Mark Knopfler: The Ragpicker's Dream : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Ex-dire straits frontman Mark Knopfler has been retreating from the limelight since his taste of superstardom in the Eighties, finding refuge in soundtrack work, charity gigs and the occasional solo effort. A Dire Straits record in everything but name, The Ragpicker's Dream is a picturesque collection of folksy, mostly acoustic vignettes that works its old-fashioned magic in mysterious ways. "A Place Where We Used to Live," with its sweet piano and autumn-gray lyrics, and "You Don't Know You're Born" -- a murmur of an idea that unexpectedly evolves into a delectable pop chorus -- are the highlights of an album that can express itself only through understatement. It is clear that Knopfler cares about pleasing no one but himself at this point in life. His Zen attitude, ironically, is what makes this unassuming batch of gentle tunes so oddly compelling.

ERNESTO LECHNER
(RS 909 – November 14, 2002)