Track Listing

1. Kill To Get Crimson

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29230 in Music
• Released on: 2007-09-17
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: CD+DVD, Enhanced
• Dimensions: .27 pounds
• Running time: 19 minutes

CD Description
The former Dire Straits guitarist's fifth solo album, 'KillTo Get Crimson', again showcases his searing guitar tones and homespun songwriting narratives. Featuring the singles 'True Love Will Never Fade' and 'Punish The Monkey', this release was recorded in Knopfler's own London studios. Occasionally it features more traditional instrumentation with the inclusion of John McCusker (a frequent collaborator with Kate Rusby) on fiddle, alluding to the folkier, more cinematic elements of Knopfler's back catalogue.

Customer Reviews

Different but rewarding
Although his solo albums have enjoyed fine reviews some people still expect Knopfler, after thirty years in the business, to sound like Dire Straits. And that's always surprised me. As much as I love classics such as `Sultans of Swing' and `Telegraph Road', those days are gone and it's nice to hear his writing explore new perspectives.

Kill to Get Crimson's general mood has Celtic tendencies, so don't be surprised if you hear the odd fiddle, flute or accordion amidst the instrumentation. But if you think that might put you off, don't - many of Knopfler's trademarks remain. Although there is no blazing `Speedway at Nazareth' rock soundtrack here, there's lots of exquisite guitar work, which, thanks to the smaller band ensemble, allows Knopfler's work to shine through with greater prominence. Dire Straits fans will relish `Punish the Monkey' and `We Can Get Wild' more than the rest of the album, however, it's the diversity of the album that impresses most.

Knopfler's writing is particularly strong with insightful, intelligent lyrics throughout that when, combined with his genial baritone voice and the right musical setting, have a quasi-novelist sensibility. Here, you'll find wonderful narratives about painting and poetry, character sketches, and even a simple love song (`True Love Will Never Fade'), that plays, as Scott Holter rightly said, `like an anthology of written works, each personification crisp in definition, every story exquisitely told'.

For those still desperately looking for more Sultans of Swing thrills, this isn't going to set their world on fire. The album's profundity is where the greatest rewards lie.

True Love Will Never Fade
"I wonder if there's no forever
No walking hand in hand
Down a yellow brick road
To never never land
These days I get to where I'm going
Make it there eventually
Follow the trail of breadcrumbs
To where I'm meant to be "
Mark Knopfler

'To Love Will Never Fade' is a quintessential Mark Knopfler song. It has the wonderful tune and the lyrics that paint a picture. 'Kill To Get Crimson' is a CD that takes a painter's palatte and tries to get that certain color, Crimson. The album cover pictures a woman wanting to buy a red scooter. A very Enlish album is what we are told, much different than a CD made here in the US. To my ears this is a magical CD full of images and pictures reflections of various times in a life. The theme and the music are, however, tried and true Mark Knopfler.

The CD is soft country rock songs with the voice and guitar we have come to love. 12 songs written and sung by Mark Knopfler. Most of them tell a story, an autobiograhy maybe of the 60's?

The first single is ' True Love Will Never Fade' - my favorite,a love song.

'The Scaffolder's Wife' an aging spouse in ballad form.

Scottish folk song of a down and outer in 'Heart Full of Holes'.

'We Can get Wild'- 'listen now right here, it is gonna be a beautiful year'- we can get wild.

'Secondary Waltz'- dance lesson for the school Christmas party- don't we all remember those dance lessons?

'Punish The Monkey' sounds like an old Dire Straits song-it is a rollin', rockin' song--punish the monkey let the organ grinder go.

'Madame Geneva'-writer of ballads, a basker's saga it is told.

'In The Sky'-home from the sea, far away from here, weathered a storm,part of the fray, crossed every ocean in the boat thatyou made.

"Three decades after Dire Straits broke onto the scene with their remarkable debut, Mark Knopfler remains an iconic figure in popular music, his graceful guitar playing equaled only by his genial baritone and a novelist's ability to create distinct characters and themes in his songs, with its vagabond pensiveness. If you like Marks husky voice accompanied by a soaring guitar then this album is for you. It is perfect listening for a cold winters night when the curtains are drawn and the log fire is burning". Scott Holter

Mark Knopfler has always brought the lfie of a balladeer to the fore. His guitar and husky voice have the trademark of a singer that yearns to be heard. This CD is soothing and rockin' and all the great matters that make a glorious CD.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 09-18-07

give it a chance
having loved Mark's music for years I eagerly bought this - listened to it - and thought about getting a refund. But hey it got stuck in my car stereo and would not come out. As the days have gone by I have grown to like it (not love but we're getting there) so who knows what will happen.