Album Reviews

Dire Straits are, in my opinion, an acquired taste. I didn’t pay much attention to them until 4/5 years ago, and once I started noticing Mark Knopfler’s guitar riffs, characteristic voice and unique composition style, I never looked back.

I was fortunate enough to see Dire Straits Experience live a few years ago, with Terrence Reis taking the place of Mark in the vocals and guitars, and brilliantly doing so if I may add. He remains extremely faithful to the original sound, without losing his identity in the process. But we’re here to discuss the album, not the live experience. 🙂

It’s a flowy album, with the songs displayed in a way that makes sense and sounds even better. I love the quality and saturation of the sound, of course the vinyl does contribute to that; but this baby could have been released today and it will still hold up to the music industry standards; although I’m almost certain that the vocals would have to be a lot louder today for standards sake. It does have a “live” feeling to me, although it’s a studio album; so much that the live version of Portobello Belle sounds just like the studio recordings apart from the audience claps and noise. I absolutely love that.

Highlights: great classics such as Sultains Of Swing will make you feel like the coolest person in the world while listening to it; Walk Of Life will definitely get stuck on your head – and there’s nothing wrong with that since it’s my favorite – yohoo!; Money For Nothing is a true 80’s hymn, Sting backvocals included (I do recommend watching the videoclip if you want an extra 80’s nostalgia shot).

Let Downs: Portobello Belle and Tunnel Of Love, when compared to the rest of the album, are a bit below the rest and forgettable songs.

Private Investigations and Brothers In Arms got me thinking though. At first I thought “meh”, but somewhere in the middle, I caught myself appreciating the amazing lyrics, messages and subliminal instrumental touches. Definitely songs to listen again.

Hey guys!
Today I decided to talk more about some albums that really shaped me and my music. And what better album to start with, but the one that brought me and my former band members Rui, Eduardo and Ricardo together. It was actually a Christmas gift that I requested from my family, and they fulfilled it!

American Idiot by Green Day is a musical journey, that floats between Pop-Rock and Punk-Rock, with a loud and aggressive mix, but so pleasing that you’ll want to turn up the volume. I must confess I didn’t know Green Day before this album, but I immediately took care of that by purchasing the previous albums.

Highlights for me: Jesus Of Suburbia, Green Day’s answer to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, Give Me Novacaine, my absolute favorite; Whatsername is super addictive; Boulevard Of Broken Dreams is one of those songs you can’t get enough of; but overall there are no bad songs here.

Let downs: after discovering their previous albums, I did feel like American Idiot was somehow more commercial or mainstream. I end up listening to their previous albums a lot more than American Idiot (and I still do). What do you think? 🤔