Dire Straits

The show was at the Paradise, seating about 130. The night of the show was memorable: SOS was number 1 on the charts, people were offering me $75 apiece for my tickets, and it was the second night the Mark Knopfler and Company had been in the U.S. in their lives. They came on stage looking excited and embarrassed, all wearing brand new jeans because "they are so cheap here!"

The show was just like the recording - upfront, close and personal. MK oozed a personable charisma and sounded like a million bucks, his red Strat modified with a large volume knob and a big piece of black electrical tape holding the pickup selector switch in the "#2" position. The band was tight, the arrangements spare and the songs riveting. It was clear to everyone there that night that these fellows were going places.

The CD is terrific, one of the great debuts and a guitarist's dream. Glad I didn't scalp those tickets...


Excellent to the last note!   March 9, 2004
To fully understand the impact Mark Knopfler made with his band Dire Straits, one have to recall the musical landscape of 1978. Punk-rock was on its peak of success. New musical directions like, new-wave, post-punk, industrial raised head. British heavy metal was gaining strength. And in the midst of such aggressive novelties Dire Straits offered very old-school music, basically a rhythm-n-blues, combined with a little country, a little art-rock, and plain old rock-n-roll. Who could have thought such an out-of-place album would be a huge success?

The key to the success is the ultimate perfection in everything, displayed in this record. Mark wrote perfect songs, the band made perfect arrangements, and they also played perfect! I won't be telling a secret, claiming that Mark Knopfler is perhaps one of ten greatest guitar-players of all time. Just listen to his calm riffing, emotional licks or solos that touch your soul, and you'll see what I mean. His playing style is instantly recognizable. This record generally sounds calm, melodic, sad, and introscope. It provides just the right amount of variety, with a faster "Setting Me Up" with a strong rock-n-roll feel, calm "Six Blade Knife", "Wild West End" and "Lions", a harder "In The Gallery", and bluesy melodic greatness of "Down to the Waterline" and "Sultans of Swing".

The album is created with perfect taste and plenty of soul to it. It comes highly recommended, and perhaps this is where your Dire Straits collection should start.


An exceptional first album   December 22, 2003
I was prepared to give this CD four stars instead of five. It's just four guys -- no keyboards, no brass, none of the drama and classy instrumentation of later Dire Straits. The songs all have a certain similarity. If you like "Sultans of Swing" -- and you surely know that song -- you'll like the rest of the tunes on this CD.

But then I listened to the CD again and the last 30 seconds of the last track, "Lions," persuaded me that this is a five star CD. In a brief instrumental finale to an otherwise unremarkable song, Mark Knopfler's guitar walks and talks and bakes cookies. This guy is an exceptional talent.

"Dire Straits" comes close to what you might condemn as "light rock" but all the tunes have a hard driving beat and a sophisticated hillbilly texture -- if such a thing is possible. For years I assumed that the members of Dire Straits were southerners -- from New Orleans, or suchwhere -- but then I learned they're from the north -- and the northern British Isles at that. So when they sing about "way down south in London town" they really are talking about down south from their near arctic climes.


What a start to a band's career...   May 11, 2003
As many other reviewers have said, this is quite simply Dire Straits' most enduring album. It still holds up well almost 30 years after many of the songs were penned. My personal favourite would have to be 'In The Gallery' - a quiet protest against the agents who exploit artists - whatever their genre may be. This could ring true for so many in the industry! However, all of the songs are gems and Knopfler's uncluttered, stylish Strat-playing gives them a mature nature. Worth the money!


An Old guitar is all he can afford....   March 22, 2003
It is so hard to believe that this was a late '70s record. Unlike a lot of the overblown rock by bands like the Stones, The Who, and Zeppelin, here was a band that was extremly tight and could flat out play. Now 25 years later this album is still timeless in its flawlessnes. My Favorite tracks are Lions and Wild West End. You can see why Mark was already playing on Bob Dylan's late '70s records and would later appear on Infidels in '83. I've always thought of Mark Knopfler as a guitar slinging Bob Dylan and this record shows why. Great imagery firmly routed in the Blues with superior muscianship.