On The Night

This live album finds Mark Knopfler well into his decadent phase: prosperous, internationally acclaimed, and long past remembering the hard times and hungry years from which his band originally drew both its name and its attitude. Where the first three Dire Straits albums evinced a gritty determinism, an acknowledgement of their unfashionability coupled with an urgent desire to remake the world on their own terms, this seems bloated and self-congratulatory, so that even "Romeo And Juliet" (arguably Knopfler's greatest achievement as a songwriter--and undoubtedly his most popular) sounds vaguely perfunctory; while other, lesser tracks ("Heavy Fuel", "On Every Street") are merely inconsequential, the songs little more than excuses upon which to hang extended lead-guitar noodling. Sting makes a dutiful appearance on "Money For Nothing"--but somehow those lyrics seem less ironic than they used to, less savage: more a bald statement of fact. And that's scary. --Andrew McGuire (sursa amazon.co.uk)

1 Calling Elvis 10:25
2 Walk Of Life 5:06
3 Heavy Fuel 5:23
4 Romeo And Juliet 10:06
5 Private Investigations 9:43
6 Your Latest Trick 5:35
7 On Every Street 7:01
8 You And Your Friend 6:48
9 Money For Nothing 6:28
10 Brothers In Arms 8:55