Rains” in which Knopfler has a solid crack at channelling Bob Dylan circa 1965, ending proceedings much the way they began with a dark look at reality.
This was Dire Straits darkest and starkest album, perhaps their most evocative and certainly their most challenging one. Like the love over gold of its title, then band chose art over commercial success with this release. It was brave move and a uniquely satisfying though transient phase and of all their albums this one remains my solid favourite.
reached the end of "Telegraph Road" I felt that my life had been changed forever. Even though I was only 13, I knew I had just heard something special. When I listen to it 25 years later, on the original cracking and popping vinyl, there is still a trickle of anticipation when Pick Withers' drums gather speed and Mark Knopfler unleashes one of the epic rock guitar solos of all time.
The resounding success of the Springsteen-like Making Movies put them on the verge of being massive superstars, and Love Over Gold seems to have been conceived almost as a direct reaction to that album by being as far away from a pop record as possible. It could have been commercial suicide, but somehow it managed to work. Previously, Dire Straits had chugged their way through Cale-inspired blues tunes but here Knopfler applied his Dylan-like tales of workaday existence and melancholia to a broader, near-progressive rock framework. Unlike the highly contrived sound of most prog however, Knopfler's stripped-back approach makes each song flow naturally.
“Telegraph Road” ebbs and flows as it follows the rise and fall of an Anytown through ringing crescendos during the boom times to the quiet piano and crying guitar reflecting the crushing despair of shattered dreams. Like a world-weary character from Springsteen’s Born to Run, the man in the final verse of this 14 and a half minute epic is yearning only for a new beginning somewhere else where he no longer has to see “desperation explode into flames”; the marathon solo that follows echoes the same frustration.
Dire Straits follows this almost overwhelming track with “Private Investigations” where Knopfler plays the role of the jaded private eye looking at the world through the bottom of a whiskey bottle. The spoken, almost whispered lyrics reflecting the sombre mood of the piece with its gentle lilt that is carried toward its grand, almost orchestral finale of sudden crashing guitars by a sinister heartbeat-like bass throb.
“Industrial Disease” lightens the mood at this point, a jaunty romp laden with cheeky and satirical humour and built on a swirling organ riff. The sobering title track follows, a breathy ballad with a moral sting in its jazz-inflected tail that closes with the solemn observation “the things that you hold/Can fall and be shattered/Or run through your fingers like dust”. The album is then rounded out by “It Never Rains” in which Knopfler has a solid crack at channelling Bob Dylan circa 1965, ending proceedings much the way they began with a dark look at reality.
This was Dire Straits darkest and starkest album, perhaps their most evocative and certainly their most challenging one. Like the love over gold of its title, then band chose art over commercial success with this release. It was brave move and a uniquely satisfying though transient phase and of all their albums this one remains my solid favourite.
- Telegraph Road
- Private Investigations
- Industrial Disease
- Love Over Gold
- It Never Rains
Rating: 95%
Over the years I`ve read maybe 10 list of the so called "100 best guitar solos of all time". Telegraph road has NEVER appeared on any one of them......the people who compile or vote for these lists are stupid. Telegraph road is possibly 'THE" best guitar song ever...The closing solo blows anything by Page, Clapton, Dimebag, Hammet, Gilmour et/al all away. Its my all time favourite and people need to listen to it.
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