Shangri-La

1	5:15 am
2	Boom, Like That
3	Sucker Row
4	The Trawlerman's Song
5	Back to Tupelo
6	Our Shangri-La
7	Everybody Pays
8	Song for Sonny Liston
9	Whoop De Doo
10	Postcards from Paraguay
11	All That Matters
12	Stand Up Guy
13	Donegan's Gone
14	Don't Crash the Ambulance

Barnes & Noble

On his fourth solo outing, Mark Knopfler seems to have gotten something of an energy transfusion, making Shangri-La his most straightforwardly rocking effort since the singer-guitarist split from Dire Straits. Given that Knopfler was virtually single-handedly responsible for creating that band's stealthily smoking sound, it's fair that he nods to his past -- most notably on the languid honky-tonk musing "Boom Like That" (an homage of sorts to fast food pioneer Ray Kroc) -- while carving out plenty of the sinewy guitar solos fans have come to expect. On "Song for Sonny Liston," that translates into a surprisingly gnarled electric blues vibe; on the darkly humorous "Don't Crash the Ambulance," it means a foray into mariachi territory. Most of the disc, in keeping with Knopfler's usual M.O., is steeped in the sepia tones of Americana past, from the country tinges that adorn "Back to Tupelo" to the Big Easy inflections of "The Trawlerman's Song." Longtime compatriots like pedal steel player Paul Franklin (who ratchets up the party atmosphere of "Whoop De Doo") and organist Richard Bennett contribute to the disc's overriding warm glow, but it's Knopfler himself who flicks the switch that really illuminates these songs. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Shangri-La, Mark Knopfler's fourth solo release and his first since breaking his collarbone, shoulder, and seven ribs in a motorcycle crash in March 2003, finds the eternally laid-back Dire Straits frontman in familiar territory. Instead of constructing a song cycle about his brush with mortality -- the wry "Don't Crash the Ambulance" aside -- he uses his warm baritone and effortless guitar work to ruminate on everything from the plight of the modern fisherman -- the beautiful and rustic "Trawlerman's Song" -- to the entrepreneurial skills of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc ("Boom, Like That"). Knopfler has more or less abandoned the British folk and Celtic-influenced pop that began to surface on his previous two recordings, opting instead for a full-blown yet quiet and considerate collection of country-folk ballads and bluesy, midtempo dirges that revel in their uncharacteristic sparseness -- one of the better examples of the latter is the gutsy, backwoods boxing tale "Song for Sonny Liston." Knopfler spent seven months away from the guitar in physiotherapy, but his melancholic slow-burn tone is as peat-smoked as ever, and his penchant for wrapping Americana-gothic folk around subjects that are uniquely English -- colliers, cockneys, the one-armed bandit man who meets his maker in the atmospheric opener, "5:15 A.M." -- is evident throughout. Dynamically, Shangri-La loses steam about three-quarters of the way through -- the cringe-inducing "Whoop De Doo" and the sweet but dull "All That Matters" bring things to a sleepy halt -- but Knopfler fans and lovers of Chet Atkins, Gordon Lightfoot, and J.J. Cale, as well as late-night poker players and early risers with an acerbic streak, will find much to love here. [A version of Shangri-La containing a bonus DVD/DVA is also available.] Reverend Lee Power

Rolling Stone

1/2 Shangri-La shows that Knopfler still knows how to supersize his ambitions. David Wild