During my most recent attempt to sort out and streamline my music collection, I came across a cassette (yes, cassette!) which was played a lot when I first got it in 1996 but had not been plopped into the player for well over a decade.
Mark Knopfler’s debut solo album, Golden Heart, was one of those records I really wanted in 1996 after I had heard its first single, Darling Pretty, on the radio. But because there were only so many albums you could buy on a college student allowance if you also wanted to watch Santana in concert (RM75 if you wanted to stand right in front), I had to wait till a few friends pooled their resources and got me the record for my 20th birthday, some three months after its initial release.
By that time, having been deprived of it for so long, I was determined to love it. And while it was by no means love at first listen, Golden Heart went on to occupy a special place in my life that year.
A lot has changed in 17 years. Priorities have shifted. And people and places once considered important have been consigned to picture albums and boxes under the bed. Still, significantly, some perceptions, like mine of Golden Heart’s best moments, remain unchanged.
Darling Pretty is as charming as it was in 1996. Are We in Trouble Now is as tender. A Night in Summer Long Ago as enchanting. And while the title track may never be considered on par with Tunnel of Love, Money for Nothing, Walk of Life, Brothers in Arms, Romeo & Juliet, Telegraph Road and even Wild Theme, it will always be special to me.
In its review of Golden Heart, All Music Guide remarked that "Knopfler hadn't used the opportunity of a solo album to challenge himself..." before concluding that the album was "listenable but secondhand".
I don't necessarily disagree. But you know what? If Golden Heart is as bad as shit gets, we'll be all right.
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