Album Review: Dire Straits - Communique (1979)

 I love Dire Straits.  And I’ve loved them since the first time I heard “Money for Nothing” on the radio back in the early nineties.  But I’ve never loved them as the strictly guitar-focused band of their early career.  I’ve always liked them when they incorporated keyboards and synths into the mix.  For that reason, whenever I play a Dire Straits record, it usually is either Love Over Gold or Brothers In Arms.  I had acquired so many Dire Straits records that when I spotted Communique in the CD section of my local music store, I couldn’t resist picking it up cheap, in part to satisfy my completionist proclivities.  And I’m glad I did, one way or another.  It’s not as impressive as the self-titled debut-album – not by a long shot – but there is enough here to give this album a playthrough every now and then.  The highlights here are “Where Do You Think You’re Going?”, “Single Handed Sailor”, “Portobello Belle”, and of course, “Lady Writer.”  Not a bad album at all, but as far as I’m concerned, it couldn’t hold a candle to its predecessor.  B+

Dire Straits - On Every Street (1991)

So yeah, I got bored and decided to come back to blogging.  That, and I went out and picked up a Dire Straits CD whilst I still could.  And yeah, it's the third album from the band I've reviewed this year.  I try not to write reviews for the same artist within a year if I can.  But sod it, I'm gonna do it anyway.  Now, two things are certain at this point in time - 1) the world is in dire straits and 2) Mark Knopfler is not in Dire Straits.  And it's a shame in a way about the latter - Dire Straits made great music, even with the travesty of adding steel guitars into the instrumental mix on albums such as this one, On Every Street.  Otherwise, it's not a bad swansong studio record for the band - it loses my attention a bit with "Iron Hand" and "Ticket to Heaven", and I'm sure I'm one of three people who actually likes "The Bug."  The title track, "On Every Street", however, is by far the best song here, and "Calling Elvis" and "Heavy Fuel" are good enough to make their best of compilation albums.  "My Parties" is listenable too, even if it does have a "stoned Mr. Blobby inadvertently frightening small children" musical feel to it.  But as soon it ticks over into "Planet of New Orleans" I'm starting to think that this is more like it.  And the final track, "How Long", has a bit of a John Denver-meets-Postman Pat vibe going on, but nonetheless it's remarkably good, with an upbeat country-esque sound that other bands and and artists who occasionally delve into the genre would struggle to sincerely replicate so well.  Was it worth buying?  Yeah.  A-

Album Review: Dire Straits - On the Night (1993)

My favorite live album is, and probably always will be Mad Dogs & Englishmen by Joe Cocker.  Now, I rarely listen to live albums - but this is an album that everybody should own, and with a little help of his friends, such as Rita Coolidge and Leon Russell, Cocker came up with what should rightly be considered a legendary album that is sorely underrated.  Now, after having listened to a couple of tracks from Dire Straits' On the Night, and being subsequently impressed with what I heard, I was expecting yet another cracker of a live album, and whilst it lacks the sentiment and character of the aforementioned Joe Cocker classic, it's nonetheless an impeccable live rendition of a band that, at their finest, was the best in the business.  Some of the live versions here are, dare I say it, perhaps better than the studio originals - the keyboards on "Walk of Life" capture the spirit and essence of the song far better than the studio version ever did, and I'm loving the extended saxophone work on "Romeo and Juliet."  "Brothers in Arms", too, sounds just as good as it does on Brothers in Arms.  But the biggest surprises for me here are "On Every Street" and "You and Your Friend."  Both songs come off On Every Street, an album I have yet to listen to.  But that will change soon.  Very, very soon.  I'm loving this live album, every song, every minute.  It's fantastic, no matter what others think.  A

Album Review: Dire Straits - Dire Straits (1978)

Dire Straits' eponymous debut album is a masterpiece for many, and rightly so.  So much skill is on display on this album - notably more so than the likes of Making Movies and Brothers in Arms.  And it's far more upbeat and fast-paced than their latter works too, and that's something I always look for in what I consider to be a great record, or a great song, for that matter.  Thus, there are many great songs here as far as I'm concerned - "Setting Me Up", "Switch Blade Knife", "Southbound Again" and "Wild West End" are jostling for first position in the "Dave's favorite songs on this album" ranks, and with "Sultans of Swing" and "Down to the Waterline" being the choice picks for their greatest hits compilations, finding a song that is even remotely rubbish is not going to happen here.  This is the first time I've listened to this album, and I now see why there is so much reverence for it.  Yet another important lesson for those who were, or still are, stuck on believing that Brothers in Arms is the quintessential Dire Straits, because whilst it is good, it isn't that good.  This album, however, is.  Go listen to it, damn it!  A

Album Review: Dire Straits - Love Over Gold (1982)

I always loved the song "Industrial Disease" by Dire Straits - borderline cheesy, with a melodic sound that sounded almost like a hybrid cross between the Traveling Wilburys and Racey. Simple, no frills pop rock, it was.  And for many years, it was my only exposure to the album that I am reviewing here, Love Over Gold.  The funny thing is, it is in fact the Achilles heel of the entire record.  I really should have listened to this album decades ago, when I was first getting into Dire Straits.  Hiding under a rock is one of the worse things you can do - ignorance isn't bliss, and this album is bloody brilliant.  It's bedtime as I write this, but bugger it, staying up was well worth it.  There are only a handful of songs on the album - five, in fact, but this is simply due to the length of the songs.  "Telegraph Road" is over fourteen minutes of brilliance long, and "It Never Rains" is bang on eight. "Industrial Disease" is the shortest at a more attention-span friendly 5:48.  I'm absolutely loving "Private Investigations" and "Love Over Gold" as well. In wrapping up this shortish review, let me just say that I for one am so glad I decided to give this a listen when I did.  And now it's your turn. Give it a whirl, I hope you won't be disappointed.  Because I sure as hell wasn't.  A

Album Review: Dire Straits - Making Movies (1980)

I've always joked that, instead of playing the same old tired, poorly selected local music over the dole department phone system, they should play Dire Straits instead.  Specifically, of course, "Money for Nothing."  And I would still dearly love to see someone actually fulfill my wish.  Even more, I would love to see people's ensuing reactions.  But there's a fat chance of that happening, unfortunately.  But as consolation for my disappointment that such a fantasy is somewhat unlikely to be realized, I nonetheless revel in my surprise and pleasure in listening to Making Movies from 1980.  I liked Brothers in Arms a lot less than I perhaps should, given some of their biggest hits are on that album, and then some.  But in listening to this album I was expecting something a bit more lethargic and less polished than the aforementioned magnum opus.  Of course I knew "Tunnel of Love", "Romeo and Juliet", "Solid Rock" and "Skateaway."  Good songs, all of them.  But I unexpectedly found myself in favor of "Expresso Love", refreshing and yet simultaneously consistent with the previous tracks, the aforementioned trio.  It took round two for me to click with "Hand in hand", but I wouldn't be fooled by the tepid opening to "Les Boys."  It reminds me, and perhaps it should serve as a reminder to everyone else, to not judge a song by the first few moments.  And "Solid Rock" is a reminder to both myself and others that Mark Knopfler, in spite of his critics, knows a good rock 'n roll ditty better than many of his peers.  A-

Album Review: Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (1985)

Dire Straits have never been known as a band who put out five star albums; yet strangely, there's no shortage of people out there who regard them as five star musicians. Some of their albums have some classic little numbers that'll get over-ecstatic drunkards starting mexican waves within the comfort of their own home whenever "Twisting by the Pool" comes up on the playlist, and rock DJs have no doubt received threats of a wild stabbing by some short-fused reprobate cat rapist from Gisborne on home detention for not playing "Romeo and Juliet" during the song request period. Despite the high regard held for the band by countless fans, the albums as they are never quite stack up, particularly among rock critics and to a lesser extent, the fans themselves. For instance, had "Industrial Disease" been cut from Love over Gold, it's fair to say that the album could very well have ended up in the $2.99 bin at K-Mart for use as a novelty clock or beer coaster.

1985's Brothers in Arms gets off better than the rest of the Dire Straits discography, but not by much. Despite holding the status of being the first album to be recorded entirely using digital equipment (DDD, compared to ADD or AAD), and to have CD sales outstrip vinyl, it still lacks the musical aura and charisma of an typical 12 million+ selling album that you hear every music lover talking about. With songs like "Money for Nothing", "Walk of Life", "Brothers in Arms", "Why Worry" and "So Far Away", it should, by all rights, be hailed universally as a masterpiece, yet it doesn't, probably because most of the songs extend well past the average attention span of a human. "Money for Nothing" got cut back to 4:10, most probably because 85% of listeners tend to drift off to la-la land after then. And apparently, co-producer Neil Dorfsman threatened to cut "Walk of Life", and I can see why; it's like getting Bongo the crack-addled clown to sing cheery kiddie's songs to a group of suicidal emos. It's exactly the opposite of what the whole album is all about. Not necessarily a bad thing though; "Walk of Life" is a song I'll never get sick of. And "Money for Nothing" is a great song to hear over the phone whenever you call the Welfare office.

Overall, the album is a classic, not because it's a collection of fantastic songs, which it should be, but because of its pioneering status, and the fact that it holds great value as a collector's item. Stick to the hits on this one, and forget about the rest. B+