Wednesday 17 June 2020

Alchemy

Definition of Alchemy: The ability to turn base metal into Gold

Or in the case of a Dire Straits Live album, the ability to turn 12" of plastic (and 5" of chrome) into Platinum.
It's one of those live albums that never seems to make the list of "Greatest Live Albums".
It should - because it is chock full of fine tunes, fine playing, and there is enough difference in the delivery of the tracks to warrant it's existence - rather than just a facsimile of the studio tracks in a live setting.
Maybe it's just too clean (and a bit downbeat in places) to fire the sort of enthusiasm of 'Live At Leeds', 'No Sleep Til Hammersmith' or 'Live An Dangerous'.
Hmm ... the sub-title for this album could be 'Live And Seriously Competent'.
The version I have on CD could benefit from a re-master to create some more separation between the performance and the crowd noise.  Although, the crowd noise is also somewhat subdued and relatively polite.
Do you know what?  I think I've found another reason why 'Alchemy' is often missing from those lists - it's all a bit "nice".
"Nice" it may be, but this is the band at the top of their game - and I don't think they reached those same heights of performance, commitment, or even musicianship again.

'Alchemy' was Dire Straits fifth album, and first live album, and came out in 1984.
1984 marked a turn in Dire Straits existence.  Their first 4 albums had fused a musically astute form of Pub-Rock to a less self-indulgent form of Prog Rock.  They'd had a taste of singles chart success ("Private Investigations" surprisingly getting to number 2) which was pushed further by "Twisting By The Pool" - a track that sounded like Dire Straits, but was one step removed from what the band were about.
Also by this stage, Mark Knopfler had had solos success with the film soundtrack for Local Hero.  The theme tune ("Going Home") is tacked on the end of the album suggesting equal dibs for the band and his solo career.
But it's also clear (looking at what came after) that Dire Straits were rapidly becoming a vehicle or flag of convenience for Mark Knopfler's musical aspirations.

Showcasing their musical chops and competence, many tracks are lengthened - "Once Upon A Time In The West" is nearly 3 times longer than the version on their debut album.  But they also manage to shorten two tracks - "Telegraph Road" loses nearly a minute, whilst "Love Over Gold" is halved in length.
Of all the tracks though, the near 11 minute version of "Sultans Of Swing" that closes CD one is perhaps the definitive statement of the song and the band.
The next album - 'Brothers In Arms' - re-wrote the Dire Straits story.  It's a product of the studio, and it's all a bit clean and clinical.  Just right for the burgeoning CD market in it's in-offensive glory.  It's a good album, but for me never reaches the same heights of their previous offerings.
Mainstream Dire Straits are now represented by "Money For Nothing" or "Walk Of Life" as the default choice of radio programmers, with "Sultans Of Swing" and "Romeo and Juliet" supplementing those more "adventurous" jocks. 
'Brothers In Arms' may have sold 200million (or whatever), but Dire Straits truly peaked a couple of years before.
'Alchemy' is the showcase package, and proof, of that peaking.

Sultans Of Swing

1 comment:

  1. Dire Straits get a bad rep because they sold so many copies. They had a reputation for being dad music which put me off buying anything beyond their greatest hits for years. When I did finally get their albums, I found them all incredibly listenable. They're well known for Knopfler's guitar work but he's a subtle and witty lyricist too.

    All that said, I rarely get excited by live albums and have probably listened to Alchemy once. I'd always rather have the studio cuts.

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