Sailing To Philadelphia - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Rolling Stone

In his review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann gave the album three out of five stars, writing that "in one song after another on this album, you get the feeling that he started out playing some familiar song in a specific genre and eventually extrapolated upon it enough to call it an original." In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, David Wild gave the album three and a half out of five stars, writing that the album is "a welcome flashback" to Knopfler's earlier work with Dire Straits. Wild continued:

Knopfler duets with James Taylor on the title track, which deftly explores the relationship between Mason and Dixon; Van Morrison trades lines on the soulful "The Last Laugh." With Sailing to Philadelphia, Knopfler has taken a break from the rootsy side projects and soundtrack work that have occupied him for the last seventeen years, and has evoked some of the grandeur of prime Dire Straits.

By 2002, the album had sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. In some territories—Western Europe for example—the album was released as an HDCD and a 5.1 Surround Sound DVD-A.