Golden Heart
| Golden Heart | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Mark Knopfler | ||||
| Released | 26 March 1996 | |||
| Recorded | Emerald Sound Studios, Javelina Recording Studios, AIR Studios, Windmill Lane Studios, 1994–1996 |
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| Genre | Roots rock, folk rock, country | |||
| Length | 70:18 | |||
| Label |
Vertigo Warner Bros. (USA) |
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| Producer | Mark Knopfler, Chuck Ainlay | |||
| Mark Knopfler chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |
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Golden Heart is the debut solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 26 March 1996 by Vertigo Records internationally and Warner Bros. Records in the United States. Following a successful career leading the British rock band Dire Straits and composing a string of critically acclaimed film soundtrack albums, Knopfler produced his first solo album, drawing upon the various musical endeavors in which he has engaged since emerging as a major recording artist in 1978. The album reached the top ten position on album charts in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The album peaked at 105 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
Following the release of Dire Straits' final studio album, On Every Street, and a grueling fifteen-month world tour of Europe, North America, and Australia—a tour seen by 7.1 million people that ended in October 1992—Knopfler quietly dissolved the popular British rock band that had become one of the world's most commercially successful bands, with worldwide album sales of over 120 million. He would later recall, "I put the thing to bed because I wanted to get back to some kind of reality. It's self-protection, a survival thing. That kind of scale is dehumanising." He spent two years recovering from the experience, which had taken a toll on his creative and personal life. In 1994, he began work on what would become his first solo album.
Knopfler supported the release of Golden Heart with the Golden Heart Tour of Europe, which started on 24 April 1996 in Galway, Ireland, and included 84 concerts in 66 cities, ending in Antibes, France, on 4 August 1996. The tour lineup included Mark Knopfler (guitar, vocals), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Richard Bennett (guitar), Glenn Worf (bass), Chad Cromwell (drums), and Jim Cox (keyboards). This initial touring group later became known to Knopfler fans as the 96-ers. A preview performance with an expanded lineup of players was given on 15 April 1996 at the BBC Building in London. This show was recorded and later released on video as A Night in London.
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