Mark Knopfler is a brilliant musician, both with Dire Straits and as a solo artist. Of all his albums, I consider “Get Lucky” his best, both for the quality of the songs and because taken as a whole it tells the arc of a man’s life, from jaunty youthful exuberance, through hard-won adult experience, to peaceful acceptance of the ending of a well-lived life.
The last two songs are immeasurably poignant.
Here’s a YouTube page with the whole album.
Love Over Gold, followed very closely by On Every Street and Making Movies. Been a fan forever.
TIL that Knopfler wrote Private Dancer, recorded it in the Love Over Gold sessions but decided not to include it in that album, and gave it to Tina Turner instead. Good decision on his part that it works better with a female vocalist, but what a song to give away.
“Neck and Neck” which is a duet album with the late Chet Atkins. Understated but absolutely brilliant guitar playing by both of them
Oh, yes, i think I have that CD. Amazing playing by both of them.
The Local Hero soundtrack.
Now I’ve got the whole movie running through my head. And the moody synthesizer “whale songs” sliding into those brilliant acoustic melodies.
I was coming in to say that.
(Although I don’t like the motorcycle track.)
I used to have a tape of that, recorded off a CD that a coworker had way back when. Not sure if I still have the tape, but even if I do, I don’t have anything to play it on anymore.
If Dire Straits albums count, Making Movies. “Romeo and Juliet” is one of my absolute favorite songs, bookended by “Tunnel of Love” and “Skateaway”…doesn’t get much better than that.
Knopfler is my favorite musician, by quite a long shot. Having to choose one out of his nine (!) solo albums, I’ll go with his third album, The Ragpicker’s Dream, which is one of my favorite albums by any musical artist. The atmospheric story songs, like the leadoff Why Aye Man, Fare Thee Well Northumberland, Old Pigweed, and the title song, are always fun to listen to. Devil Baby is heartachingly beautiful (until you listen to the words – they’re pointing out the similarity between viewing unfortunate human carnival attractions and watching the lurid TV shows epitomized by Jerry Springer’s); despite the lyrics, I love the way that it subtly and gradually builds in tempo and the guitar work is simply wonderful. It’s a great album for an overcast day.
It’s interesting to me, I think, that upon first listen his solo albums don’t really grab me – I was underwhelmed even by The Ragpicker’s Dream. But the more I listen to them, the more I like them
Knopfler’s albums for movie soundtracks are stellar – it’s hard to imagine The Princess Bride without Knopfler’s accompanying music, and the soundtrack to Local Hero is like another warm and endearing character in what is my favorite movie. The Last Exit to Brooklyn soundtrack is really great, too.
His post-Dire Straits collaborations are really something to enjoy. In addition to the wonderful album with Chet Atkins, All The Roadrunning with Emmylou Harris and The Notting Hillbillies’ (sadly) sole album are wonderful.
And I thought I’d heard them all, til I found the film A Shot At Glory. Huh, a soccer movie starring Robert Duvall? Well, the soundtrack is classic Knopfler Acoustic Magic. “Sons of Scotland” kicks it off, and the movie closes with “Sons of Scotland (Quiet Theme)”:
I was coming to mention Princess Bride and his soundtracks as works of art that movie me, but you said it better than I. And Ragpicker’s Dream is my favorite of his solo works.
(Didn’t have anything new to add, but always like to mention it when someone shares my tastes!)
I can’t pick a favorite. All his albums have much to recommend them and a couple of so-so tracks. But if you wanted to know what a couple of my favorite of his songs are…
Haul Away is a thing of beauty.
And Basil manages to be both autobiographical and biographical (a point in his young life when his path crossed with the poet Basil Bunting.
Thanks for this recommendation. Just listened to it. You’re right - excellent!
You’re very welcome. I always like to do things to prove I’m not a complete waste of carbon. 
We can’t all be Mark Knopflers.
I am musically underexposed and have probably only heard a small fraction of his music. I like what I’ve heard, so will be using y’all’s curation to listen to some more.
You won’t regret it.