Let's go back to that crucial year in Dire Straits' career, 1985. The band's new album, Brothers In Arms, was coming out, and dates were announced for a North American tour. To give you an idea of their popularity outside of the U.K., the tour featured a string of Canadian dates, where the group was much bigger than the U.S. That included my once and future hometown of Fredericton, where they were booked to play the 3,500-seat hockey rink.
Well, that all changed with a little guest vocal by Sting, singing "I want my MTV," and the huge success of the album, the band's fifth studio set. Dire Straits finally broke through world-wide, Brothers In Arms became the first huge hit of the CD era, for a time the biggest-selling album in U.K. history, and all of a sudden that date in Fredericton was unceremoniously cancelled due to scheduling difficulties. In other words, they booked some much bigger and better dates in the States.
So what happened? Basically, leader Mark Knopfler went back to tighter, singable numbers. After filling up album sides with lengthy, moody pieces, including the epic "Telegraph Road," 14 minutes worth of 1982's Love Over Gold, Knopfler offered up actual hit-length favorites, including "So Far Away" and "Walk Of Life." But Knopfler proved a reluctant rock star, and allowed only one further studio set, 1991's On Every Street. Since then, it's been a low-key career of roots and country-styled solo albums by Knopfler, steering far away from hooks and hits.
So that leaves us a legacy of just six studio albums, all packaged in this convenient box, CD or LP. 1980's Making Movies has long been my favourite. While there were some lengthier numbers, they weren't stretched out, slow-boiling numbers. Instead they featured intriguing stories and a true cinematic feel. Knopfler had a unique lyric style, letting us watch characters such as the Roller Girl in "Skateaway," living inside her headphones as she speeds through the city.
Brothers In Arms is so familiar, it's almost difficult to listen to these days, kind of like Paul Simon's Graceland. Maybe it's because we only had a few CD's early on, and they got played to death, but it feels like there's nothing left to learn from Brothers. The album I loved reliving was the debut, Dire Straits, from 1978. Sure, "Sultans" was the anchor, but there's not a bum track on it, and it's perhaps the most varied of their records. You have the chicken-pickin' country of "Setting Me Up," the moody voyeurism of "Wild West End," and plenty of Dylan influences throughout. And very few players have ever introduced their own guitar sound so thoroughly. It's still a marvellous thing.
The rest? Communique was that classic difficult second album, underwhelming compared to what preceded it and what would come next. Love Over Gold remains a snore, even with the witty "Industrial Disease" kicking off side two. On Every Street has some fun, including "Calling Elvis," "Heavy Fuel" and "The Bug," but it suffered from the early CD mistake of including too many songs, about 15 minutes worth. There's some tremendous music across these six albums, but you're also left wondering if Knopfler was holding back. Oh, and that bloody '80's drum sound, I'd love somebody to remix that some day.
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