This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
It’s ironic as hell: The cover of Dire Straits’ biggest album Brothers in Arms had a picture of a National Steel guitar on it — but who ever remembers hearing leader Mark Knopfler playing the damn thing?
Nobody, that’s who. Most fans can only remember him pecking out the Morse-code Stratocaster riff of Walk of Life. Or maybe, if you’re as old as I am, that flawlessly flowing fingerpicked solo from Sultans of Swing. With his third non-soundtrack solo album The Ragpicker’s Dream, Knopfler makes another bid to get us to listen to his softer side. Turning down his electric and picking up his acoustic, the greying guitar god presents a dozen literate, mature cuts of gently supple ballads and snappy roots-pop. Styles and moods vary — the charming Quality Shoe is basically King Of The Road set in a Bata store; A Place Where We Used to Live is a little Latino-tinged lounge ballad; Daddy’s Gone to Knoxville is an old-sounding Americana ditty lifted from Leon Redbone’s back pocket; and the single Why Aye Man is a Celtic-tinged rocker. Through it all, though, Knopfler possesses the same smoky voice and displays the same burbling, lyrical guitar alchemy as always. Only he displays it more quietly and subtly. Hopefully, this time fans will get the picture.
