Dire Straits discography

This is a brief review of the albums released by Mark Knopfler with his band.

Dire Straits (1978)

Working as a teacher in the Loughton College of London, and, also, writing some rock articles in the Yorkshire Evening Post, a young amateur guitarist, named Mark Knopfler, decides to put together 120 pounds and record a demo tape with a group of friends. One of them, John Illsley, gives this tape to a well known talent scout, Charlie Gillet, who was making a radio show called "Honky Tonk". A song called Sultans of Swing is introduced. The rest is history..

Communiqué (1979)

While Dire Straits was only beginning to make it onto the charts, and although the first album had not been released in the USA, the band traveled to Nassau (Bahamas) and started to record this masterwork. It is, in my opinion, the best Dire Straits album. This is the prototype of the DS sound. The solos in the first track, Once Upon A Time In The West, are the perfect reason to give Knopfler the name of "the most elegant guitar player".

Making Movies (1980)

This album contains some of the "classic" pieces in the DS repertoire: Tunnel of Love, Romeo and Juliet, Solid Rock, Expresso Love.... Because Mark's brother, David, left the band during the recording, Mark plays all guitars on this album. For the tour, they were joined by the keyboardist, Alan Clark, adding a strong influence to the sound of the band for the rest of its history.

Love Over Gold (1982)

For the first time, they reached number 1 in the UK charts. This work is a turn toward a more elaborated sound. Here are the classic song, Private Investigations, and the 14 minutes long track, Telegraph Road, the favourite of most fans.

Twisting by the Pool (EP, 1983)

This EP contains some songs that are not on any album. Very hard to find, it has never been released as a CD.

Alchemy (Live, 1984)

Containing all the power and the magic of the Dire Straits concerts, this legendary double album was recorded live in the Hammersmith Odeon (London). The concert is immaculate, without overdubs or remixes, thus increasing the historic value of the recording.

Brothers in Arms (1985)

This album pushed Knopfler and his band onto the Olympus of rock gods. This was the first time they reached number 1 in the USA. They started the longest tour ever seen at this time, one year long over the whole world. It finished in Australia in apotheosis. Due to the outstanding demand for tickets, more and more dates were added in Sydney. In the end, Mark had to appear on Australian TV personally asking his fans to stop demanding tickets, as the band had to go home!

Money for Nothing (Compilation, 1988)

Celebrating the first ten years of the band, this compilation was released, including two new tracks (Portobello Belle live and a Where Do You Think You're Going pre-recording). Unfortunately, there are some parts edited and suppressed in Money for Nothing (the f**got phrases) and Brothers in Arms (the final solo), in order to make the album more "commercial".

On Every Street (1991)

Six years later, Dire Straits come back with an excellent record, although mostly underrated by the fans of the band. It was influenced by the collaborations of Mark with Chet Atkins and The Notting Hillbillies, one year before.

On The Night (Live, 1993)

The last Dire Straits album was recording live at Feyenoord Stadium (Rotterdam, Holland) and Les Arenes bullring (Nimes, France), during the two year long On Every Street tour.

Live at the BBC (Live, 1995)

This album is the recording of a concert broadcasted by the BBC Radio 1 in 1978. It includes songs from the first album. The concert contains only seven songs, including What's the Matter Baby?, a song never released before. There's also a versio n of Tunnel of Love recorded in Germany in 1981, and broadcasted in the BBC show "The Old Grey Whistle Test".

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