Ladies and gentlemen, Sir Mark from Glasgow is back.

And, as usual, he has not disappointed the lovers of great music at all.

Another refined and classy album has been produced by this Artist who now seems more like an impeccable master craftsman and less like a rock star.

The times of the glorious Dire Straits seem to have faded for years, but that doesn't mean his music has lost its value. On the contrary, I am convinced that the entire musical world has gained from this change.

Here we have an Artist who for years has managed to sublimely blend Celtic melodies and the folk traditions of his native Scotland and nearby Ireland, the blues and sometimes country rhythms of his always beloved America, and some enjoyable rock flashes, never entirely abandoned (of course not!).

The hard core of Dire Straits fans, lovers of more classic rock, will probably struggle to digest and assimilate this work, as was the case with the previous "The Ragpicker's Dream" (2002), "Shangri-La" (2004), "All the Roadrunning" (2006), and "Kill to Get Crimson" (2007).

For a good number of disappointed fans, however, there is an equally substantial number of enthusiasts.

If the good Mark, at sixty years old, has lost some old diehards along the way who felt betrayed by his new musical direction, it's equally true that this evolution has drawn him closer to numerous lovers of country, folk, and blues music, who cannot help but appreciate the innate elegance with which the Maestro blends these genres with a European sense of taste.

That said, it is clear that "Get Lucky" contains no fewer than four ballads with exquisitely Celtic flavor: the lively opening "Border Reiver", the concluding "Piper to the End", dedicated to an uncle who died at twenty in the war, the very delicate "Get Lucky", which gives the album its title and features a sweet flute soaring ethereal above a harmonious carpet of strictly acoustic guitars (in my opinion, this is the best track on the album, a gem among gems), "Before Gas and TV", which evokes happy times and a guitar around a fire.

There is also room for a blues as classic as it gets ("You Can't Beat the House"), a hint of rock ("Cleaning My Gun"), the sweet and melodic "Monteleone", dedicated to a luthier, the splendid "Hard Shoulder" and "Remembrance Day", where, after a children's choir, the electric guitar that made Mr. Stratocaster unique returns for a few seconds, with its melodies and goosebump-inducing touch.

In conclusion, around fifty minutes of great music, certainly not suitable for today’s radios nor to be relegated to mere background noise or supermarket atmosphere. To fully appreciate this work (as with those before it, after all), one must listen carefully, multiple times, to catch every single nuance.

To this writer, it seemed like an autumnal album, with warm pastel hues (unlike the shiny cover, probably the least successful part of the album), therefore very suitable for the imminent arrival of autumn in a city unfortunately not very healthy (yes, I am a true son of L'Aquila).

Enjoy listening 

Tracklist and Videos

01   Border Reiver (04:35)

02   Hard Shoulder (04:33)

03   You Can't Beat the House (03:26)

04   Before Gas and TV (05:50)

05   Monteleone (03:39)

06   Cleaning My Gun (04:43)

07   The Car Was the One (03:56)

08   Remembrance Day (05:05)

09   Get Lucky (04:33)

10   So Far From the Clyde (05:59)

11   Piper to the End (05:47)

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Other reviews

By donnie darko

 "Get Lucky is an album where Folk merges with Blues, with rarefied Dire Straits reminiscences present only in some songs."

 "Listen to it, and maybe buy it as I will because it deserves it... Truly..."


By claudio carpentieri

 With Get Lucky comes an album with just eleven songs where our artist moves between musical coordinates ranging from indestructible blues roots to typically country sounds.

 It’s evident, but we must recognize in Knopfler the one who over the years has made even his own music enamored with the ability to convey those emotions transformed into notes.