Dire Straits
On Every Street

THE REVIEW

ON EVERY STREET - DIRE STRAITS

1991, A HISTORIC YEAR FOR MUSIC, ESPECIALLY AMERICAN, AS NIRVANA EMERGES AND INVADES THE MARKET WITH THE OVERWHELMING "NEVERMIND," PEARL JAM WITH THE ICONIC "TEN," AND THE DARK ALICE IN CHAINS WITH THEIR DESPERATE CRY "DIRT," WHILE ENGLAND, AFTER SEVEN LONG YEARS OF WAITING, GREETS THE NEW CREATION OF ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT MINDS IN WORLD MUSIC: MARK KNOPFLER!! SOUL AND MIND OF DIRE STRAITS, HE CRAFTS "ON EVERY STREET" TO IMMEDIATELY SERVE IT TO THE PUBLIC AND THE PRESS!! WHAT TO SAY??? AN ALBUM THAT NEVER AGES ANNUALLY, RENEWS ITSELF, SHOWS NO SIGNS OF WEARINESS, SIMPLE ROCK 'N' ROLL WITH UNDISPUTED CLASS. SOME RAISED MANY DOUBTS ABOUT THE RETURN OF KNOPFLER AND CO. AFTER THE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL AND AWARD-WINNING "BROTHER IN ARMS" (1985 - A WHOPPING 40 MILLION COPIES SOLD), THE ANSWERS WERE NOT LONG IN COMING!!!! TRY, OR RATHER LISTEN TO BELIEVE:

LOVELY COVER, SIMPLE BUT CAREFULLY DESIGNED WITH LYRICS INSIDE THE FOLDOUT, A PAIR OF BOOTS PEEK OUT AT THE MIXING DESK, WHILE A GUITAR LOOKS AT US DIAGONALLY.

LYRICS AND MUSIC BY THE LEGENDARY MARK, SUPPORTED BY HIS LOYAL COMPANIONS: ILLSLEY ON BASS, FLETCHER AND CLARK ON KEYBOARDS.

IT BEGINS RIGHT OFF WITH A BANG (AND IS ADVISED TO CRANK UP THE VOLUME OF A GOOD SOUND SYSTEM) "CALLING ELVIS," PURE SIMPLE, ESSENTIAL SEEMINGLY ALREADY WRITTEN, NOT MUCH TO SAY... BASS AND CHARLESTON STABS WITH UNOBTRUSIVE BACKGROUND PERCUSSIONS EXPLODING ALONG WITH KNOPFLER'S SCOTTISH GUITAR, A BOMB THAT MAKES YOU LEAP INTO THE AIR WITHOUT EVER COMPLETELY EXPLODING, LEAVING YOU IN PERPETUAL ANXIETY AND SOOTHING YOU WITH KEYBOARD HARMONIES AND MARK'S ASSURED AND CONFIDENT VOICE THAT MAKES US DREAM. PS: A SMALL NOTE ON THE MARGIN: ON DRUMS, THERE'S A CERTAIN JEFF PORCARO...))).

NO TIME TO REST AS MARK IMMEDIATELY HITS US WITH THE SINGLE THAT GIVES THE ALBUM ITS TITLE "ON EVERY STREET": LITTLE TO SAY, LISTEN AND END. ANY WORD IS USELESS... EVERYTHING IS BALANCED: THE VOICE, THE BREATHS, THE SAX, THE KEYBOARDS, THERE ARE NO NOTES OUT OF PLACE, A TIMELESS MELODY, ENGRAVED IN THE MIND OF THE WRITER. A FRAME-WORTHY ENDING WITH PORCARO BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN THE TRACK (IF IT WAS EVER NEEDED!), THE RIDE AND PERGUSSIVE CRASHES BECOME PROMINENT, WHILE THE GUITAR DIALOGUE BETWEEN KNOPFLER AND PHIL PALMER (RHYTHM GUITARIST ON TOUR) CREATES SOUND SPECTERS ON THE BRINK OF POETIC. ONE WORD: SPATIAL. PS: LIVE THE TRACK IN QUESTION IS LESS IMPRESSIVE, AS THE PATHOS AND ESPECIALLY THE MICROPHONICS PRESENT IN THE STUDIO ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO REPRODUCE LIVE.

"WHEN IT COMES TO YOU" TAKES US TO MORE SERENE AND CALM LANDS, ALLOWING US TO BREATHE A LITTLE WHILE DIRE STRAITS CRADLES US WITH A LIGHT AND VIBRANT BALLAD. LET'S SAY A NOT MODEST DISH BUT NEITHER SUPERB.

"FADE TO BLACK": IT'S MARK'S SHOWTIME, IN FULL JAZZ TRIP, CHURNING OUT SOLOS ON SOLOS WHILE PORCARO'S BRUSHES BUILD A LANGUID BUT HARDLY GRIPPING RHYTHM. LET'S SAY A JAZZ STANDARD THAT AT LEAST ON RECORD DIDN'T HAVE MUCH SUCCESS.

"THE BUG": DIRE S. RETURNS PLAYFUL LIKE "WALK OF LIFE", HERE WE RAISE THE ELBOW, LET’S HAVE A BEER WHILE KNOPFLER'S GUITAR DOES A LITTLE DANCE WITH THE FIRST THAT COMES ALONG. A SIMPLE BUT DIRECT TRACK.

"YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS": AN ACOUSTIC BALLAD WITH THE ENGLISH LEADER DOUBLING UP ON GUITAR: SLIDE, DOBRO AND ACOUSTIC, GREAT VOCAL PERFORMANCE FOR A PRIME CLASSIC OF THE BAND.

"HEAVY FUEL": DIRTY, RAW, SEEDY ROCK WITH WHOEVER HAS MORE, DESERVES MORE, WOULD HAVE DESERVED BETTER LUCK IN RECORD IF MAYBE SOME INSTRUMENT PARTS HAD NOT BEEN TOO SMOOTHED TO MAKE IT MORE RADIO FRIENDLY. STILL A GREAT PIECE, DEFINITELY A LIVE BOMB

"IRON HAND": AN INTROSPECTIVE MOMENT ALSO FOR MARK, ACCOMPANIED BY AN ACOUSTIC AND A KEYBOARD IN THE BACKGROUND. FUNERAL PERCUSSIONS WEAVE SOUND PATTERNS IN BOB DYLAN STYLE

"TICKET TO HEAVEN": PASSPORT TO PARADISE, AND I ADD: WHAT A PASSPORT!! 70S SPIRITED TRACK WITH A WIDE RANGE OF STRINGS (HERE DILIGENTLY DIRECTED AND LED BY THE LEGENDARY M° GEORGE MARTIN) AND A PEDAL STEEL GUITAR (PAUL FRANKLIN)

"MY PARTIES": AND FINALLY IT HAD TO COME...!!! THE PIECE THAT IN MY HUMBLE OPINION ELEVATES DIRE STRAITS TO PERHAPS THE BEST BAND ON THE PLANET (OR CLOSE TO IT) SURREAL BUT AT THE SAME TIME BRILLIANT LYRICS WHERE KNOPFLER TELLS US ABOUT THE PLEASURE OF PARTYING AND DRINKING LIKE AN ALCOHOLIC WITHOUT GOING TOO DEEP. THE MUSICAL PART IS STRATOSPHERIC: DIRE STRAITS TRANSFORM INTO A JAZZ BLUES NIGHT CLUB BAND, WHILE A HORN SECTION OCCASIONALLY PEEKING AND REMINDING US TOO: "EVERYBODY AT MY PARTIES (AT MY PARTIES)" AND GO MARK!!!! PASS ME A BEER!!

WELL IT HAD TO HAPPEN SOONER OR LATER: AFTER THE BRAZEN (MASTERPIECE) MY PARTIES, THE STORM, A BIT OF FOG AND "PLANET OF NEW ORLEANS" COMES CRASHING IN!!! I HAVE TO BE HONEST AT FIRST I CONSIDERED IT HARD TO SWALLOW TO DEATH, OVER TIME I REDISCOVERED AND REVALUATED IT TO THEN CROWN IT AS AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE. NOT INSTANTLY ATTRACTIVE, IT CREEPS IN GRADUALLY, IF I HAVE TO USE A COMPARISON (WITH DUE CAUTION) I COMPARE IT TO A "BROTHER IN ARMS," LESSER, BUT WE'RE GETTING CLOSE.

THE GREAT MANU KATCHE' (PETER GABRIEL) SITS ON DRUMS, THE LEGENDARY MARK ON GUITAR, AND CHRIS WHITE ON SAX.

Standing at the corner Between Toulouse and Dauphine Waiting for Marie-Ondine
Trying to remember a song
Under the Louisiana moonlight
On the planet of New Orleans

THE TRACK STARTS THIS WAY, SIMILAR TO A SONNET, WHERE GRADUALLY WITH EACH VERSE ANOTHER INSTRUMENT JOINS IN (A SYNTH, A KEYBOARD, OR A LIGHT SAX), MIDWAY THE RHYTHM BECOMES MORE EFFERVESCENT, THE TONES LIGHT UP SLOWLY THEN FALL AND START ALL OVER. AN UP AND DOWN TO THE FINAL EXPLOSION, WHICH THEN DOES NOT EXPLODE (SEE THE SINGLE "ON EVERY STREET") WHERE MARK KNOPFLER LETS SAX, PERCUSSIONS, GUITAR AND KEYBOARDS DIALOGUE INTO MELANCHOLIC NOTES THAT BRING US TO THE FINAL CLIMAX.

"HOW LONG": DOESN'T ADD ANYTHING MORE OR LESS THAN WHAT DIRE STRAITS HAVE WRITTEN AND PLAYED

IN CONCLUSION, A GREAT ALBUM, WELL-STRUCTURED AND MADE TO BE LISTENED TO FROM START TO FINISH. VERY DIFFERENT FROM "BROTHERS IN ARMS," BUT HERE'S THE BEAUTY. IF THE PREDECESSOR COULD COUNT ON CHART-REACHING SINGLES (AND I CHALLENGE ANYONE TO SAY OTHERWISE), THIS "ON EVERY STREET" NEEDS TO BE LISTENED AND RE-LISTENED TO, THERE ARE NO SINGLES BUT IT'S AN AUTHENTIC SOUND PICTURE.