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DISCID=b10d0b0c
DTITLE=Mark Knopfler / The Ragpicker's Dream
DYEAR=2002
DGENRE=Rock
TTITLE0=Why Aye Man
TTITLE1=Devil Baby
TTITLE2=Hill Farmer's Blues
TTITLE3=A Place Where We Used To Live
TTITLE4=Quality Shoe
TTITLE5=Fare Thee Well Northumberland
TTITLE6=Marbletown
TTITLE7=You Don't Know You're Born
TTITLE8=Coyote
TTITLE9=The Ragpicker's Dream
TTITLE10=Daddy's Gone To Knoxville
TTITLE11=Old Pigweed
EXTD=Originaly Released October 1, 2002\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: With his
EXTD= second post-millennium album in just two years, Mark Knopfler ha
EXTD=s already equaled his meager (non-soundtrack) output for the '90s
EXTD=. And while he isn't reinventing himself, The Ragpicker's Dream i
EXTD=s a pleasant, classy, often inspired effort whose unassuming char
EXTD=ms are best appreciated after repeated listenings. The memorable 
EXTD=riffage that fueled Dire Straits' most radio-friendly material ha
EXTD=s been discarded for a more pastoral approach, making this a perf
EXTD=ect album for a rainy Sunday morning. Like his Notting Hillbillie
EXTD=s side project, it isn't entirely unplugged, yet there is an emph
EXTD=asis on acoustic accompaniment to its predominantly ballad slant.
EXTD= Instead of leaving space for traditional soloing, Knopfler weave
EXTD=s his snake-like guitar between the words. This infuses a tense, 
EXTD=edgy quality in even the most bucolic tracks, resulting in the cr
EXTD=ackling but still low-boil atmospherics of "Hill Farmer's Blues" 
EXTD=and "Fare Thee Well Northumberland." "Marbletown" is an unaccompa
EXTD=nied folk/blues that sounds as if Knopfler was born and raised in
EXTD= the Mississippi backwoods. He taps into the patented insistent l
EXTD=azy, shuffling groove on the spooky "You Don't Know You're Born."
EXTD= It's the most Straits-like track here featuring an extended, win
EXTD=ding, yet subtle solo. "Coyote," a mid-tempo sizzler -- lyrically
EXTD= based on the Road Runner cartoons -- is propelled by a walking b
EXTD=ass figure and Knopfler's homey, lived-in, talk-sung vocals. Agai
EXTD=n, the guitar pyrotechnics are interspersed throughout the verses
EXTD= with overdubbed sounds employed to provide ambiance and mood. Th
EXTD=e authentic honky tonk swing of "Daddy's Gone to Knoxville" could
EXTD= have come off a Wayne Hancock album, and the "King of the Road" 
EXTD=melody from "Quality Shoe" is a tribute to Roger Miller. As an ho
EXTD=mage to the American roots music he's always admired and a desire
EXTD= to retreat further from the stadium rock of his Straits days, Th
EXTD=e Ragpicker's Dream is a restrained success, at least on its own 
EXTD=terms. It may not please some of Knopfler's old "Money for Nothin
EXTD=g" fans, but at this stage, he's obviously not trying to.  -- Hal
EXTD= Horowitz\n\nAmazon.com Editorial Review\nEven at the peak of Dir
EXTD=e Straits' fame, Mark Knopfler's music often seemed informed by a
EXTD= restless worldview as abstruse as his guitar playing was fluid a
EXTD=nd expressive. This follow-up to his impressive 2000 collection, 
EXTD=Sailing to Philadelphia, finds Knopfler chasing a similar musical
EXTD= and lyrical muse, with results that are even more surprising and
EXTD= loose-limbed. "Why Aye Man," the bracing opening chantey that se
EXTD=ts much of the album's tone, draws parallels between Geordie pub-
EXTD=speak and Native American chants whilst lamenting economic refuge
EXTD=es of Thatcherism forced to ply their blue-collar trades--and kee
EXTD=p their Brit pub culture alive--deep in the Fatherland. From ther
EXTD=e, Knopfler takes us by "A Place Where We Used to Live" for a lou
EXTD=nge-y, Jobim-inflected reminder that one can never really go home
EXTD=, drops in on "Quality Shoe" for a tribute to Roger Miller, and g
EXTD=ives us a typically dry, so-deadpan-it's-funny rundown of his Cir
EXTD=cus Sideshow pals on "Devil Baby." "Marbletown," a graveyard folk
EXTD=-blues, showcases the musician at home on solo acoustic guitar, w
EXTD=hile the loping, laconic "Coyote" draws its good-natured inspirat
EXTD=ion from a beast named Wile E. But it's the way that Knopfler con
EXTD=nects disparate cultures and histories with subliminal, deceptive
EXTD=ly effortless grace on "Fare Thee Well Northumberland," "You Don'
EXTD=t Know You're Born" (both of which feature Knopfler's signature l
EXTD=anguorous, blues-inflected soloing), the folksy "Hill Farmer's Bl
EXTD=ues," and the country-fried "Daddy's Gone to Knoxville" that make
EXTD= the album a triumph of understatement. --Jerry McCulley \n\nAMAZ
EXTD=ON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA Star in an Otherwise Dark Night, Novemb
EXTD=er 8, 2004\nReviewer: N. Keshava (Needham, MA USA) \nI bought thi
EXTD=s album to "catch up" with my Mark Knopfler albums after purchasi
EXTD=ng Shangri-La. I spend most of my radio time flitting from one st
EXTD=ation to another. Most songs I hear are written by musicians that
EXTD= are obscenely overpromoted, and who overzealously write arcane l
EXTD=yrics to hide their own lack of musical exceptionalism. They miss
EXTD= the idea that their instrument can be be far more moving than an
EXTD=y words they pen, for the simple reason that they aren't exceptio
EXTD=nal musicians, let alone artists. Knopfler doesn't just deliver o
EXTD=n this album. He teaches. His compositions on this album delve so
EXTD= deep into the musical world, that they almost shame the latest s
EXTD=ongwriters who are promised as the next so-and-so. Instead of set
EXTD=tling for brief, three-and-a-half minute vignettes of modern life
EXTD=, Knopfler evokes a catalog of lives in as many different states.
EXTD= The world is varied, but the underlying forces remain constant: 
EXTD=love, loss, struggle, humor. Most artists are complacent, if not 
EXTD=lucky enough, to evoke their own lives. Knopfler's sighing guitar
EXTD=, notes plucked one by one, align all the wandering paths in this
EXTD= world with a common microtonal vocabulary. When I listen to this
EXTD= album, I hear the artist more than the musician -- as it should 
EXTD=be -- perhaps more than anything Knopfler has done since "On Ever
EXTD=y Street" with Dire Straits. For all the hoopla showered on Dylan
EXTD=, Bowie, and Springsteen for occassionally measuring up to the la
EXTD=urels they earned 30 years ago, Knopfler doesn't need to worry ab
EXTD=out meeting those benchmarks. This album is better than anything 
EXTD=he's ever done. In short, Knopfler isn't meeting the standards he
EXTD= set with with Dire Straits. He's redefining them.\n\nAMAZON.COM 
EXTD=CUSTOMER REVIEW\nMK Finally Stepping Out of the Shadows, November
EXTD= 20, 2002\nReviewer: Joe Chumbler (Little Rock, AR USA)\nAn excel
EXTD=lent follow up to STP and perhaps a bit easier to listen to. As a
EXTD= Strait's fan since 1983, I'm obliged to compare MK's work to Com
EXTD=munique, still my favorite work to date from the Knopflers. Ragpi
EXTD=cker's Dream does not disappoint. Mark continues to pay homage to
EXTD= his roots with the opening Why Aye Man, but does not deny his fa
EXTD=miliarity of being the outsider observing the passing world (One 
EXTD=Upon a Time in the West and Devil Baby). But the sultan of swing 
EXTD=is maturing and, while his guitar work is as smooth as ever, I se
EXTD=nse he is displaying more of a propensity to write in the first p
EXTD=erson.\nA perfect example is Old Pigweed, the final track and a v
EXTD=intage, yet uncommon style for MK. Vintage in that, in the spirit
EXTD= of Wild West End or News?, Mark writes about a girl and all the 
EXTD=emotions of meeting and keeping one. But whereas MK's early work 
EXTD=frequently made him the outsider, MK in the shadows observing wha
EXTD=t so many of us have experienced, Pigweed puts him square in the 
EXTD=heat in the kitchen - it's not "he" or "them", it's "I" and "me."
EXTD= And the tone seems different - what once was frustration and unh
EXTD=appy endings, now is resolved with a spoonful of forgiveness. Unc
EXTD=hanged, is MK's addictive ability to express with his guitar the 
EXTD=emotion that words and voice can not. \n\nThus, this Strait's fan
EXTD= is very happy - more frequent albums from MK, a US tour last yea
EXTD=r, happy endings, and soulful guitar. But for Christmas, how abou
EXTD=t news of a spoonful of forgiveness and a Mark/David reunion/coll
EXTD=aboration? That's a happy ending I'm sure many, many people are w
EXTD=aiting to see written.\n\nAnd is Old Pigweed really just about ma
EXTD=king stew? Alas, the unending allure of this great musician.\n\nA
EXTD=MAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nAbsolutely fabulous!, October 10, 2002
EXTD=\nReviewer: Grey Eagle (Chilliwack, B.C. Canada)\nI must admit, a
EXTD=lthough I enjoyed Goldenheart and Sailing to Philadelphia, I was 
EXTD=uncertain how far Mr Knopfler would take what seemed to be evolvi
EXTD=ng into, dare I say, a more laid back approach to his music.\nI n
EXTD=eed not have worried! This is a phenomenal album; certainly the b
EXTD=est of his three solo albums to date. The music styles are wide r
EXTD=anging from folk, Celtic, bluegrass, Appalachian, jazz and rock -
EXTD= (I could even imagine Michael Franks doing a cover version of th
EXTD=e samba-tinged A Place where We used to Live)and allows Mr Knopfl
EXTD=er ample opportunity to display his skills on both acoustic and e
EXTD=lectric guitars.\nWonderful music from a man I consider to be one
EXTD= of the finest guitarists in the world today- a man who knows whe
EXTD=n to play and equally as important, when not to. Have a listen an
EXTD=d let the man play and the music speak!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER RE
EXTD=VIEW\nJust like the cover, October 3, 2002\nReviewer: "hobbesdutt
EXTD=" (Sunnyvale, CA)\nThis is a wonderful album, in some ways a far 
EXTD=cry from the Dire Straits sound. It emphasises the singing and so
EXTD=ngwriting talents of Mark Knopfler. It is more rootsy, has fewer 
EXTD=long guitar solos but excellent guitar and music. The album is al
EXTD=so not as rocky as most of his other outings. Like the cover, exc
EXTD=ept for the first track and possibly the third, the rest of the s
EXTD=ongs are more laidback or quiet. The cover says it all. \nMy favo
EXTD=rite song is "A Place Where We Used to Live". The lyrics are so p
EXTD=oignant that they struck a special chord deep inside me. The unde
EXTD=rstated way of expressing all that is lost by saying "its just a 
EXTD=place where we used to love" is just breath-taking. The rest of t
EXTD=he album has this sense of understated-ness, something subtle. Ma
EXTD=rbletown is another lovely track with just MK singing and picking
EXTD= guitar, no other instruments.\n\nThe weak tracks are possibly th
EXTD=e last two songs. I find it hard to like the sound of "Daddy's Go
EXTD=ne To..". The other standout tracks are "Devil Baby", "Fare Thee 
EXTD=Well...", "Marbletown", "You Don't Know..", "Hill Farmer Blues" a
EXTD=nd "Coyote". \n\nThose looking for Telegraph Road like solos won'
EXTD=t find it here, but those looking for good music will find this a
EXTD=n oasis in a sea awash with mediocre stuff.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOME
EXTD=R REVIEW\nBluesy, Wistful, and Occasionally Playful, October 2, 2
EXTD=002\nReviewer: JD Cetola (Albuquerque, NM USA)\n     \nMark Knopf
EXTD=ler's third solo album (not counting his numerous film soundtrack
EXTD=s) is his bluesiest yet. "The Ragpicker's Dream" features 12 trac
EXTD=ks and clocks in at almost 56 minutes. All tracks include vocals 
EXTD=and the backing band is top notch and features (of course) Guy Fl
EXTD=etcher on keyboards and some nice drumwork by Chad Cromwell. Paul
EXTD= Franklin adds his pedal steel mastery to three of the tracks. Th
EXTD=e piano (played by Jim Cox who also plays organ on several of the
EXTD= more bluesy tracks) is more prominent than on previous solo effo
EXTD=rts as well, and adds a jazz-like quality to several of the track
EXTD=s.\nMusically, "TRD" is steeped in the blues with hints of folk, 
EXTD=swing, and jazz. As for comparisons with previous work, this disc
EXTD= is most similar to the "Wag the Dog" soundtrack and (in some ins
EXTD=tances) Dire Straits' "On Every Street". The focus is the music (
EXTD=and also the lyrics) and not so much the guitar work. There's som
EXTD=e crying and singing, but mostly the playing is subdued and workm
EXTD=anlike. There are no hyper-emotional solos (although some of the 
EXTD=work on "Devil Baby" comes close) like on "Are We in Trouble Now"
EXTD= or "Nobody's Got the Gun" from "Goldenheart". If that's what you
EXTD='re looking for, you may be a tad disappointed in TRD. If not, yo
EXTD=u'll be well-satisfied by this release. There are a lot of bluesy
EXTD= numbers ("Why Aye Man", "Marbletown", and the Soggy Bottom Boys'
EXTD= sounding "Fare the Well Northumberland"), some jazz-inflicted tr
EXTD=acks ("A Place Where We Used to Live") and several playful tunes 
EXTD=("Coyote", "Quality Shoe" and "Daddy's Gone to Knoxville"). The b
EXTD=rilliant "Ragpicker's Dream" would've fit (musically) nicely on "
EXTD=The Princess Bride" soundtrack. \n\nLyrically, TRD focuses on blu
EXTD=e collar workers and workingclass towns. The songs are poetic (es
EXTD=pecially "Ragpicker's Dream" and "Old Pigweed"), wistful, and oft
EXTD=en deal with working--both the land, the job, and other people. O
EXTD=verall, this album is a positive continuation of "Sailing to Phil
EXTD=adelphia" with a familiar, but more bluesy feel to it and still f
EXTD=ewer emotional guitar solos. Definitely Recommended.\n\nROLLING S
EXTD=TONE REVIEW\nEx-dire straits frontman Mark Knopfler has been retr
EXTD=eating from the limelight since his taste of superstardom in the 
EXTD=Eighties, finding refuge in soundtrack work, charity gigs and the
EXTD= occasional solo effort. A Dire Straits record in everything but 
EXTD=name, The Ragpicker's Dream is a picturesque collection of folksy
EXTD=, mostly acoustic vignettes that works its old-fashioned magic in
EXTD= mysterious ways. "A Place Where We Used to Live," with its sweet
EXTD= piano and autumn-gray lyrics, and "You Don't Know You're Born" -
EXTD=- a murmur of an idea that unexpectedly evolves into a delectable
EXTD= pop chorus -- are the highlights of an album that can express it
EXTD=self only through understatement. It is clear that Knopfler cares
EXTD= about pleasing no one but himself at this point in life. His Zen
EXTD= attitude, ironically, is what makes this unassuming batch of gen
EXTD=tle tunes so oddly compelling. (RS 909 -- November 14, 2002) -- E
EXTD=RNESTO LECHNER
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