Dire Straits “Brothers in Arms”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#957 in the Series) is Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms.
Brothers in Arms was one of the first albums that was completely digitally recorded. It was released in May of 1985.
Right about this time I was itching to get my first CD player. They had just started to get to a price level that ‘cattle’ like myself could afford one. I knew the day was coming soon where I would have a player, so I grabbed a couple CDs that I could bring when I went player searching.
I needed two discs that I liked. I needed two
discs that had a sound quality so good, that when I heard them blasting from THE player I choose that I could never turn back.
So I finally settled on which discs those would be. One would be Donald Fagen, The Nightfly. The other would be, Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms.
During this time I was living in Appleton Wisconsin. I had looked at a few players with my trusty Fagen disc in hand. I liked them but hadn’t fallen in love with one. Well, I hadn’t fallen in love with the prices I was ‘hearing’ more than anything.
I then grabbed my Brothers in Arms CD. I already had it on vinyl. So I knew that album. I knew it well. I knew the first track was “So Far Away.” We all did.
I had a business trip late spring day to Sheboygan. I always loved things from Sheboygan. I had Dire Straits with me when I trotted into a little music store. Not an electronics store, but a music store. I snapped open my disc and plopped it into the tray and watched it disappear.
Then I was floored.
Back Cover
This was different. No, not just the sound quality. This was different. The songs were longer, in some cases, much longer. ‘So Far Away’ was 5:12 not the 3:59 I was expecting. ‘Money for Nothing’, 8:26 not 7:04. The songs that benefited the most, ‘Why Worry’ grew instantly from 5:22 to 8:31!
It sounded great! I had my player. Now to survive the 90 minute trip home so I could start my repeated playing’s of two lonely discs.
— Larry Carta
Track Listings
CD/Cassette track listing
No. Title Length
- “So Far Away” 5:12
- “Money for Nothing” (Knopfler, Sting) 8:26
- “Walk of Life” 4:12
- “Your Latest Trick” 6:33
- “Why Worry” 8:31
- “Ride Across the River” 6:58
- “The Man’s Too Strong” 4:40
- “One World” 3:40
- “Brothers in Arms” 6:55
Original LP track listing
No. Title Length
- “So Far Away” 3:59
- “Money for Nothing” (Knopfler, Sting) 7:04
- “Walk of Life” 4:12
- “Your Latest Trick” 4:46
- “Why Worry” 5:22
- “Ride Across the River” 6:58
- “The Man’s Too Strong” 4:40
- “One World” 3:40
- “Brothers in Arms” 6:55
Personnel
- Mark Knopfler: guitars, vocals
- John Illsley: bass, vocals
- Alan Clark: keyboards
- Guy Fletcher: keyboards, vocals
- Terry Williams: drums
Additional personnel
- Omar Hakim: drums
- Jack Sonni: guitar
- Michael Brecker: saxophone
- Randy Brecker: horn
- Malcolm Duncan: tenor saxophone
- Neil Jason: bass
- Tony Levin: bass
- Michael Mainieri: background vocals
- Dave Plews: horn
- Sting: vocals on “Money for Nothing”
Accolades
Named #351 on Rolling Stones Top 500 List of All Time
Named Best Album of 1987 by Brit Awards.
Named by Q Magazine as the 51st Best British Album Ever.
See More Albums that we’ve featured from 1985
Links
Purchase Dire Straits via Amazon
Mark Knopfler Official Website
David Knopfler Official Website
National Guitars (on cover) Website
Hey I heard that there was a review of the Dirty Pretty Things waiting to be posted. A rumor?