Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing (98)

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1 Sultans of Swing
2 Lady Writer
3 Romeo and Juliet
4 Tunnel of Love
5 Private Investigations
6 Twisting by the Pool
7 Love Over Gold
8 So Far Away
9 Money for Nothing
10 Brothers in Arms
11 Walk of Life
12 Calling Elvis
13 Heavy Fuel
14 On Every Street
15 Your Latest Trick [live]
16 Local Hero/Wild Theme [live]
17 Calling Elvis [live]
18 Walk of Life [live]
19 Last Exit to Brooklyn [live]
20 Romeo and Juliet [live]
21 Sultans of Swing [live]
22 Brothers in Arms [live]
23 Money for Nothing [live]

Dire Straits - On Every Street (91)

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1 Calling Elvis
2 On Every Street
3 When It Comes to You
4 Fade to Black
5 The Bug
6 You and Your Friend
7 Heavy Fuel
8 Iron Hand
9 Ticket to Heaven
10 My Parties
11 Planet of New Orleans
12 How Long

It took Mark Knopfler more than six years to craft a follow-up to Dire Straits' international chart-topper, Brothers in Arms, but although On Every Street sold in the expected multi-millions worldwide on the back of the band's renown and a year-long tour, it was a disappointment. Knopfler remained a gifted guitar player with tastes in folk ("Iron Hand"), blues ("Fade to Black"), and rockabilly ("The Bug"), among other styles, but much of the album was low-key to the point of being background music.

The group had long since dwindled to original members Knopfler and bassist John Illsley, plus a collection of semi-permanent sidemen who provided support but no real musical chemistry. This was not the comeback it should have been.

Dire Straits - Making Movies (80)

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1 Tunnel of Love
2 Romeo and Juliet
3 Skateaway
4 Expresso Love
5 Hand in Hand
6 Solid Rock
7 Les Boys


Without second guitarist David Knopfler, Dire Straits began to move away from its roots rock origins into a jazzier variation of country-rock and singer/songwriter folk-rock.

Naturally, this means that Mark Knopfler's ambitions as a songwriter are growing, as the storytelling pretensions of Making Movies indicate.

Fortunately, his skills are increasing, as the lovely "Romeo and Juliet," "Tunnel of Love," and "Skateaway" indicate.

And Making Movies is helped by a new wave-tinged pop production, which actually helps Knopfler's jazzy inclinations take hold.

The record runs out of steam toward the end, closing with the borderline offensive "Les Boys," but the remainder of Making Movies ranks among the band's finest work.

Dire Straits - Dire Straits (78)

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1 Down to the Waterline
2 Water of Love
3 Setting Me Up
4 Six Blade Knife
5 Southbound Again
6 Sultans of Swing
7 In the Gallery
8 Wild West End
9 Lions

Dire Straits' minimalist interpretation of pub rock had already crystallized by the time they released their eponymous debut.

Driven by Mark Knopfler's spare, tasteful guitar lines and his husky warbling, the album is a set of bluesy rockers.

And while the bar band mentality of pub-rock is at the core of Dire Straits — even the group's breakthrough single, "Sultans of Swing," offered a lament for a neglected pub rock band — their music is already beyond the simple boogies and shuffles of their forefathers, occasionally dipping into jazz and country.



Knopfler also shows an inclination toward Dylanesque imagery, which enhances the smoky, low-key atmosphere of the album.

While a few of the songs fall flat, the album is remarkably accomplished for a debut, and Dire Straits had difficulty surpassing it throughout their career.

Dire Straits - Communique (79)

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1 Once upon a Time in the West
2 News
3 Where Do You Think You're Going?
4 Communiqué
5 Lady Writer
6 Angel of Mercy
7 Portobello Belle
8 Single-Handed Sailor
9 Follow Me Home

Rushed out less than nine months after the surprise success of Dire Straits' self-titled debut album, the group's sophomore effort, Communiqué, seemed little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor with less compelling material.

Mark Knopfler and co. had established a sound (derived largely from J.J. Cale) of laid-back shuffles and intricate, bluesy guitar playing, and Communiqué provided more examples of it.

But there was no track as focused as "Sultans of Swing," even if "Lady Writer" (a lesser singles chart entry on both sides of the Atlantic) nearly duplicated its sound.

As a result, Communiqué sold immediately to Dire Straits' established audience, but no more, and it did not fare as well critically as its predecessor or its follow-up.

Dire Straits - Alchemy Live (84)

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1 Once upon a Time in the West
2 Expresso Love
3 Romeo and Juliet
4 Love Over Gold
5 Private Investigations
6 Sultans of Swing
7 Two Young Lovers Intro: The Carousel Waltz
8 Tunnel of Love
9 Telegraph Road
10 Solid Rock
11 Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero

There is an interesting contrast on this 94-minute double-disc live album (recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon in July 1983) between the music, much of which is slow and moody, with Mark Knopfler's muttered vocals and large helpings of his fingerpicking on what sounds like an amplified Spanish guitar, and the audience response.

The arena-size crowd cheers wildly, and claps and sings along when given half a chance, as though each song were an up-tempo rocker.

When they do have a song of even medium speed, such as "Sultans of Swing" or "Solid Rock," they are in ecstasy.

That Dire Straits' introspective music loses much of its detail in a live setting matters less than that it gains presence and a sense of anticipation.

Alan Clark's keyboards help to fill out the sound and give Knopfler's spare melodies a certain majesty, but Dire Straits remains an overgrown bar band with a Bob Dylan fixation, and that's exactly how the crowd likes it.

The CD version of the album contains one extra track, "Expresso Love," which adds a needed change of pace to the otherwise slow-moving first disc.

Dire Straits - Live at the BBC 1981

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1 Down to the Waterline
2 Six Blade Knife
3 Water of Love
4 Wild West End
5 Sultans of Swing
6 Lions
7 What's the Matter Baby?
8 Tunnel of Love

Always a quiet act, Dire Straits dissolved quietly in 1995 as Mark Knopfler prepared his first full-fledged solo album.

Meanwhile, this documentary effort, the group's third live recording, appeared to chronicle their early days.

Most of it was recorded in July 1978, so it is, in effect, a concert version of the self-titled debut album.

Tacked on at the end is a 12-minute version of "Tunnel of Love" from 1981, bringing the total time to 46 minutes.

It's a modest effort from a modest band and, in that sense, a better representation of them than Alchemy or On the Night, both of which reflected their worldwide popularity.