r/direstraits

The moment I started listening to Dire straits, everything started changing in my life. It's just so easy to suffer and be in pain while I have dire straits on. I'm almost completely sober and my life is turning around, just because I know that no matter how bad I feel I can tune in to some of their songs and forget all the pain. I Can't be the only one

I was listening to the "Brothers in Arms" extended disc today, with the San Antonio 1985 concert as the second disc. On "Wild West End", someone does a great solo at the end, but the tone on the guitar just doesn't sound quite like Mark, and the style of the solo seems different than what I'm used to from MK. Was that one done by Jack Sonni?

A man calls himself a Legend gets it from the real legend

Love it by the way.

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The problem with ranking Dire Straits albums is that every album is great. So my ranking is really based on one question: Which album comes closest to being flawless? Obviously, it is still completely subjective.

1. Communiqué — No skips, a great opening, and an incredible finish. Some people argue that the title track is the album’s low point. I completely disagree; it is flawless. The recording also has a richer, more polished quality than the debut album.
2. Dire Straits — Every song is excellent, but the album does not have quite the depth or breadth of Communiqué. It also lacks some of the sonic polish Mark would bring to his later albums, but importantly not a skip on this album as every song has a rightful place.
3. Making Movies — A masterpiece whose biggest flaw is that Mark cut the title track. I cannot wait for the day it is finally released. “Action, action…” Being limited to roughly 44 minutes certainly helped keep the albums tight, but it also meant that we missed out on some gems.
4. Brothers in Arms — An unbelievable album, let down only by “Walk of Life” and, possibly, “One World” making the final cut. The CD era did allow Mark to give his compositions more room to breathe, though.
5. Love Over Gold — Mark’s greatest song opens my favorite Side A of any album, followed by another incredible track in “Private Investigations.” Unfortunately, it is dragged down by the most mediocre Side B of his career. I like “Industrial Disease,” even though it does not fit the album’s mood, but “Love Over Gold” and “It Never Rains” are among the schmaltziest songs Mark has ever recorded.
6. On Every Street — I have no problem with anyone arguing that this is the best album in the catalog, but I think even its biggest admirers must concede that it is easily the most flawed album Mark ever released. It is still an incredible album that I listen to often, but I hit the skip button more than I do on any other Dire Straits record. Did we really need the “Walk of Life” rehash that is “The Bug”? I imagine that if this album had been made for vinyl, some difficult choices would have been required and those choices might have produced a tighter, more nearly flawless final product.