ALCHEMY
 
Artist Dire Straits
Release date 10th May 2010
Recording Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK, 23rd July 1983
Format 1DVD
Label Universal
Cat.no. 0602527336305
DVD
  1. Once upon a time in the west
  2. Expresso love
  3. Romeo and juliet
  4. Private investigations
  5. Sultans of swing
  6. Two young lovers
  7. Tunnel of love
  8. Telegraph road
  9. Solid rock
  10. Going home

Bonus features:

  1. Tunnel of love - Old grey wistle test, 29th November 1980
  2. Sultans of swing - Old grey wistle test, 15th May 1978
  3. BBC Arena documentary - Rainbow Theatre, London, UK, 20th-21st December 1979 & 4th-7th March 1980
Front & back cover                    
DVD            
Additional comments DVD edition of Alchemy. Recorded at the last concert of the Love over gold 1982-1983 world tour. The video has been restored from the original film by archive restoration specialist and acclaimed live concert director Dick Carruthers. The audio is remixed by Chuck Ainlay, winner of the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album for his surround production on Brothers in arms. Bonus features include two live TV performances from The Old Grey Whistle Test and the BBC Arena documentary including exclusive interviews with the band and rehearsal footage.


The cover of the album is an adaptation of 'Alchemy - 1974', painted over a two-year period (1972-1973) by the late Australian artist and personal friend of Mark Knopfler, Brett Whiteley, who died on 15th June 1992. The painting is actually a self-portrait and consists of a series of large separate panels which, when fully displayed, extend around several walls of a studio. There are many panels to the work and most are not seen here. The adaptation includes additional artwork and photographs of the band and some collage like a guitar with lips held by a hand. One prevalent feature in Brett Whiteley's work are arrows going in opposite directions, they feature in various paintings he has done and presumably this is where the four arrows you see on the album cover originate. Apparently Mark Knopfler was an admirer of Whiteley's work. In an interview on the Australian TV programme '60 Minutes' he said he was 'saddened' to hear of his death.