Kill to Get Crimson is the fifth solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 17 September 2007 by Mercury Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album’s title comes from a line in the song “Let It All Go”. The album cover image is taken from the painting Four Lambrettas and Three Portraits of Janet Churchman by John Bratby, painted in 1958. The first singles from the album were “True Love Will Never Fade” in Europe, and “Punish The Monkey” in North America. The album debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling about 23,000 copies in its first week. The Kill to Get Crimson Tour promoting the album started on 29 March 2008 in Amsterdam, Netherlands and ended on 31 July 2008 in Miami Beach, Florida. The album was released on CD, CD/DVD, double vinyl LP, and a Deluxe Set of 180g vinyl LP and CD.Kill to Get Crimson is the fifth solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 17 September 2007 by Mercury Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album’s title comes from a line in the song “Let It All Go”. The album cover image is taken from the painting Four Lambrettas and Three Portraits of Janet Churchman by John Bratby, painted in 1958. The first singles from the album were “True Love Will Never Fade” in Europe, and “Punish The Monkey” in North America. The album debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling about 23,000 copies in its first week. The Kill to Get Crimson Tour promoting the album started on 29 March 2008 in Amsterdam, Netherlands and ended on 31 July 2008 in Miami Beach, Florida.
The album was released on CD, CD/DVD, double vinyl LP, and a Deluxe Set of 180g vinyl.
Knopfler supported the release of Kill to Get Crimson with the Kill to Get Crimson Tour of Europe and North America, which started on 29 March 2008 in Amsterdam, and included 94 concerts in 88 cities, ending in on 31 July 2008 in Miami Beach, Florida. The tour lineup included Mark Knopfler (guitars, vocals), Richard Bennett (guitars), Danny Cummings (drums), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Matt Rollings (keyboards), Glenn Worf (bass), and John McCusker (fiddle, cittern). The tour included a six-night run at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with Bap Kennedy as the supporting act. Jesca Hoop was the opening act for the North America leg of the tour. (by wikipedia)
Given that Kill to Get Crimson follows Mark Knopfler’s yearlong collaboration with Emmylou Harris — inaugurated by the album All the Roadrunning and followed by a tour, subsequently documented on the live set Real Live Roadrunning — it might be reasonable to presume that it bears a slightly heavier folk influence, as if Emmylou had rubbed off on the guitarist. And that’s true to a certain extent: “Heart Full of Holes” has an old-timey carnivalesque lilt to its middle section and “Secondary Waltz” is simple, low-key two-step driven by accordions, while “The Fish and the Bird” is a spare allegory that recalls old folk tunes, as does the stately grace of “Madame Geneva’s.” Also, “Let It All Go” (the song that bears the lyric that lends the album the title) is a minor key dirge that could be seen as a winding folk tune, but it hearkens back to the evocative mood pieces that often up ate up large sections of the second side of a Dire Straits album, and that’s hardly the only time either Knopfler’s old band or his solo works are brought to mind here.
Despite the few folk trappings, most of Kill to Get Crimson resembles nothing so much as another tastefully low-key album from Knopfler, one that resides comfortably in his mellow Americana niche, where country, blues, and rock gently blend into a sound that resembles no particular style but evokes plenty of past sounds. Knopfler rides this soft groove as easily as he ever has, maybe even a little easier than usual, but the big difference here is although mood is key — as it always is on a Knopfler solo album — the emphasis is not on guitar; it’s on the song. Thing is, the mood tends to trump the sound unless the album is heard closely, which is something Knopfler’s dedicated cult will surely do, but less dedicated listeners can’t be blamed if they enjoy this merely as background music if they choose to enjoy this at all. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)
Personnel:
Danny Cummings (drums, percussion)
Guy Fletcher (keyboards)
Mark Knopfler(vocals, guitar)
Ian Lowthian (accordion)
John McCusker (violin, cittern)
Frank Ricotti (vibraphone)
Steve Sidwell (trumpet)
Chris White (flute, saxophone, clarinet)
Glenn Worf (bass)
Tracklist:
01. True Love Will Never Fade 4.24
02. The Scaffolder’s Wife 3.54
03. The Fizzy And The Still 4.10
04. Heart Full Of Holes 6.38
05. We Can Get Wild 4.21
06. Secondary Waltz 3.46
07. Punish the Monkey 4.40
08. Let It All Go 5.21
09. Behind with the Rent 4.51
10. The FishAnd The Bird 3.47
11. Madame Geneva’s 4.01
12. In the Sky 7.31
All songs were written by Mark Knopfler
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