The Studio Albums 1978-1991

6 perfect straits albums from the masters what’s not to like

I would think it is almost impossible to find a music fan who has never heard of Dire Straits, and all of these albums contain some of the greatest rock music of the twentieth century. At some point I owned all of these on vinyl or cassette, and one or two on CD. However, this is an inexpensive way of getting all six studio albums together in one place, in neat cardboard replica sleeves. I saw the band several times live back in the day, in the City halls before 'Brothers in Arms' took them into open air stadiums. The first three albums - 'Dire Straits', 'Communique' and 'Making Movies' - covers that time, and listening again to them brings back some wonderful memories. 'Movies' is a classic, and introduced the new, more professional line-up. The surprise for me is how good 'Love over gold' is..... all the songs are very good then it ends with 'It never rains' a wonderful song. 'Brothers in Arms' followed - the biggie. Career changing. The last of the six, 'On every street' is a disappointment, and the sign post for Mark Knopfler to go solo. But looking back....? A fabulous band and this is a great opportunity to listen to them again. Buy and enjoy.....

I paid £15 for this CD collection of Dire Straits studio albums. It's very difficult to find anything wrong with it. I suppose if you are a fan you will have the albums already but it is a great collection to have. I always thought they were a great band, I know the press didn't like them, but there is some really good stuff here. My own favourites are Making Movies and Love Over Gold but the most successful was Brothers In Arms.Mark Knopfler has gone on to have a very successful solo career and still tours every 2 or 3 years. Well worth seeing him in concert if you get chance.

When you bought a CD player in the 1980s they wouldn't let you leave the shop without a copy of Brothers in Arms - so goes the old joke. In fact I owned my Dire Straits albums on cassette back in the day so I could play them in my Vauxhall Nova. The chance to upgrade to CDs at less than £3 a disk therefore seemed too good to miss.There's nothing really new to say about the music, some great songs, and always exemplary musicianship even on the lesser known numbers.One minor quibble, each of the discs comes with a printed lyric sheet, except for Communique which just has a sheet with photos of the band.

Dire Straits – 1978 - Apart from the opening track which starts the album off well and with the seminal ‘Sultans of Swing’ (SoS) later on there is not much here to excite the listener. Most of the music is of the soft ‘West Coast’ variety which is not exactly gripping. In fact, it is hard to see how the band would have made an impact without their best-known number. At the time when celebs flocked to their opening gig in the USA some disappointment was expressed when there was very little of the same standard as their smash hit in the show.Overall a somewhat disappointing debut, even though it sold in vast numbers.Playing time is just under 42 mins.Communique – 1979 – The follow up album was more consistent in the sort of quality that you would expect from this band. Not only did it feature such numbers as ‘Once Upon a time in the West’, ‘Lady Writer’ and ‘Portobello Belle’ but the other tracks were more on par with these than the ones on their first album had been with SoS.A better overall listening experience.Playing time is 42 ¾ mins.Making Movies – 1980 – Starts off strongly with ‘Tunnel of Love’ and ‘Romeo & Juliet’ and is generally strong throughout, but is somewhat spoilt by a weak ending number.An enjoyable listen if you stop before the last track.Playing time is a short 38 ½ mins.Love Over Gold – 1982 – Opens well with the 14 min long ‘Telegraph Road’, with great guitar playing, which is followed by their more frequently played ‘Private Investigations’. A good listenable album by the band, gets better the more times you play it, probably their best up till then.Playing time 41 ¼ mins.Brothers in Arms – 1985 – A good opener with ‘So Far Away From Me’ followed by their hit ‘Money for Nothing’ featuring ‘Sting’, then ‘Walk of Life’, which were three strong songs to open the album with.The rest of the record is filled with a variety of interesting and different tempo songs finally finishing with the striking ‘Brothers in Arms’.This was definitely their best album up to that date.Playing time is 55 ¼ mins.On Every Street – 1991 – Starts out with ‘Calling Elvis’ which is not one of the bands best songs in my view, though it seemed to be popular enough. The next song is better – On Every Street’ – which has a nice tone and construction to it. There are a good variety of songs here, from mood music to Rock n’ Roll style to Mexican inspired country.This gives a good example of the range of musical styles that the band engaged withPlaying time is just over 60 ½ mins.For most people a greatest hits and a live album would do the trick. You would have to be a really dedicated fan to want to have all these, but if you are, you probably have them already!

It's Dire Straits,and it's the great with the not quite so great,but never less than very good.O f course,I have my favourites,as will everyone,I suppose the final disc being the least of them,but the standard of the music is always high,and some of the best guitar work anyone could wish for.They really ARE the sultans of swing,and as for anyone who dismisses sheer class as "dad rock",they deserve pity,rather than condemnation.If you don't own this,you're missing out,so....do yourself a favour,listen to the best band of their decade.And the equal of any band,of any decade.

Bought this fantastically priced set (£15) despite having the matching set on vinyl bought a few years ago and all the original remastered CDs. Top quality box set in a quality clamshell box. The music speaks for itself of course. One tiny question. The Brothers CD has the original album logo reproduction but all the others have a boring black Mercury company label. (The vinyl set has all the variations of the vertigo labels as per the original albums)