Get Lucky (Mark Knopfler album)

Get Lucky is the sixth solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 14 September 2009 in Europe by Mercury Records, and on 15 September in the United States by Reprise Records. The album was released in four formats, including CD, a Limited Edition CD/DVD Digipak, a Deluxe Edition Boxset, and a double vinyl album. Get Lucky received generally favorable reviews,[2] and reached the top three positions on album charts in Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland. The album peaked at number nine in the United Kingdom, and number 17 in the United States.[3]

Get Lucky
Studio album by Mark Knopfler
Released	14 September 2009
Recorded	British Grove Studios October 2008 – March 2009
Genre	Roots rock, Celtic rock, folk rock
Length	52:03[1]
Label	Mercury Reprise (USA)
Producer	Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler chronology
Kill to Get Crimson (2007) Get Lucky (2009) Privateering (2012)

Recording

Get Lucky was recorded at British Grove Studios in London between October 2008 and March 2009.[4]

Release

Get Lucky was released on 14 September 2009 in four formats. The Standard International version is a CD containing eleven songs. The Limited Edition version is a CD/DVD Digipak, which includes a tour of British Grove Studio conducted by Mark and Chuck Ainlay. The Deluxe Edition Boxset contains 3 engraved poker chips, 2 branded poker craps, a guitar tab for the title track, 2 180g vinyl LPs, a facsimile gig ticket, and a DVD containing 1 acoustic track performed live, a video tour of British Grove Studios with interviews, and a short 20-minute film. The Vinyl Edition version is a double vinyl LP.

Composition

The song "The Car Was the One" is based on a story in The Unfair Advantage, an autobiography by race car driver Mark Donohue.[5]

Touring

Main article: Get Lucky Tour

Knopfler promoted the album with two tours in 2010. The North American tour started on 8 April 2010 in Seattle, Washington, and included 28 concerts in 27 cities, ending on 9 May 2010 in Albany, New York.[6] The European tour started on 9 September 2010 in London, UK, and included 60 concerts in 52 cities, ending on 31 July 2010 in Ávila, Spain. The tour included a six-night run at the Royal Albert Hall in London.[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	[8]
AllMusic	[1]
PopMatters	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Sound & Vision	[11]

Get Lucky received generally positive reviews from music critics. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the album holds a Metascore of 63, meaning the album has received "generally favourable reviews".[2] In his review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann gave the album three and a half out of five stars, noting that although Glasgow-born Knopfler comes by the Celtic influence honestly, he "seems to be trying to create his own pseudo-traditional repertoire of what often sound like old folk songs."[1] In his review for Sound & Vision, Mike Mettler gave the album four and a half out of five stars, noting that Knopfler "continues to evolve as a storyteller who's never afraid of shying away from rock theatrics to explore his considerable British roots."[11]

In his review for PopMatters, Michael Kabran gave the album seven out of ten stars, noting that the album is "filled with sweeping strings, subtle melodies, bluesy guitar bits, and Knopfler’s usual smart lyrics."[9] Kabran concluded, "Knopfler has created an enjoyable collection of blues shuffles, countrified ballads, and Celtic-influenced folk songs that deserves attention and, perhaps most important, deserves to stand on its own."[9] In his review for AbsolutePunk, Thomas Nassiff gave the album a 95% rating, praising the album's "refreshing insight" and "phenomenal songwriting".[8] In his review for Rolling Stone, Michael Tremmel gave the album four out of five stars.[10]

Track listing

All songs were written by Mark Knopfler.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Border Reiver"	4:35
2.	"Hard Shoulder"	4:33
3.	"You Can't Beat the House"	3:25
4.	"Before Gas and TV"	5:50
5.	"Monteleone"	3:39
6.	"Cleaning My Gun"	4:43
7.	"The Car Was the One"	3:55
8.	"Remembrance Day"	5:05
9.	"Get Lucky"	4:33
10.	"So Far from the Clyde"	5:58
11.	"Piper to the End"	5:47
Total length:		52:03

iTunes and Amazon bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Early Bird"	5:36
13.	"Time in the Sun"	2:52

Deluxe Edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Pulling Down the Ride"	2:41
15.	"Home Boy"	3:15
16.	"Good as Gold"	3:27

Personnel

• Mark Knopfler – vocals, guitar
• Richard Bennett – guitar
• John McCusker – violin, cittern
• Matt Rollings – keyboards
• Guy Fletcher – keyboards, string arrangements
• Glenn Worf – bass guitar, string bass
• Danny Cummings – drums
• Phil Cunningham – accordion (1,4,10,11)
• Michael McGoldrick – flute, whistle (1,4,10,11)
• Rupert Gregson-Williams – strings conductor, French horn

Production

• Mark Knopfler – producer
• Guy Fletcher – co-producer, engineer
• Chuck Ainlay – co-producer, engineer
• Rich Cooper – assistant engineer
• Martin Hollis – assistant engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine

Charts

Album charts Chart (2009) Peak Australia Albums Chart[12] 43 Austria Albums Chart[13] 10 Belgium Albums Chart (Flanders)[14] 17 Belgium Albums Chart (Wallonia)[15] 8 Canadian Albums Chart[16] 16 Denmark Albums Chart[17] 2 Dutch Albums Chart[18] 3 European Albums Chart[19] 2 Finland Albums Chart[20] 17 France Albums Chart[21] 10 Germany Albums Chart[22] 2 Hungary Albums Chart[23] 13 Italy Albums Chart[24] 2 Irish Albums Chart[25] 25 Norway Albums Chart[26] 1 Poland Albums Chart[27] 3 Portugal Albums Chart[28] 9 New Zealand Albums Chart[29] 5 Spain Albums Chart[30] 4 Sweden Albums Chart[31] 6 Swiss Albums Chart[32] 5 UK Albums Chart[33] 9 US Billboard 200[34] 17 US Billboard Rock Album[35] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2009) Rank Danish Albums Chart[36] 47 Dutch Albums Chart[37] 62 French Albums Chart[38] 156 Germany Albums Chart[39] 47 Italy Albums Chart[40] 93 Swedish Albums Chart[41] 85 Swiss Albums Chart[42] 98

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[43]	Gold	100,000^^
Italy (FIMI)[44]	Gold	30,000^*
Poland (ZPAV)[45]	Gold	10,000^*
Norway (IFPI Norway)[46]	Platinum	30,000^*
United Kingdom (BPI)[47]	Silver	60,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Ruhlmann, William. "Get Lucky". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
2. "Get Lucky". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
3. "Get Lucky". aCharts. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
4. Fletcher, Guy. "Get Lucky Studio Diary". Guy Fletcher. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
5. Smith, Steven Cole (11 October 2010). "Keeping Mark Donohue's Memory Alive in Song". AutoWeek. 20. 60: 91. ISSN 0192-9674.
6. "Get Lucky North American Tour". Mark Knopfler Official Website. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
7. "Get Lucky European Tour". Mark Knopfler Official Website. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
8. Nassiff, Thomas (29 September 2009). "Mark Knopfler: Get Lucky". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
9. Kabran, Michael (22 September 2009). "Mark Knopfler: Get Lucky". PopMatters. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
10. Tremmel, Michael (1 September 2009). "Mark Knopfler "Get Lucky"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
11. Mettler, Mike (3 January 2010). "Vinyl LP Review: Mark Knopfler's Get Lucky". Sound and Vision. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
12. "Australian Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
13. "Austrian Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
14. "Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky" (in Dutch). www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
15. "Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky" (in French). www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
16. "Mark Knopfler - Chart History - Canadian Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
17. "Danish Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky". danishcharts.dk. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
18. "Dutch Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
19. "European Albums Chart - Week of October 03, 2009". Billboard. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
20. "Finnish Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
21. "French Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
22. "Chartverfolgung / Mark Knopfler / Longplay" (in German). musicline.de. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
23. "Hungarian Albums Chart - 2009.09.21. - 2009.09.27" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
24. "Italian Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
25. "Irish Music Charts Archive - Top 75 Artist Album, Week ending 17 September 2009". www.chart-track.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
26. "Get Lucky på VG-lista Topp 40 Album" (in Norwegian). lista.vg.no. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
27. "OLiS - Sales for the period 14.09.2009 - 20.09.2009". OLiS. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
28. "Portuguese Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky". portuguesecharts.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
29. "New Zealand Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky". charts.nz. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
30. "Spanish Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky". spanishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
31. "Swedish Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
32. "Swiss Albums Chart - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky" (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
33. "The Official Charts Company - Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
34. "Mark Knopfler - Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
35. "Mark Knopfler - Chart History - Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
36. "Album 2009" (in Danish). Hitlisten. Click "Album 2009." Retrieved 10 August 2018.
37. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2009" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
38. "Top Albums annuel (physique + téléchargement + streaming)" (in French). SNEP Musique. 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
39. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2014-11-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
40. "Classifiche ufficiali degli Album e dei DVD musicali più venduti e dei singoli più scaricati dalla rete nel 2008" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
41. "Årslista Album – År 2009" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
42. "Swiss Year-End Charts 2009". Media Control. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
43. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Mark Knopfler; 'Get Lucky')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
44. "Italian album certifications – Mark Knopfler – Get Lucky" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Get Lucky" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
45. "Polish album certifications – Mark Knopfler – Get Lucky" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
46. "Norwegian album certifications – Mark Knopfler – Get Lucky" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
47. "British album certifications – Mark Knopfler – Get Lucky". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 March 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Get Lucky in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

External links

• Get Lucky at Mark Knopfler official website