Brothers in Arms is the fifth studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 17 May 1985 through Vertigo Records internationally and through Warner Bros. Records in the United States. It spent a total of 14 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart (including ten consecutive weeks between 18 January and 22 March 1986), nine weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States and 34 weeks at number one on the Australian Albums Chart. Brothers in Arms was the first album certified ten-times platinum in the UK and is the eighth-best-selling album in UK chart history. It is certified nine-times platinum in the United States and is one of the world's best-selling albums, having sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.The album won a Grammy Award in 1986 for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and Best British Album at the 1987 Brit Awards; the 20th Anniversary Edition won another Grammy in 2006 for Best Surround Sound Album. Q magazine placed the album at number 51 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. It was also among 10 albums nominated for the best British album of the previous 30 years by the Brit Awards in 2010, ultimately losing to (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis.
This album makes me feel like I'm the US president, and Im about to announce to the world that Im going to run for reelection despite my recent medical scandal, and the ghost of my secretary is encouraging me along the way.
I think I found my misophonia album
unbelievably strong start, but it kinda lost me in the second half. i still loved this album, though.
Good album! But man why did he have to use the f*g slur >:( not cool, dude. Ugh 4 stars.
What a masterpiece, genius guitar work, never in your face but always present, great atmosphere
Mark Knopfler is a beast all over this project, one of the best rock albums ever made. Effortlessly cool and technically brilliant. Top Tracks: "So Far Away", "Money For Nothing", "Walk of Life", "Your Latest Trick", "Brothers in Arms"
So many classics that I often forget are Dire Straits
Great album that brings back memories of listening to it when I was a little kid.
Un album d'une qualité exceptionnelle de la part des Dire Straits, qui n'est pas que le simple fruit du hasard. En effet, les Dire Straits sont réputés pour avoir toujours su bien s'entourer. Mais laissez moi vous replonger dans le contexte. Nous sommes dans le début des années 80, quand les Dire Straits commencent à se regrouper en studio. La musique bat son plein, les enregistrements sont très prometteurs grâce à l'énorme aisance de chacun des membres du groupe avec leur instrument respectif. Mais très rapidement, on se rend compte au sein du studio que ce groupe, certes composé de grands musiciens, n'a en revanche aucune connaissance en arrangement sonore. Il leur faut donc recruter un ingénieur son. Rapidement, le premier candidat se présente dans le petit studio britannique. Mais c'est alors un véritable fiasco. Ce dernier oubliera de brancher la guitare de Mark Knopfler sur la première prise, avant de complétement saturer son micro. Après une troisième tentative au cours de laquelle Jim Morrison - car vous l'avez compris, c'était bien lui qui se cachait derrière l'ingénieur - fera tomber son sandwich sur la caisse claire du batteur Terry Williams, le groupe excédé finit par mettre Jim à la porte. Jim Morrisson répétera par la suite dans de nombreux médias que les Dire Straits sont un véritable cauchemar pour les ingénieurs sons, les accusant de perfectionnisme nocif. Pas d'inquiètude pour Dire Straits, ils finirent par recruter un ingénieur son qualifié, et purent boûcler ce magnifique album.
Side 1 is perfect. Side 2 is good.
few of the best singles of all time. few shite fillers. a bit dated. but, for the anthems alone it gets 7.1/10
Those three dangerous words: I have this. Both in my digital library and my surviving brain memory, as the tape was stuck in my parents’ car for a billion years when I was around 10. ‘Money for Nothing’ is a song I’ve been fascinated with since I heard it, probably when it came out. The exciting opening climaxing Sting, which even then I knew was some sort of joke, was the first fixation, the song-long guitar solo the enduring one. A majestic experimental musician of my acquaintance labelled the guitar sound “brown tone” which, while not complimentary, fits. As a teen in Newcastle, Mark Knopfler worked as an intern at the Newcastle Evening Chronicle where this notoriously grumpy old man also worked. The grumpy old man was modernist poet Basil Bunting, at that time neglected and impoverished, probably finished in his own mind, though his revival with his masterpiece “Briggflatts” was only two years away. Knopfler recently made a song about him and their shared time in the office, and the lyrics appeal strongly to my sentiments. The music, not so much. Not enough brown tone. Still: ‘Bury all joy/ Put the poems in sacks/ And bury me here with the hacks.’ Which is to say, I like Knopfler. And you should read ‘Briggflatts’, and listen to Bunting read it (there’re videos on YouTube). ‘Your Latest Trick’ is the most MOR object that I will ever cherish. Sociologists favourite it, as it is the accepted marker of the cresting of MOR sax. MOR: making good MOR is incredibly hard. Have you ever tried drawing a long, straight line freehand? ‘Why Worry?’ is trite AF, but the descending little synth motif still puts eerie on me, especially with accompanying Knopfnoodling. Musicologists favourite this one as the high water mark of cheesy synth, after which the instrument moved on to the Channel 5 soft porn industry and never looked back. Knopfler is basically Clapton if Clapton wasn’t a… but let’s not embed a list in a list. ‘Ride Across A River’ hahahah did you write this after watching ‘Crocodile Dundee’? Oh shit, that sax… That’s what happens: the songs start off sounding like the cheesiest ‘80s makeout crap, and then they do something that spoils it all by infesting my brain via strange bait. Was that an eBow I heard there? See, ‘The Man’s Too Strong’, fingerpick strum yawn fingerpick strum yawn, hey why is my pulse slightly elevated? “BAM BWAMM, bong BAHBONG!” ‘One World’ is maybe the only plain herb track on this. Still listen to it on all playthroughs, as I need respite from the constant weird ambushes. Closing with the title song reeks of pretensions that bubble through an ambitious album: experimental, daring MOR, the latest synths, the latest digital, and songs that confidentially skip and straddle genre, all tied together by that voice, one of the boldest celebrations of regional identity that went platinum. What about that second side, mostly about war? And what about the fact that there are no sides because this was the record that sold CDs as the forever format? Before they started rotting and people noticed the mastering was shit. Returning as an adult to ‘MFN’ and the war songs, I I like the stories, and the hint of fatalistic Nordic saga in them. Knopfler’s mocked vocal dourness has an ancient and mighty North East English lineage. When I started, I found it hard to bring myself to listen to this, and had to listen to ‘Bang Your Head’ by Gravediggaz to fortify myself after hearing the intro to ‘Walk of Life’. I’m not going to write about ‘Walk of Life’. O God, not another 3! Only joking: fuck you, FOUR! Take that, melts!
A pleasant Friday listen, but it's impossible to overlook the homophobic slurs in Money For Nothing. If you want highly proficient guitar playing combined with soft 80's rock then these are the dudes for you.
Too much synth. 2 stars because of The West Wing reference.
I normally don't leave reviews and I let the stars I choose speak for themselves...but in an effort to speak my mind more (my therapist would be so proud) I'll say: This bored the shit out of me.
- there is not bad song on this - i want my mtv.....
Can't belive I haven't listened to the entire album until now.
Yeeees! My favorite guitarist. If I could sell my soul to play like anyone I would chose Knopfler.
Riiiiiight these mufukas made sultans of swing
The title track alone earns this entire album full marks, but then there's also a bunch of other fuckin bangers on it too. Only criticisms: Why Worry and Ride Across the River aren't really top-shelf material. But this is totally offset by that FUCKING TITLE TRACK OMG. 5/5.
This is an album I already know and love, so listening to it for the millionth time was not a chore. I absolutely love every single song on this album - I don't know if I could ever pick a favorite. But I will say that the one-two punch of "So Far Away" and "Money For Nothing" gives this album an incredibly solid opening. I don't really know what else to say about this one. It's perfect. I've listened to it a million times and I'll listen to it a million more.
Other than the saxophone on "Your Latest Trick" not aging very well (way too 80's schmaltz), these tracks are all incredibly performed and produced. Trivia: this album was released in the cassette era, but just as CDs and digital audio was just coming of age. This album was touted as "you must own the CD version".
La critique d'aujourd'hui sera un peu particulière dans le sens où elle concernera quasi exclusivement Jim Morrison. Si c'est une critique de Dire Straits que vous cherchez, je vous invite à passer votre chemin. J'ai en effet déniché grâce à de nombreuses recherches à la bibliothèque un certain nombre d'informations confidentielles que j'avais à cœur de partager avec vous. Première information et pas des moindres, Jim Morrison ne serait pas mort à vingt-sept ans comme certaines personnes peuvent le penser mais bien plus tard. Celui-ci aurait en effet simulé sa mort, ce qui lui aurait permis de mettre un terme à sa carrière musicale et d'exercer sa profession de cœur le reste de sa vie, à savoir ingénieur-son/électricien. Faisons maintenant un saut dans le temps et arrêtons-nous le 11 mars 1978. Il est quatorze heures quand Claude François remarque une anomalie dans son système électrique. Il appelle alors un spécialiste et, quelques minutes plus tard, on frappe à la porte. Claude François aperçoit derrière le judas un homme en salopette bleue, et arborant un crayon à papier derrière l'oreille (vous aurez reconnu Jim Morrison). Il lui ouvre. L'homme ramasse alors sa boite à outils et s'en va jeter un œil au circuit électrique. Il débranche alors des câbles, en sectionne quelques-uns, en branche quelques-autres et les emmêle globalement tous, provoquant un court-circuit généralisé dans l'appartement de Claude François, qui lui fait part de son énervement. "Pardon M'sieur François" s'écrie alors Jim Morrison avant de lui proposer un geste commercial. Claude François accepte et lui confie qu'il aurait bien besoin de changer une ampoule de sa salle de bain. Jim Morrison s'y empresse et la remplace par une ampoule de type hélicoïdale à moitié cassée qu'il trouve au fond de sa boîte à outil. "Ça f'ra l'affaire, j'pense…" dit-il en se grattant les fesses avant de se diriger vers la porte d'entrée. Le chanteur lui règle sa facture, les deux hommes se serrent la main et Jim Morrison commence à descendre les escaliers de l'immeuble. Une fois en bas des marches, il reçoit un appel : "Ah c'est vous M'sieur François…" dit-il dans son téléphone. "Comment-ça l'ampoule crépite pendant que vous êtes dans vot' bain ? C'est bizarre, vous avez essayé de l'attraper des deux mains ? Non ? Bah essayez voir." La suite de l'histoire sera relayée par toutes les chaînes d'information et plongera la France dans l'émoi le plus total.
66 of 1001 Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms Favorite Track : Walk of Life Rating : 4.5/ 5 Very good album. 3 big hits that stand out but everything else is pleasing to the ear, as well. Close to a 5, but not quite. Couldn't argue with anyone who thinks it is. Holds up well.
fell off towards the end
Dire Straits are the biggest dad rock band going. This is the album that offers them sweet release on the drive home from work. After all those listens I'm sure it sounds world class. I get the popularity but don't back it. After money for nothing (nb: who knew they'd say faggots that much) and walk of life there's a lot of slow proggy rock, bit of lounge jazz, some ballad-y stuff and a bunch of tacky add ons in the tracks themselves. Ride across the river stood up, then I was pretty bored again. 3.5
The sound of summer '85 in my dad's new Renault 25 (the car that actually spoke to you, kinda like KITT!). Really used to love this - those cool animated guys in the Money For Nothing video, the hilarious sports accidents in the Walk of Life video, the video for the title track that was like the A-ha one but not really, and the generally agreeable other songs that played while I waited for the ones I liked to come back on. What a great summer! Discovered shortly afterwards this was actually Terrible Corporate Boring Wallpaper Music, realized I should hate it, and never listened to it again. Today, I still skew towards the latter but appreciate the craft, at least. Money For Nothing really sucks though, fucking Sting
Wow, even the best tune on this album is ruined by a slew of homophobic insults. Nice. It's a shame, Knopfler is a guitarist with a sweet style I genuinely like, but too often he goes missing. In place of the fretboard kinetics of 'Sultans of Swing' or 'Lady Writer', we have sub-'Gaucho' era Steely Danisms of 'Your Latest Trick' and the utterly wretched 'Walk Of Life'. 'The Man's Too Strong' starts off promisingly with some nimble folk playing but, alas, it's swamped by the 'tasteful' production of the era. What a mess.
Best Song: Your Latest Trick. Rarely do you get an opportunity to listen to a sleazy saxophone solo like this. Worst Song: Money for Nothing. Absolutely everything in this song sounds dated, from the expired references to MTV and colour TVs, to the entirely out-of-pocket use of homophobic slurs. Overall: Overwhelmingly medium music. Nothing very interesting here. Instrumentals are obviously slick, but the vocals are weak and the lyrics stink.
Got this the day after The Birthday Party. It's funny how people's definitions of 'unlistenable' vary so radically. This is such a slog. Although it regularly meanders into the background, so easy forget it's on. A bit like all the singles did when they came on the radio in the kitchen in the 80s. But also overlong. Half the album is just twinkly nothing. And I'm sure you could do the prog intro to Money For Nothing and still close out the rest within 5 minutes. 8 and a half? Get out. The first album in project I have to give a 1 to, I just dislike all of it. It is absolutely not necessary to listen to this before you die.
Oh God, I don't want to review Dire Straits. I really don't. Do you ever feel out of sync with the world? When I started at uni in the early years of this century, I was aghast at the number of people (aged 18 to 22, let's not forget) who declared not just a fondness for but almost an idolisation of Dire Straits. I still can't explain it. Surely these are people who you'd expect to have placed significance on coolness? And before you object, just look at that album cover. Pastel pink font? Levitating guitar (although is it being held up by its neck?)? It aims to depict pure guitarness, but lands on the art of guitar as done by a recently divorced dad. So Dire Straits' fanbase baffles me enormously. Mayhap I'm just being prejudiced, and Dire Straits do have merits I choose to overlook. I can recall the specific instance when my antipathy for Dire Straits materialised (I had never liked the music as a kid, but I had never concentrated on Dire Straits either). I was watching TV at 2am during my teenage years, and a cheapo documentary on Mark Knopfler came on, which said his convoluted guitar playing represented a positive rejection of punkish amateurism. I just noticed the overwhelming taste of bile in my mouth. Mark Knopfler as the stalwart knight repelling the throngs of we snotty oiks? What a wanker. Nope, it's not prejudice, Dire Straits are terrible and their fans delude themselves solely because Mark Knopfler can play a guitar a bit. (I feel I should point out that Dire Straits refused to play Apartheid-era South Africa, and donated all their royalties from their South African sales to anti-Apartheid organisations. That should not be insulted. I feel I should also point out that when Dire Straits were inducted into the pointless and unfit-for-purpose Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the great luminary they got to induct them was John Illsley. Since you don't recognise the name, I'll tell you that he was the bassist for Dire Straits. The same year, Bon Jovi was inducted by Howard Stern. I'll leave you to decide which is more shameful.) The album Brothers in Arms is crap. Any discussion of Brothers in Arms should begin with that fact. If you haven't included that sentence in your review, you have failed. It's not difficult. It's a few seconds' worth of typing. A little more typing will produce the following, completely accurate list: it's really boring, it's really pompous, the songs go on far too long, the album goes on far too long, Mark Knopfler's voice never rises above a bad impression of Dylan, the guitar work is ostentatious without being engaging, the production showcases a villains' row of commonplace 80s production atrocities. But to explain the most sizeable flaw of Brothers in Arms, one needs to look at the essence of the album. It's lyrically-driven blues rock with intricate guitar work. There are a million billion such albums released every year, and none of them have been any cop since 1974. So Brothers in Arms is not only poor, it's a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy, with some slick 80s gimmicks to mask the thievery. Now, I'm not one to chastise an artist for stealing, but Knopfler could have nicked something with a bit more vitality. Here's an idea, Mark: your fretwork could actually fit well as a rococo decoration over a motorik beat. Yes, you're still copying, but you'd be copying something we wouldn't expect you to copy, and that's some kind of originalty, I think. Still, if Dire Straits became more interesting, would they stop being Dire Straits? Well, a mate of mine pointed out that John Squire of the Stone Roses seems to have quite the similarity to Knopfler regarding guitartistry. It's not the case that guitar heroes became irredeemably lame; they just became handcuffed to irredeemably lame genres. You can weld together technical proficiency and aesthetic credibility, you know. But no matter the circumstances, I reckon Dire Straits would somehow always just have been crap. NoRadio, signing off.
Dad rock! Can't wait to skim through this to confirm that it sucks! Look at that, it really does suck! I honestly wish you could just skip forward to the next album when trash like this pops up
Mark Knopfler bae
Great guitar but much more jazzy and soulful than I was expecting.
Det finnes ikke nok stjerner å gi.
Great album, the simplistic music and the beautiful lyrics just transported me back in time. Much needed to forget 2020. :-p
This album was already one of my favourite however I have not listened to it for awhile before this. It retains its wonderful combination of soulful guitar mixed with rocky purpose and combines it into a timeless mix.
Fantastic album. One of my all time favorite and with a lot of childhood memories.
Great album, I liked this much better than the first album. Really liked the incorporation of other instruments
ace
Your latest trick - cool saxophone, remember from somewhere possibly
6 Må være i enhver plate/ strømmeliste.
Classic
A beautiful album that brings back a lot of great memories.
Creo que era el único (?) que no conocía nada a Dire Straits, a juzgar por la cantidad de reproducciones que tienen en Spotify. O eso creo. Igual, me gustó mucho, disfruté el eclecticismo: hay ondas medio punk, country, medio instrumentales, tirándole a jazz de pronto, y claro, rock. Sus canciones largas están como muy bien organizadas, aunque de pronto me hubiera gustado que un par duraran menos. Igual, sin skips, a gusto todo, no puse mucha atención a las letras. Mi fav: "Money for Nothing". Un final un tanto melancólico con la canción titular, pero igual, creo que me queda. 9.5/10
Discazo
Great album
Some great DS hits on this one like Money for Nothing, Walk of Life, and So Far Away. Knofler just killing it everywhere. A few more mellow/clean tunes too.
Buen disco. Bastantes canciones lentas.
Els Dire Straits, en general, ni fu ni fa. Però aquest disc és or, de dalt a abaix. Gairebé perfecte, ple de temes inoblidables, amb una extenuant "Walk of life" que esdevé la pitjor cançó del disc, per esgotament de tant escoltar-la durant tants anys a festes majors i bars. "Your latest trick" i "Brothers in arms" són les meves preferides, immortals. Encara avui, casi 40 anys després, segueix sonant actual i empatic, aclaparador.
A delicious 80s pop record. Every song is a delight. One of best pop records in the 80s.
De los primeros vinilos que me compré. Lo escuché infinitas veces.
Fabulous
Easy 5.
Brilliant!!
Dá uma leve caída entre Why Worry e Ride Across the River, mas de resto é só música muito boa
Really good album. I love the saxaphone song
<3
Classic album that I loved. Favourite track: Money for nothing
Absolute BANDGER always was going to be a 5* from me. Love Dire Straits but possibly never an album start to finish, but this did not disappoint
Always outstanding!
This is a classic beyond classics. All killer mo filler! Love it.
So excited this was one of my favorite albums in high school. Probably haven’t listened to the album from beginning to end in over 20 years. The opening to “Money For Nothing” still gives me chills. “Walk of Life” makes everything seem better. But it is the rest of the album that I’m glad to hear again. “You’re Latest Trick.“ “The Man’s Too Strong” should be heard in the context of the album. And how the hell have I made it through the last 5 years without listening to “Why Worry?” “Brothers In Arms” - a perfect closing. Just sat in silence for a while after it ended. This reminds me why I have to get back to listening to albums again.
A favorite from back in the day
This took me back to my college days, as it was one of the very first albums I had on DVD, and I would listen to it over and over again,
5/5 quoi dire de plus. A écouter peut importe vos goûts en musique. Un cclassique
I loved this album when I first hear it in the 80’s and still love it now. The clarity of the guitar in so far away, the sax in your latest trick and Knopflers gravelly vocals throughout. Ride the river, man’s too strong and one world don’t seem to really fit in the album, they’re good tracks but seem to be a bit of an afterthought. Definitely one of my all time top 30 albums
Easily in my Top 10 bands of all time and has a shit load of huge classics at the top but does lose a bit of its momentum at the back end. Five stars anyway for THE greatest intro of all time on Money For Nothing. Who comes up with that shit. Also never knew that it was Sting singing it.
This is my 'first' album. Does that factor into the score , probably, do I care, not really.
80s delight
Absolutely great album!
Great album, not new to me, love every song there
5 stars - thats all!!!
Lots of hits. Even the ones I didn't know were pretty good.
Classic in ever sense. No filler in this album. Mark Knopfler does his thing on guitar. The only weakness would be his singing.
Would have been a 10, but its missing Sultans and Romeo and Juliet
This album is soooooo good. I enjoyed every single song on here except one, which is Money For Nothing, but I've never liked that song that much. But it's a classic, and it won't take my score down from less than a five. Highlights: So Far Away, Walk Of Life, Your Latest Trick, Why Worry?
Knopfler is a king.
Traumalbum
I wore this album out on my turntable freshman year of college. Such a great album. The thing I think is most interesting about this album is that every track is completely unique, and yet the whole album is cohesive. Money for Nothing and Walk of Life were the big hits, and they're great songs, but for me it's the closing title track that is the all-time classic. The silky smooth guitar and the heartbreaking lyrics get me every time. 4.5 stars, rounding up to 5.
Absolutely awesome! One or two songs sound so 80s they border on pastiche, but still enjoyable. Title track, walk of life, latest trick, so far away, and of course, money for nothing are all-timers. What an album.
Excellent
A perfect album. Mixed perfectly, too. The synth has even aged well. Impressive. Truly a work of art.
One of my most favourite albums of all time, and it still sounds brilliant all these years later.
This album feels like an instant classic - thoroughly enjoyed it.
loveddddd it
Great album!
Cool! A sound its I hearded when I was young...
I love this album and spent some happy teenage hours working out the sax part of Latest Trick and playing along. My least favorite song is Money for Nothing, mostly I think from overexposure and a terrible video; otherwise this album is perfect. In fact, I'm going to listen again right now.
Of its time but one of the best of its time. Pop rock with a mastery over both parts of the genre
Despite the album dropping off in the second half, there isn't anything wrong with this. All except The Man's Two Strong and One World are fantastic and even the mentioned lesser tracks are decent. Money for Nothing was the one I knew before but really came away liking So Far Away and Your Latest Trick. A classic album
👍👍👍
Time to get back in this horse ... Dire Straits are a phenomenal band that I definitely didn't appreciate enough when younger. Everyone appreciates they are a bunch of incredible musicians, but Mark Knopfler's deep voice really elevates the entire thing. Without the vocals and story telling, I suspect the album might not hold my attention like it does. Brother in Arms is my favourite
I'm slightly biased on this one because most of the album features in one of my favourite live recordings of all time (Live in Sydney 1986) and I do think a few of the slower songs work better in a live context. That said I do still love this album and it has at least 4 of my fave Dire Straits tracks on it. The artwork is iconic too.
sensacional
The Album's Too Strong
Fantastic
03/08/2022 Great album. So many childhood memories flashed back of driving around with my dad with the windows down and the warm summer sun. Nice to remember the good times.
allez ca rechiale
5 étoiles en skippant walk of life