Rate the band: Dire Straits

[Cursed Cat]

thread inspired me to give them a 'spin' on youtube the other night, forgot what a killer song Tunnel of Love is, lyrics are really evocative too ..

 

[Plugger35]

Tunnel of Love is an epic song, that's off Making Movies too.

 

[Cursed Cat]

Tunnel of Love is an epic song, that's off Making Movies too.

ha yeah I watched that veeeery 80's video this morning (along with some reeeeally cool live versions).
will check out 'Skateaway' which you posted in a minute (Sultans of Swing is one pretty much everyone knows, and deservedly so)

 

[AtomicBlonde]

 

[JimDocker]

Loved the interview - thanks for that. He does seem like a very humble, decent bloke.

 

[Dan Moody]

Another thread on BF inspired me to load up Dire Straits on the iPod.
I, like a million others, bought Brothers in Arms as a 15 yo in the 80's.
My favourite tracks are Your Latest Trick, Industrial Disease, So Far Away, Lady Writer and one of the most beautiful love songs of all, Romeo and Juliet. If you've ever had your heart broken by a girl, I dare you to listen to this and not get even the littlest bit emotional.

 

[Macca19]

Favourite songs - Your Latest Trick, Telegraph Road, Ride Across The River, Skateaway & Sultans of Swing

 

[blackshadow]

JimDocker summed it up pretty well.

Their early stuff was brilliant, but Brothers in Arms was putrid. Walk of Life truly cringe worthy.

One song of theirs I love is Romeo and Juliet.

 

[Yabba]

Great band really enjoy their music, watching some of their stuff on youtube is great. Romeo & Juliet would have to be up there with the best love songs ever written.

I would recommend looking at brothers in arms live on YouTube. Awesome!

 

[UpForGrabs]

The musical equivalent of steamed vegetables.

 

[The Dice Man]

I remember in about 1998 I was seeing the cutest redhead and I bought her an old style fold open record player, and with that I bought 2 records.. Both Vinyl. A single of Romero and Juliet, and Jeff Buckley's Grace.

I wish I kept that Grace.

 

[Ron The Bear]

Don't do it for me sorry. Rock and roll with a PG rating. They've at least got their own sound and style, but nah, pass.

Same. The 'cool' kids at school listened to them pre-Brothers In Arms, but I just didn't get it.

 

[Chewy]

They always made me feel sleepy and want to yawn. It could be Mark Knopfler's flat nasally voice. Or maybe I just wrote them off as a boring band when I was young. They became a massively overhyped band after Brothers In Arms. Everyone at my school jumped on their bandwagon and there was that ridiculous 20 night residency they had at the Melbourne Entertainment Centre. I just got irritated by all the overexposure of Brothers In Arms and it put me off them.

Maybe I should give them another chance.

Which album should I listen to? The first one, or Making Movies or Love Over Gold?

 

[Cursed Cat]

They always made me feel sleepy and want to yawn. It could be Mark Knopfler's flat nasally voice. Or maybe I just wrote them off as a boring band when I was young. They became a massively overhyped band after Brothers In Arms. Everyone at my school jumped on their bandwagon and there was that ridiculous 20 night residency they had at the Melbourne Entertainment Centre. I just got irritated by all the overexposure of Brothers In Arms and it put me off them.

Maybe I should give them another chance.

Which album should I listen to? The first one, or Making Movies or Love Over Gold?

listened to them all again recently, and to be honest I wouldn't reeeeally recommend any of them - maybe Making Movies, as Tunnel of Love is pretty epic, and there are a couple more songs with a certain overblown 80's charm to them.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

First heard them on Alchemy, then of course with Brothers In Arms. Saw them live on that tour, was a good show, and at that time they were probably the biggest band in the world.

As someone said earlier, On Every Street shouldn't have happened. I saw them live on that tour as well and it was a massive disappointment. Firstly because 90% of the crowd around me seemed more interested in eating their chicken and chips and talking about their day at work. Secondly and mainly, they really seemed to be just going through the motions on stage. Most uninspired. I remember Sultans of Swing, Knopfler played it note-for-note exactly the same as the live version on Alchemy. Technically proficient, sure, but no soul.

For some stupid reason I even bought the live album from that tour to remind me how crap it was.

These days, I'll still be happy to listen to Love Over Gold, Alchemy, or even Brothers In Arms occasionally, but as others have said, their time was then.

 

[lethal03]

Nobody writes a story like this these days. 6 lanes of traffic, 3 lanes moving slow...

 

[Norwegian Blue]

Decent enough 80s band with some great pop tunes, if you were into that sort of thing.

But geez, they were boring as batshit live. I went along to a concert circa 1988 with my girlfriend and was very disappointed. They had no stage presence and just went through the motions.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Which album should I listen to? The first one, or Making Movies or Love Over Gold?

Tough question.

Love Over Gold is a bit of a favorite of mine but outsiders might say its a bit self indulgent, navel gazing and possibly boring. I love the atmospherics of it. The first two (Dire Straits and Communique) are brilliant.

But my favorite is Making Movies. Rockaway on that one.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Don't do it for me sorry. Rock and roll with a PG rating. They've at least got their own sound and style, but nah, pass.

Fair call on rock and roll with PG rating with mark Knopfler guitar skills they could have been more powerful.

 

[Paul Kersey]

Been listening to Making Movies a bit this weekend. That's got some great songs on it and is their peak. It went downhill at Industrial Disease when they started the pop music.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Been listening to Making Movies a bit this weekend. That's got some great songs on it and is their peak. It went downhill at Industrial Disease when they started the pop music.

Nah. Love Over Gold is not a very commercial album. Not pop music at all, one of their more creative and less commercial albums actually. In fact to break the mould their next release was a single, Twisting By The Pool. Now thats pop!!!

I think it went downhill with pop music on Brothers In Arms. Walk of Life, Money for Nothing....overrated pulp.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Soundtrack to Local Hero (more a Knopfler solo guitar album) goes ok too.

 

[volcboy]

Communique is my favourite DS album - underrated. These two tracks in particular:

 

[Paul Kersey]

Nah. Love Over Gold is not a very commercial album. Not pop music at all, one of their more creative and less commercial albums actually. In fact to break the mould their next release was a single, Twisting By The Pool. Now thats pop!!!

I think it went downhill with pop music on Brothers In Arms. Walk of Life, Money for Nothing....overrated pulp.

The album might not be but Industrial Disease is and is a sign of what was to come on the next album.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

The album might not be but Industrial Disease is and is a sign of what was to come on the next album.

Agree to disagree but I get where youre coming from. I'd argue Rockaway or Tunnel of Love from the previous album were far more commercially accessible than Industrial Disease.