There were many complaints regarding the quality of the LPs in the box set of his earlier work that came out last year-I did not buy it. Hope this one is better.
Mark Knopfler’s Comprehensive The Studio Albums 2009-2018 180g 9LP Box Set Arrives October 7
In this case, going down the road wherever leads directly to your turntable. To wit: Mark Knopfler’s The Studio Albums 2009-2018, a 180g 9LP box set, will be released on October 7, 2022 by UMe/EMI. 2009-2018 gathers together the second half of Knopfler’s solo songbook, following up 2021’s quite comprehensive 180g 11LP 1996–2007 collection.
The 2009-2018 box will include September 2009’s Get Lucky, September 2012’s Privateering, March 2015’s Tracker, and Knopfler’s most recent studio release, November 2018’s Down the Road Wherever, plus Back in the Day: The Bonus Tracks 2009-2018, a collection of studio B-sides and bonus tracks from this collective timespan along with two previously unreleased songs, “Back in the Day” and ”Precious Voice From Heaven.” Each of the four core albums in the 2009-2018 collection appears in individual 2LP configurations. All side-break delineations are detailed at the end of this story.
The “audio quality” (that’s the phraseology used in the press release) of 2009-2018 has been overseen by original mastering engineer Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, and the vinyl has been cut by Bernie Grundman. The 9LP 2009-2018 collection is pressed on 180g black vinyl and is housed in a rigid outer slipcase. The box set also includes five embossed art prints of each of the original album covers, including the cover for Back in the Day.
The 2009-2018 box lists for $229.99, which is $20 cheaper than the 1996-2007 box, the latter of which is still available for $249.99. That said, the 1996-2007 box housed 11LPs all told, and was remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios in London.
You can pre-order 2009-2018 directly from the official Mark Knopfler Shop, but be aware of the banner that delineates which version of it is labeled as a “UK Product” as opposed to ordering it for/from the U.S. and other regions.
Guitar Reiver: Above, Knopfler doing what he does so well with his signature red Strat. Privateering-era photo by Fabio Lovino.
As a longtime Mark Knopfler fan who’s bought just about every format configuration of his solo work and that with Dire Straits (not to mention albums featuring Mark as a guest performer and/or as producer), I’m personally looking forward to getting the two unreleased tracks on wax.
Down the Road Wherever also happened to be one of the first LPs I played after moving to a new house a few years back, and I look forward to revisiting the second half of the man’s grand solo catalog. How about you? Chime in with your Comments below, following the full side-break details.
MARK KNOPFLER
THE STUDIO ALBUMS 2009-2018
180g 9LP (UMe/EMI)
GET LUCKY
LP1 - SIDE 1
1. Border Reiver
2. Hard Shoulder
3. You Can’t Beat The House
4. Before Gas And TV
LP1 - SIDE 2
1. Monteleone
2. Cleaning My Gun
3. The Car Was The One
4. Remembrance Day
LP2 - SIDE 1
1. Get Lucky
2. So Far From The Clyde
3. Piper To The End
LP2 - SIDE 2
Even Luckier – Extra Tracks
1. Early Bird
2. Time In The Sun
3. Pulling Down The Ride
4. Home Boy
5. Good As Gold
PRIVATEERING
LP3 - SIDE 1
1. Redbud Tree
2. Haul Away
3. Don’t Forget Your Hat
4. Privateering
5. Miss You Blues
LP3 - SIDE 2
1. Corned Beef City
2. Go, Love
3. Hot Or What
4. Yon Two Crows
5. Seattle
LP4 - SIDE 1
1. Kingdom Of Gold
2. Got To Have Something
3. Radio City Serenade
4. I Used To Could
5. Gator Blood
LP4 - SIDE 2
1. Bluebird
2. Dream Of The Drowned Submariner
3. Blood And Water
4. Today Is Okay
5. After The Beanstalk
TRACKER
LP5 - SIDE 1
1. Laughs And Jokes And Drinks And Smokes
2. Basil
3. River Towns
4. Skydiver
LP5 - SIDE 2
1. Mighty Man
2. Broken Bones
3. Long Cool Girl
LP6 - SIDE 1
1. Lights Of Taormina
2. Silver Eagle
3. Beryl
4. Wherever I Go
LP6 - SIDE 2
1. .38 Special
2. My Heart Has Never Changed
3. Terminal Of Tribute To
4. Heart Of Oak
5. Time Will End All Sorrow
6. Oklahoma Ponies
DOWN THE ROAD WHEREVER
LP7 - SIDE 1
1. Trapper Man
2. Back On The Dance Floor
3. Nobody's Child
4. Nobody Does That
LP7 - SIDE 2
1. Good On You Son
2. Floating Away
3. One Song At A Time
4. Heavy Up
LP8 - SIDE 1
1. Slow Learner
2. Just A Boy Away From Home
3. My Bacon Roll
4. When You Leave
LP8 - SIDE 2
1. Matchstick Man
2. Drovers’ Road
3. Every Heart In The Room
4. Don't Suck Me In
5. Sky And Water
BACK IN THE DAY:
THE BONUS TRACKS 2009-2018
LP9 - SIDE 1
1. Occupation Blues
2. River Of Grog
3. Follow The Ribbon
4. Your Perfect Song
LP9 - SIDE 2
1. Precious Voice From Heaven *
2. Back In The Day *
3. Rear View Mirror
4. Pale Imitation
* - denotes previously unreleased track
- Log in or register to post comments
COMMENTS
Risky
Submitted by Bigrasshopper on Mon, 2022-08-08 23:58
Having very much enjoyed the The Tracker Album in every respect, I ordered and received the first box set to try and proceeded to open it, once the shipping box was removed I removed an outer box with the set enclosed within, before opening the clear wrapper I noticed a sticker from Memphis Record Pressing, if I recall.
After doing some research I found more than half the comments to be negative in regards to pressing quality of the set. I called Music Direct and expressed my concerns and received a credit, because who wants to gamble with 11 disks from a pressing plant that overall also generally gets really poor ratings. Some seem to have gotten good disks. I’ll have to check if Tracker was also pressed there.
Overpriced
Submitted by Rashers on Mon, 2022-08-08 15:35
The studio albums vol 1 was an excellent box set - beautifully mastered and truly audiophile. Most of the material was hard to obtain on vinyl. Three of these albums are easy to find on vinyl. The outtakes are unnecessary. “Get Lucky”, however is hard to find and, for some, may justify the cost of this release: $50 per album, cut from digital, using pre existing metal parts. As usual, with box sets, individual releases are likely to follow after 6 months.
Money for... Something
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Mon, 2022-08-08 20:34
It's a valid point re the pricing. Would, say, $40 per 2LP set, and $20-$30 for the 1LP bonus, be more reasonable, and thus have the box price capped closer to $200, or should it be even less than that? The digital question is also going to come into even more play moving forward for many releases of this nature, I suspect -- well, it already has, hasn't it?
But you really can't put a price...
Submitted by rich d on Tue, 2022-08-09 08:09
...on the sheer unfettered joy of hearing Mark Knopfler's singing voice over the course of an entire day. Yikes.
vinyl listener
Submitted by vinyl listener on Tue, 2022-08-09 20:02
Is this new box half-wit remastered like the first one ?
Left Behind!
Submitted by D Pully on Thu, 2022-08-11 06:56
Whatever happened to All The Road Running with Emmylou Harris? It was missing from the first box set and was not included here. One of my favorite albums but decent copies on vinyl are hundreds of dollars used.
Roadrunning in Place
Submitted by Mike Mettler on Thu, 2022-08-11 09:47
I agree! Luckily, I do indeed have one of those rare-ish vinyl copies of Roadrunning in my collection. My semi-educated guess here is because Roadrunning is not strictly a solo MK release -- i.e., it's co-billed as a Mark & Emmylou release -- that's the reason why it's not included in the box.
Perhaps a third MK LP box somewhere down the line could include Roadrunning, as well as MK's October 1990 album with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck, as well as The Notting Hillbillies' March 1990 LP Missing, Presumed Having a Good Time, plus all of MK's soundtrack work, some of which has been reissued individually on vinyl in recent years, like March 1999's Metroland (which came out as an RSD drop in October 2020).
All The Roadrunning is rare on LP
Submitted by Tom L on Thu, 2022-08-11 09:17
...but you could pick up a CD for about $20 on Discogs.
https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/8484925?ev=rb
 |
Equipment Reviews | |
The Gruvy Awards | |
Blogs Analog Tips | Columns Music | |
Show Reports | |
News Resources |
© 2024 AnalogPlanetAVTech Media Americas Inc.
All rights reserved