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Rating: If I were asked which album could have the same devastating effect on the ears of an attentive audience, comparable to a firecracker thrown into a crowded bus at 8:00 AM in a city like Rome, we are certainly talking about "Making Movies". The third chapter in the history of Dire Straits represents the continuous evolution of a band in perpetual ascent.
Seven songs with an average duration of about six minutes per track, allowing the group to stay on the LP charts for at least a year, not considering that "Tunnel Of Love" will be the only 45 RPM split into two parts to sympathize with purists of easy listening rock. The group reappears a year and a half after "Communiqué", with notable innovations:
1) the absence (or defenestration?) of David Knopfler, as the album includes photos of the three founding members;
2) the happy introduction of keyboards manipulated by the legendary Roy Bittan (does E-Street Band ring a bell?)
3) a sonic evolution from the first two chapters that perhaps nobody (or almost nobody) could have imagined.
"Tunnel Of Love" starts the show with "Carousel Waltz" (Rodgers/Hammerstein), leading you into a fantastic love story set in an amusement park, where that carefree singing perfectly contrasts with the shimmering rhythmic sound that shows perfect sonic cohesion among all instruments: a somewhat unusual track given that after the powerful introductory verse, it follows with a bridge that elegantly leads to one of the most beautiful choruses ever composed by M.K. The final solo starts as a provocation by the leader, continuing hand in hand with the keyboards, culminating in that last minute and a half of a duel between the two instruments, seeing them reach the finish line like consecrated champions. "Romeo And Juliet", a beautiful love song characterized by that Dobro which will become a distinctive mark for many of the group's ballads. Certainly one of the band's most enchanting performances, considering that the same track will be the most appreciated during their participation at the San Remo Festival in 1981, also for those simple yet profound final notes that make it almost unique, like the magical intro.
We encounter a work of fine quality both for the more engaging tracks like "Skateway" (which was performed only during the M.M. supporting tour) and "Expresso Love" (which assimilates fleeting loves to our famous coffee), as well as for the anthem of a love story gone wrong and the subsequent final mea-culpa, set to the music of "Hand In Hand". Next comes "Solid Rock", fast, gritty, and effective like a punch from Tyson in the stomach, which will appropriately earn the band the title of "Great Rock'N Roll Orchestra" (a self-proclamation you'll hear shouted by the leader in more than a few bootlegs of the era). "Les Boys" (the only sore point?! for which I don't feel like lowering the Expresso score) that joyfully concludes the work, offers musically (and textually) less serious and more carefree horizons, delivering to the world of rock music one of the most exciting works ever published.
A friendly tip for those for whom the name Dire Straits represents a dark and unknown world... Making Movies can be the lantern with which to begin illuminating the path toward a radiant discography.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Tunnel of Love (08:08)
getting crazy on the waltzers but it's the life that I choose
sing about the sixblade sing about the switchback and a torture tattoo
and I been riding on a ghost train where the cars they scream and slam
and I don't know where I'll be tonight but I'd always tell you where I am
in a screaming ring of faces I seen her standing in the light
she had a ticket for the races just like me she was a victim of the night
I put a hand upon the lever said let it rock and let it roll
I had the one arm bandit fever there was an arrow through my heart and my soul
and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
and I'm just high on the world
come on and take a low ride with me girl
on the tunnel of love
it's just the danger when you're riding at your own risk
she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let's keep it like this
it's just a cake walk twisting baby step right up and see
hey mister give me two give me two now cos any two can play
and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
and I'm just high on the world
come on and take a low ride with me girl
on the tunnel of love
well it's been money for muscle another whirligig
money for muscle and another girl I dig
another hustle just to make it big
and walkaway walkaway
and girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
oh girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
she took off a silver locket she said remember me by this
she put her hand in my pocket I got a keepsake and a kiss
and in the roar of the dust and diesel I stood and watched her walk away
I could have caught up with her easy enough but something must have made me
stay
and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
and I'm just high on the world
come on and take a low ride with me girl
on the tunnel of love
and now I'm searching through these carousels and the carnival arcades
searching everywhere from steeplechase to palisades
in any shooting gallery where promises are made
to walkaway walkaway
to walkaway walkaway from cullercoats and whitley bay out to walkaway
and girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
02 Romeo and Juliet (05:54)
A love struck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Finds a street light, steps out of the shade
Says something like, "You and me babe, how about it?"
Juliet says, "Hey it's Romeo, you nearly gave me a heart attack"
He's underneath the window, she's singing, "Hey la, my boyfriend's back
You shouldn't come around here, singing up at people like that"
Anyway, what you gonna do about it?
Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start,
And I bet, then you exploded in my heart,
And I forget, I forget, the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
Come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame,
Both dirty, both mean, yes, and the dream was just the same,
And I dreamed your dream for you, and now your dream is real
How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?
Well, you can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, yeah
Now you just say, "Oh Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him"
Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said "I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die"
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
I can't do the talk like the talk on the TV
And I can't do a love song, like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything, but I'll do anything for you
I can't do anything 'cept be in love with you
And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat and the band company
And all I do is kiss you, through the bars of a rhyme
Juliet, I'd do the stars with you, anytime
Ah Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
And a love struck Romeo, sings the streets a serenade,
Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made
Finds a convenient street light, steps out of the shade
Says something like, "You and me babe, how about it?"
"You and me babe, how about it?"
03 Skateaway (06:18)
i seen a girl on a one way corridor
stealing down a wrong way street
for all the world like an urban toreador
she had wheels on on her feet
well the cars do the usual dances
same old cruise and the kerbside crawl
but the rollergirl she's talking chances
they just love to see her take them all
no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
hallelujah here she comes queen rollerball
enchante what can i say don't care at all
you know she used to have to wait around
she used to be the lonely one
but now that she can skate around town
she's the only only one
no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
she gets rock n roll in a rock n roll station
and a rock n roll dream
she's making movies on location
she don't know what it means
but the music make her wanna be the story
and the story was whatever was the song what it was
rollergirl don't worry
d.j. play the movies all night long
she tortures taxi drivers just for fun
she likes to read their lips
says toro toro taxi see ya tommorow my son
i swear she let a big truck graze her hip
she got her own world in the city
you can't intrude on her
she got her own world in the city
cos the city's been so rude to her
come slippin and a slidin
life's a rollerball
slipin and a slidin
skateaway that's all
shala shalay hey hey skateaway
she's singing shala shalay hey hey
skate away
05 Hand in Hand (04:48)
the sky is crying the streets are full of tears
rain come down wash away my fears
and all this writing on the wall
oh i can read between the lines
rain come down forgive this dirty town
rain come down and give this dirty town
a drink of water a drink of wine
if i been hard on you i never chose to be
i never wanted no one else
i tried my best to be somebody you'd close to
hand in hand like lovers are supposed to
as you'd sleep i'd think my heart will break in two
i'd kiss your cheek i'd stop my self from waking you
but in the dark you'd speak my name
you'd say baby what's wrong?
oh here i am baby i'm coming back for more
i'm like the wave that's got to roll into the shore
yes and if my love's in vain how come my love is so strong.
now you and me go parallel together and apart
and you keep your perfect distance and it's tearing in my heart
did you never feel the distance
you never tried to cross no line
now it's another dirty riverand another dirty scar
and i don't know who's kissing you and i don't know where you are
so far from home don't you think of me some time
sky is crying see the streets are full of tears
rain come down to wash away my fears
and all this writing on the wall
oh i can read between the lines
06 Solid Rock (03:19)
well take a look at that
i made a castle in the sand
saying this is where it's at you know
couldn't understand now
if i realised that the chances were slim
how come i'm so surprised when the tide rolled in
i wanna live on solid rock
i'm gonna live on solid rock
i wanna give i don't wanna be blocked
i'm gonna live on solid rock
well i'm sick of potential
i'm sick of vanity now
i'm sticking to essential reality now
i don't know what's worse
try to make a silk purse
living an illusion living in confusion
well a house of cards
was never built for shock
you could blow it down in any kind of weather
now two solid rocks two solid blocks
you know they're gonna stick
yeah they're gonna stick together
because the heart that you break
that's the one that you rely on
the bed that you make
that's the one you gotta lie on
when you point your finger cos your plan fell through
you got three more fingers pointing back at you
i wanna live on solid rock
i'm gonna live on solid rock
i wanna give i don't wanna be blocked
i'm gonna live on solid rock
i'm solid rock now
07 Les Boys (04:06)
les boys do cabaret
les boys are glad to be gay
they're not afraid now
disco bar in germany
les boys are glad to be
upon parade now
les boys got leather straps
les boys got ss caps
but they got no gun now
get dressed up get a little risque
got to do a little s & m these days
it's all in fun now
les boys come on again
for the high class whores
and the businessmen
who drive in their mercedes benz
to a disco bar in old munchen
they get the jokes that the d.j. makes
they get so nervous and they make mistakes
they're bad for buisness
some tourist take a photograph
les boys don't get one laugh
he says they're useless
late at night when they've gone away
les boys dream of jean genet
high heel shoes and a black beret
and the posters on the wall that say
les boys do cabaret
les boys are glad to be gay
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Other reviews
By carloirons
"There's genius, poetry, the music of Mark and company."
"'Romeo And Juliet' is one of the most beautiful love songs of all time, sweet and sad at the same time, an absolute masterpiece of all rock ballads."
By AJM
Knopfler has turned a corner, realizing he can play his guitar like a magical pied-piper would with his (magic) pipe.
'Romeo and Juliet' will follow Knopfler to the last of his concerts and millions of hearts to the last of their beats.
By Dany94
Mark Knopfler’s voice, wonderful!!!
I will never stop loving those 5 seconds!!
