Dire Straits - Making Movies VINYL LP 2LP MFSL 2-468
Mastered from the Original Tapes By MUSICAL FIDELITY, Music Emerges With New Details and Tones
Making Movies marks a magnificent turning point in Dire Straits' career. Considered by many fans to be the group's most complete album, the 1980 set witnesses leader Mark Knopfler greatly expanding his songwriting palette and setting his storytelling amidst more complex, involving arrangements. Dire Straits also benefits from crucial contributions from Bruce Springsteen pianist Roy Bittan and the departure of rhythm guitarist David Knopfler. The songs spark with a mélange of poetry, passion, and cohesion that engages the senses and begs to be experienced again and again.
Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's 180g 45RPM 2LP set of Making Movies breathes with reference-caliber airiness, spaciousness, dynamics, and separation. Produced by Jimmy Iovine and Knopfler, the record – which contains many Springsteen-esque elements – features the cleanliness and clarity that have long been Dire Straits trademarks. The extra-wide 45RPM grooves on this edition provide previously unattainable detail, information, and soundstaging. This is what audiophile recordings are all about.
You know you're in the presence of sonic greatness as soon as the first few seconds of the opening "Tunnel of Love" pass, as the introductory passage built on organ and piano – new additions to Dire Straits' palette – intertwine with the unmistakable coil-spring twang of Knopfler's guitar. The three-dimensional, full-bodied presentation of the latter instrument on this Mobile Fidelity LP is alone worth the price of admission. Crisp, rich, and balanced, the analog sound brings Knopfler's Fender Vibrolux and Music Man HD130 amplifiers into your room. The romanticism of Bittan's piano, precision timekeeping of drummer Pick Withers, and steady roll of bassist John Illsley come across with similar potency, scale, and verve.
Always more about the whole than the sum of their individual parts, Dire Straits demonstrate that while Knopfler is the lynchpin, this record is a true band effort. Bittan's role cannot be overstated. His melodicism poetically complements Knopfler's subtle staccato rhythms and more than makes up for the exit of David Knopfler. Expansive and cinematic, the aptly titled Making Movies puts a premium on interrelated subjects (love, relationships, heartbreak) and deep-seated emotions that play out in heartfelt lyrics, intense singing, and epic frameworks. Everything clicks.
tracklist
A1 Tunnel Of Love
B1 Romeo And Juliet
B2 Skateaway
C1 Expresso Love
C2 Hand In Hand
D1 Solid Rock
D2 Les Boys
