Search - David Knopfler :: Ship of Dreams

Correction to Payman's generous review

David K | UK | 01/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just wanted to point out that the sax player on Ship of Dreams is Tim Whitehead - not Chris White (who plays on my other records)

- both excellent players as it happens. Also that the record is available at amazon.de for a lot less or at CD Baby or at my website

knopfler.com for £8-50 pounds - - nobody should be paying $39 - or anything like it!



Cheers

David Knopfler"

David's solo career achieves what I expected from Mark

Obiburner | Bend, OR United States | 02/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Long a Dire Straits fan, I've learned to settle for less since the Band disbanded. While many have elevated Clapton to God like status, I placed Mark Knopfler in the same stratosphere. Unfortunately, I've found Mark's solo career somewhat boring. His prediliction for a more country-western sound hasn't filled that void left by his rich lyrics on albums such as Brothers In Arms.



I thought little about David Knopfer, who started Dire Straits and left after three albums. I was enraptured with the sound of Mark while fronting Dire Straits and with his guitar playing.



While searching for obscure Dire Straits music to add to my library, I obtained one of David's albums, WISHBONE. Ripped it and added it to my IPOD. One of my IPOD Playlists is "recently added songs". I had recently obtained Mark's newest release Shangrila. I was working away typing up a report at my desk with my headphones on when I heard some songs I really liked. The lyrics were rich, the sound bluesy with some good piano and sax thrown in for texture. I thought this must be Mark's new album. I checked my IPOD for the song title and was surprised I was listening to songs from David's album.



I listened to the tracks a couple of more times and decided I really liked the sound. While not the same in style as Dire Straits, the album was more fulfilling than Mark's solo works taken as a whole. For while I have liked various single tracks on each of Mark's albums, I've not been overwhelmed with the albums as a whole.



After listening to WISHBONE a few more times I decided to check out more of David's work. I obtained his newest release Ship of Dreams. Liked it, and acquired Small Merices, liked it as well, so I acquired all nine of his sole works. Love them all.



Now, I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking that David's sound is a revamped Dire Straits, for it isn't. I find this album to have more of the mellow and story like songs that I think Mark was creating before going solo. Its almost like Cat Stevens crossed with James Taylor, thrown in with a vocal quality of Dire Straits, if you can imagine that. Look, just buy this or WISHBONE and you will know what I am trying to convey.



I strongly suggest that if you liked Dire Straits, give David's albums a try. And, if you can't locate all of his music on Amazon, check out his website where you can order all of his CD's for a much more reasonable price. About $16.00 US."

Timeless Quality!

Peyman Moazami | Tehran, IRAN | 12/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"David Knopfler's 9th studio album following the release of his previous CD, "Wishbones" is a true testament that David is a truly gifted singer-songwriter. Often mistaken with his elder brother Mark by many, David deserves his own name. Those familiar with his previous recordings (Especially his recent CD's: The Giver (1993), Small Mercies (1995) & Wishbones (2001) all co-produced with Harry Bogdanovs), have been fascinated with DK's acoustic rock approach. The masterfully produced "Ship Of Dreams", however, brings new dimensions to his music. Here's a song by song review.

1- 4U (Rabbit Song): An upbeat starter. Catchy melody and great musicianship. Excellent guitarwork and vocals (5/5).

2- Easy Street: Blues-oriented song featuring the perfect Slide guitarwork of Chris Rea. Excellent introspective lyrics and very moving. (5/5)

3- God's Mockingbird: An acoustic ballad featuring beautiful Harmonica played by DK and excellent Saxophone provided by Chris White. (4/5)

4- Ship Of Dreams: Hauntingly soulful title track co-written by Megan Slankard and featuring her on Backing vocals. Excellent song with beautiful lyrics. (5/5)

5- True Love: A love song. Nice melody and lovely lyrics. Nice arrangement with David shining on vocals. (5/5)

6- All I Want Is You: An up-beat love song. Nice and catchy (4/5)

7- Going Down With The Waves: In one word Amazing! Piano-driven ballad with excellent orchestration and lyrics. Among the best cuts on this album (5/5)

8- When Will The Crying Stop? : A mid-tempo ballad with stinging lyrics. (4/5)

9- Shine Shine Shine: Acoustically driven song with nice arrangement, Gospel backing vocals and nice sax. (4/5)

10- The Price For Loving You: The ace of DK in this album! A haunting love ballad. Excellent in every way featuring lovely Cello and great piano played with ultimate feeling by DK. This song is the best cut off the album. It made me cry on the first listen. (5/5)

11- Sometimes There Are No Words: Back to the blues! Another great blues song featuring soaring guitarwork of Chris Rea. Very moving, very thought-provoking! (5/5)

12- Mending My Nets: Acoustic guitars of David & Harry make this a brilliant song in the CD. Very moving! (5/5)

13- Tears Fall: A love duet featuring the German female vocalist Julie Niegl. One of David's own favourites on the CD! (4/5)

14- Symmetry Of The Stars: A religious finale for an excellent CD. Brilliant song. (5/5)



Ship of Dreams is a real winner in David Knopfler's Solo Catalogue. I really loved the album from the beginning to the very end and I really blame the world music industry for giving poor attention to this great artist. David is my most favourite musician of recent years and his music is what I call ART! There is also a special edition of the CD which can only obtained from his official website that includes two bonus tracks: America (A really great song) and Anna Tonight (Written by DK for his wife Anna Knopfler). Not to be missed by any fan. The artwork of the CD is also a winner and absolutely great. Thumbs up for David!"