Product Description

The Dire Straits' mastermind's first non-soundtrack solo album is a refreshingly diverse outing. Mellower overall than his previous fare, there's still plenty of stunning guitar work and solid songcrafting to be had here. The songs cover alot of stylistic bases, from rock to folk, Celtic, blues and somber balladeering. The disc is full, yet its diversity never becomes superfluous. A well-planned and pleasing slice of craftsmanship from one of rock's reigning originals.

Track Listing

1. Darling Pretty
2. Imelda
3. Golden Heart
4. No Can Do
5. Vic And Ray
6. Don't You Get It
7. A Night In Summer Long Ago
8. Cannibals
9. I'm The Fool
10. Je Suis Desole
11. Rudiger
12. Nobody's Got The Gun
13. Done With Bonaparte
14. Are We In Trouble Now

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2348 in Music
• Released on: 2001-03-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 70 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
As the chief singer, songwriter and guitarist for Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler earned a reputation for crafting easily accessible albums with impeccable production values. Golden Heart proves Knopfler worthy of his reputation. Three of the tunes, recorded in Dublin, feature uillean pipes, violin, bouzouki, accordian and Paul Brady on whistle. Intensely atmospheric, these instruments support lyrics from a lost age. Another wonderful song, "Je Suis Desole", is straight out of New Orleans, with Michel Doucet on fiddle and Sonny Landreth on steel guitar. However, Knopfler is not on a world-music binge; the bulk of Golden Heart, with its straightforward love songs and happy-to-be-alive shuffles, was recorded with studio musicians in London and Nashville. Of course, it doesn't really matter where or with whom Golden Heart was recorded, because Knopfler's warm and mellow electric guitar and voice saturate every track. --James Swift

Customer Reviews

Golden Heart
'Golden Heart' is one of those albums that is rarely far from my stereo despite having it in my music collection for many years. It blends perfectly Knopflers voice, songwriting abilities and awesome guitar playing into one heavenly package. From the beautiful opener 'Darling Pretty' to 'Golden Heart' via the upbeat and fun 'Cannibals' and taking in the mournful melancholy of 'Rudiger' this album delivers so much emotion on one CD it almost demands repeated listening. The closing solo on 'Are We in Trouble Now' still gives me goosebumps even now and shows just how much power this album has. Knopflers later solo albums were hit and miss, but this one set the standard so high it was always going to be difficult to live up to it and this is the Knopfler album I keep coming back to. With searing beauty and lyrics that will leave you breathless, this is one CD I'll happily recommend above many others.

A warm album
The cover of this album features a golden heart locket which looks like a caramel filled heart from a box of chocolates. It gives off an immediate warm, comforting ambience and that is exactly what you feel when listening to this, Mark Knopfler's first solo album after leaving Dire Straits. Some of the guitar work is also so moving, as you would expect.

Taking off where Dire Straits' final album, "On Every Street" finished, this ploughs many of the same furrows - the trademark guitar is still there on several tracks, providing a mournful fade out, so are the huge helpings of Americana. There are a couple of almost folky compositions and a definite country-tinge pervades the whole work. Nowhere is this more clearly illustrated than in the beautiful opening track, "Darling Pretty", which begins in an almost Irish-country feel before becoming like a Dire Straits anthem. The title track is sad, yearning and mournful and sung in that late Straits-era semi-whispered vocal; "I'm The Fool" has cadences of acoustic Bruce Springsteen; "We Are In Trouble Now" yet again features great guitar and "A Night In Summer Long Ago is evocative and beautiful. For lovers of a bit of drawly Straits style rock "Imelda" does the trick, while "Rudiger" harks back to Dire Straits debut album in many ways.

To be honest this album sounds little different from much of the work on "On Every Street" save that it is played by different musicians. However, I liked that album and I like this one. It is lyrically sharp (as always) with Knopfler's wry, sardonic cynicism often to the fore. In contrast to the often world-weary narrative lyrics, melody is king throughout. The musical feeling is one of all over contentment. This is a work from a man at peace with himself and should be played on occasions when one feels that way too. Highly recommended, especially at the current price.

one of those albums
This is one of three albums that I had on cassette tape and played so much in the car that the tapes wore out. It's worth buying just for the last track - 'Are we in Trouble Now', and in fact I'd buy it just for the guitar solo at the end of that track. But there are plenty of other great things too, and the whole album has an atmosphere of Celtic melancholy. It's especially good when driving through the Borders into Scotland.