Tag: Dire Straits

Title: Dire Straits – Alchemy: Dire Straits Live (1984) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2012]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-SACD format (fully compatible with standard SACD player, but it does not play on standard CD players). DSD Transferred by Manabu Matsumura. There is an interesting contrast on this 94-minute double-disc live album (recorded at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in July 1983) between the music, much of which is slow and moody, with Mark Knopfler’s muttered vocals and large helpings of his fingerpicking on what sounds like an amplified Spanish guitar, and the audience response. The arena-size crowd cheers wildly, and claps and sings along when given half a chance, as though each song were an up-tempo rocker. When they do have a song of even medium speed, such as “Sultans of Swing” or “Solid Rock,” they are in ecstasy. That Dire Straits’ introspective music loses much of its detail in a live setting matters less than that it gains presence and a sense of anticipation. Alan Clark’s keyboards help to fill out the sound and give Knopfler’s spare melodies a certain majesty, but Dire Straits remains an overgrown bar band with a Bob Dylan fixation, and that’s exactly how the crowd likes it.

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Title: Dire Straits – Love Over Gold (1982) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2011]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-SACD format (fully compatible with standard SACD player, but it does not play on standard CD players). DSD Transferred by Manabu Matsumura. Adding a new rhythm guitarist, Dire Straits expands its sounds and ambitions on the sprawling Love Over Gold. In a sense, the album is their prog rock effort, containing only five songs, including the 14-minute opener “Telegraph Road.” Since Mark Knopfler is a skilled, tasteful guitarist, he can sustain interest even throughout the languid stretches, but the long, atmospheric, instrumental passages aren’t as effective as the group’s tight blues-rock, leaving Love Over Gold only a fitfully engaging listen.

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Title: Dire Straits – Making Movies (1980) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2012]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-SACD format (fully compatible with standard SACD player, but it does not play on standard CD players). DSD Transferred by Manabu Matsumura. Without second guitarist David Knopfler, Dire Straits began to move away from its roots rock origins into a jazzier variation of country-rock and singer/songwriter folk-rock. Naturally, this means that Mark Knopfler’s ambitions as a songwriter are growing, as the storytelling pretensions of Making Movies indicate. Fortunately, his skills are increasing, as the lovely “Romeo and Juliet,” “Tunnel of Love,” and “Skateaway” indicate. And Making Movies is helped by a new wave-tinged pop production, which actually helps Knopfler’s jazzy inclinations take hold. The record runs out of steam toward the end, closing with the borderline offensive “Les Boys,” but the remainder of Making Movies ranks among the band’s finest work.

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Title: Dire Straits – Communiqué (1979) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2012]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-SACD format (fully compatible with standard SACD player, but it does not play on standard CD players). DSD Transferred by Manabu Matsumura. Rushed out less than nine months after the surprise success of Dire Straits’ self-titled debut album, the group’s sophomore effort, Communiqué, seemed little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor with less compelling material. Mark Knopfler and co. had established a sound (derived largely from J.J. Cale) of laid-back shuffles and intricate, bluesy guitar playing, and Communiqué provided more examples of it. But there was no track as focused as “Sultans of Swing,” even if “Lady Writer” (a lesser singles chart entry on both sides of the Atlantic) nearly duplicated its sound. As a result, Communiqué sold immediately to Dire Straits’ established audience, but no more, and it did not fare as well critically as its predecessor or its follow-up.

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Title: Dire Straits – Dire Straits (1978) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2010]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Reissue features the high-fidelity SHM-SACD format (fully compatible with standard SACD player, but it does not play on standard CD players) and the latest DSD mastering in 2010 based on Japanese original analog tape. DSD Transferred by Hitoshi Takiguchi. Dire Straits’ minimalist interpretation of pub rock had already crystallized by the time they released their eponymous debut. Driven by Mark Knopfler’s spare, tasteful guitar lines and his husky warbling, the album is a set of bluesy rockers. And while the bar band mentality of pub-rock is at the core of Dire Straits — even the group’s breakthrough single, “Sultans of Swing,” offered a lament for a neglected pub rock band — their music is already beyond the simple boogies and shuffles of their forefathers, occasionally dipping into jazz and country. Knopfler also shows an inclination toward Dylanesque imagery, which enhances the smoky, low-key atmosphere of the album. While a few of the songs fall flat, the album is remarkably accomplished for a debut, and Dire Straits had difficulty surpassing it throughout their career.
https://www.discogs.com/release/3083910-Dire-Straits-Dire-Straits

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Title: Dire Straits – Making Movies (1980) [MFSL 2019]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Making Movies is the third studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits released on 17 October 1980 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album produced the single “Romeo and Juliet”, which reached #8 on the UK Singles Chart. The album reached #1 on album charts in Italy and Norway, #19 in the United States and #4 in the United Kingdom. Making Movies was later certified platinum in the United States and double-platinum in the United Kingdom.

Without second guitarist David Knopfler, Dire Straits began to move away from its roots rock origins into a jazzier variation of country-rock and singer/songwriter folk-rock. Naturally, this means that Mark Knopfler’s ambitions as a songwriter are growing, as the storytelling pretensions of Making Movies indicate. Fortunately, his skills are increasing, as the lovely “Romeo and Juliet,” “Tunnel of Love,” and “Skateaway” indicate. And Making Movies is helped by a new wave-tinged pop production, which actually helps Knopfler’s jazzy inclinations take hold. The record runs out of steam toward the end, closing with the borderline offensive “Les Boys,” but the remainder of Making Movies ranks among the band’s finest work. 

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Title: Dire Straits – Love Over Gold (1982) [MFSL 2019]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Love over Gold is the fourth studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 20 September 1982 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album featured two singles: “Private Investigations”, which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, and “Industrial Disease”, which reached No. 9 on Billboard’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States. Its main highlight, however, was the 14-minute-long opus “Telegraph Road”, which became a staple of the band’s setlists and Mark Knopfler’s once he became a solo artist, as well as becoming an FM radio staple around the world. The album reached Number One on album charts in Australia, Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, and No. 19 in the United States. Love over Gold was later certified gold in the United States, platinum in France and Germany and double-platinum in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Adding a new rhythm guitarist, Dire Straits expands its sounds and ambitions on the sprawling Love Over Gold. In a sense, the album is their prog rock effort, containing only five songs, including the 14-minute opener “Telegraph Road.” Since Mark Knopfler is a skilled, tasteful guitarist, he can sustain interest even throughout the languid stretches, but the long, atmospheric, instrumental passages aren’t as effective as the group’s tight blues-rock, leaving Love Over Gold only a fitfully engaging listen. 

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Title: Dire Straits – Dire Straits (1978) [MFSL 2019]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

“Dire Straits” is the debut studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits released on 7 October 1978 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album produced the hit single “Sultans of Swing”, which reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. The album reached #1 on album charts in Germany, Australia and France, #2 in the United States and #5 in the United Kingdom. “Dire Straits” was later certified double-platinum in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Dire Straits’ minimalist interpretation of pub rock had already crystallized by the time they released their eponymous debut. Driven by Mark Knopfler’s spare, tasteful guitar lines and his husky warbling, the album is a set of bluesy rockers. And while the bar band mentality of pub-rock is at the core of Dire Straits – even the group’s breakthrough single, “Sultans of Swing,” offered a lament for a neglected pub rock band – their music is already beyond the simple boogies and shuffles of their forefathers, occasionally dipping into jazz and country. Knopfler also shows an inclination toward Dylanesque imagery, which enhances the smoky, low-key atmosphere of the album. While a few of the songs fall flat, the album is remarkably accomplished for a debut, and Dire Straits had difficulty surpassing it throughout their career. 

hraudio | allmusic | discogs

(more…)

Title: Dire Straits – Communique (1979) [MFSL 2019]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Communiqué is the second studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits released on 15 June 1979 by Vertigo Records internationally and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album produced the single “Lady Writer”, which reached #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #51 on the UK Singles Chart. The album reached #1 on album charts in Germany, New Zealand, and Sweden, #11 in the United States and #5 in the United Kingdom. Communiqué was later certified gold in the United States, platinum in the United Kingdom and double-platinum in France.

Rushed out less than nine months after the surprise success of Dire Straits’ self-titled debut album, the group’s sophomore effort, Communiqué, seemed little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor with less compelling material. Mark Knopfler and co. had established a sound (derived largely from J.J. Cale) of laid-back shuffles and intricate, bluesy guitar playing, and Communiqué provided more examples of it. But there was no track as focused as “Sultans of Swing,” even if “Lady Writer” (a lesser singles chart entry on both sides of the Atlantic) nearly duplicated its sound. As a result, Communiqué sold immediately to Dire Straits’ established audience, but no more, and it did not fare as well critically as its predecessor or its follow-up. 

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Title: Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms (1985) [Japanese SHM-SACD 2014]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Brothers in Arms brought the atmospheric, jazz-rock inclinations of Love Over Gold into a pop setting, resulting in a surprise international best-seller. Of course, the success of Brothers in Arms was helped considerably by the clever computer-animated video for “Money for Nothing,” a sardonic attack on MTV. But what kept the record selling was Mark Knopfler’s increased sense of pop songcraft — “Money for Nothing” had an indelible guitar riff, “Walk of Life” is a catchy up-tempo boogie variation on “Sultans of Swing,” and the melodies of the bluesy “So Far Away” and the down-tempo, Everly Brothers-style “Why Worry” were wistful and lovely. Dire Straits had never been so concise or pop-oriented, and it wore well on them. Though they couldn’t maintain that consistency through the rest of the album — only the jazzy “Your Latest Trick” and the flinty “Ride Across the River” make an impact — Brothers in Arms remains one of their most focused and accomplished albums, and in its succinct pop sense, it’s distinctive within their catalog.

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