Alchemy: Dire Straits Live

There is an interesting contrast on this 94-minute double-disc live album (recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon in July 1983) between the music, much of which is slow and moody, with Mark Knopfler's muttered vocals and large helpings of his fingerpicking on what sounds like an amplified Spanish guitar, and the audience response. The arena-size crowd cheers wildly, and claps and sings along when given half a chance, as though each song were an up-tempo rocker. When they do have a song of even medium speed, such as "Sultans of Swing" or "Solid Rock," they are in ecstasy. That Dire Straits' introspective music loses much of its detail in a live setting matters less than that it gains presence and a sense of anticipation. Alan Clark's keyboards help to fill out the sound and give Knopfler's spare melodies a certain majesty, but Dire Straits remains an overgrown bar band with a Bob Dylan fixation, and that's exactly how the crowd likes it. [The CD version of the album contains one extra track, "Love Over Gold," which adds a needed change of pace to the otherwise slow-moving first disc.] (www.allmusic.com)

CD 1:
1 Once Upon a Time in the West Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 13:01
2 Expresso Love Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 5:45
3 Romeo and Juliet Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 8:17
4 Love Over Gold Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 3:27
5 Private Investigations Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 7:34
6 Sultans of Swing Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 10:54

CD 2:
1 Two Young Lovers Intro: The Carousel Waltz Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 4:49
2 Tunnel of Love Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 14:29
3 Telegraph Road Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 13:37
4 Solid Rock Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 6:01
5 Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero Mark Knopfler Dire Straits 6:05