Dire Straits

I have always loved Sultans of Swing but this was the first time I'd really thought about why. Dire Straits has a way of making the guitar interact with the vocals that is really unique.

Nothing gets me in the mood for a corporate day at Twickenham like the Sultans of Swing (Low Sweet Chariot). Essential listening while getting ready for the game. Boot cut jeans, loafers, TM Lewin checked shirt (button cuff, it is the weekend), corporate branded fleece (its XL but doesn't fit too badly and I didn't declare it to Compliance and their gift register!). Then off to the game with the "lads" from work. They leave after the game but I stick around with some new mates I met in the Orange Tree. 20 pints (I'm paying)of the black stuff later. Wake up on my sofa in the middle of the night covered in take away to the crushing realisation the wife has left, taken the kids and I live in a flat about a pub. Will have to watch Top Gear reruns on Dave to lift the spirits!

Shit slaps

Martyrs of Swing. This album feels so circular, slowly meandering through the songs and never getting to the point. It's as if Bob Dylan's 70's backing band got a free weekend in the studio and they just "jammed it out". Talented group, but they need some direction (which is hilarious, considering they're one of the best selling bands of their time). The music of Dire Straits just does not translate well, and has all of the hallmarks of guitar-driven dad rock that has become the butt of so many jokes. Fav Track: Wild West End

The album that our Amsterdam Air BnB host left in his record player

Driven by Mark Knopfler's spare, tasteful guitar lines and his husky warbling, the album is a set of bluesy rockers. 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.

Pretty drunk while listening but I think this is a favorite. Sultans of swing but 1hr long

Wow. Silky smooth riffs and bitchin' solos abound. Can't believe this is a debut album. I think In The Gallery may be the weakest effort here, but every other track is gold. Sexy, groovy mix of sparse rock and roll mixed with country, folk, and blues. My knowledge of Dire Straits was Money for Nothing. This is at least 500x better than that.

What if "Country", but actually good. Update: Ok, I've had this album on repeat for about 10 times...

Sometimes it's hard to believe how good a debut album can be. Absolute classic, a great listen almost any time.

Stellar debut album. I am an old.

GOAT

Great first album to start 1001.

Sultans of Swing was the best song, they should have written some more like that! Three stars, which means it’s better than American Idiot and Dark Side of the Moon.

Knopf let is a smashing guitar player, but this slick mid-tempo rock just didn’t touch my soul.

Melodically muted, rhythmically stunted. They’re a guitar band, I get it. But then why aren’t the guitars more interesting?

One of the best debut albums, the best guitar solo ever (though I prefer the live Alchemy version), and a great album that's always been there for me

THIS ALBUM HAS GROOVE FOR DAYS

I’d heard this before, but this time round only Waterline, Water of Love and Sultans were familiar, which makes sense as they’re the keepers. The rest washes past comfortably: they were a tight little band at this stage, and I have a thing for Knopfler’s voice, which makes me a common sort of fetishist. Dylan looms in several of the tracks, no bad thing in itself, but not flattering to the band either. Knopfler had not yet embraced his brown tone nor that flavour of Nordic fatalism I sniff out in BIA. I’ll mention once more that as a kid he shared an office with Basil Bunting - isn’t that something?

Sultans of Swing is fantastic and the rest are good.

Love Mark knopfler

Sehr gut. Schöne Songs.

Honestly I dig this a lot more than I anticipated. Some really fantastic guitar playing and the vocals are catchy and bluesy. I'd definitely listen again.

Fantastic guitar solos!!!

It was good. I’d listen to it again but probably wouldn’t seek it out.

I really enjoy Mark Knopfler's guitar playing, and even more so his production talents (Aztec Camera's "Knife" is so great). Another reviewer astutely describes this record as if Dylan's '70s backing band made a solo album (see "Slow Train Coming" and "Infidels" for the nexus of these two ideas, both really good if advanced-level Bob). Oddly sedate for a debut album, this passes the time pleasantly. Obviously, "Sultans" is welcome anytime, the rest are a bit indistinguishable from each other.

A bit bland, but okay.

Music that seems to have been made for middle-aged dads with boring, corporate jobs to have a beer and say "they don't make 'em like they used to anymore" to. Despite it being utterly uninventive and frankly kind of dull, they pull it off pretty well I suppose. Down to the Waterline and Sultans of Swing are the real saving graces here.

Disco was at it's greatest moment. Punk had just lost its biggest band before they even got a chance to begin. And rock was seeing the waning of Prog Rock, and the loud, brash, sounds of "Double Live Gonzo" and technical based heavy metal swing of Van Halen had just taken over The U.S. and growing world wide. So, out of nowhere, this small quiet blues and shuffle type of bar band from days gone by, appears, and left a huge mark on the music world, with the song, "Sultan's of Swing", a song which is a staple of every classic rock station.

Serenely shredding Guitar guides you through the blues With effortless cool

It's just middle of the road music? I understand this is good guitar work, it just seems competent? like he's so good he doesn't have to try? It's just so boring background music to me.

I love finding new music and artists through this site. And I also love this type of scenario, becoming reacquainted with and artist/album that I absolutely loved when I first found them/it. In 1978 I was deeply into the standard classic rock of the day (Zep, Boston, Aerosmith, etc) and I was also exploring the newly emerging punk and electronic sounds in the background of the music world of the day. Along with Kraftwerk, Dire Straits absolutely blew me away with how different it was from anything I'd ever heard up to then. Of course I found out later about the music and artists that influenced Mark Knopfler, but for the longest time I couldn't listen to anything else, this album was as fresh and different as Duty Now For the Future, Autobahn, and Never Mind the Bollocks to me.

Hell yeah

I see Dire Straits - i give it 5

For me Dire Straits is always a pleasure to listen to

Brilliant.

Clean, like the genre Would listen to it outside of this

It one of the best albums with an acoustic guitar that I listened to with a very captivating voice.

Sehr bueno, chillig

Overall: 8/10 Weirdly enough, I actually think my favourite thing about Dire Straits is that Mark Knopfler isn't a very good vocalist. It forces him to be creative with the interplay between his voice and his guitar. This wad actually my first time hearing Dire Straits outside or Sultans of Swing and Money for Nothing, and it was pretty much what I expected. Lots of blues rock with some of the coolest guitar work you'll ever hear. The style of the music can get a bit same-y in parts but it's overall a really great album. Fav Song: Sultans of Swing

The moment the opening chords of “Down to the Waterline” kicked in, it felt like I was collapsing into a comforting embrace. Mark Knopfler is one of my favorite guitar players and Dire Straits played a big role in my formative years. This album brought me smiles and feels like warm honey.

Talent ✅ Bluesy ✅ Perfectionists ✅ Don’t care about trends ✅ Choose music over fame ✅ Still can’t like them ❌

Really good. This is the type of rock that lives on forever.

This a really solid LP. The variety of soft rock, folk, and country - while keeping the atmosphere as tight as it is - is very impressive. I’m also addicted to a lot of the guitar licks and riffs throughout. These guys seemed to have everything figured out for a debut album.

not an instant favorite or anything but honestly for being such a staple of "dad rock", there is something that is Still rly refreshing and bold about this band...sultans of swing is a funny anecdote made into something resembling a statement of meta-defiance in the face of what the expected face of rock music Was and Is. honestly this could prob come out near-unaltered today and get a fantano 7/10 or something. slick and quiet but also incredibly direct, its all in the licks. very cozy music tbh...instantly digestible in its musical information and just in general dedicated to not Overwhelming u. the solos especially are hugely likable. if u turn up the Complexity and Snark sliders i think thats how u get steely dan...also a great band, but a different itch then this, and tbh one i might be in the mood for slightly less often

Great first album. Torn between 4 and 5. Going to add this to my library even though I'm giving it 4.

This feels awfully modern and well-produced, I was surprised to find it's their debut album.

melow tunes. nice vocals. didn't really listen closely to lyrics some upbeat twangy beats. clean sound. i liked this album; mostly the melow low pace tracks.

- Two Dire Straits albums in one week? Cool. - Sultans of Swing and the opening track 🔥

Oh god, Dire Straits platen. Daar had ik mij nog niet helemaal op ingesteld. Maar daar komen er ook nog heel wat van langs de komende tijd natuurlijk. Tja en wat moet je er dan van vinden. Wat mij opvalt is dat dit debuutalbum nog niet zo sophisticated klinkt. Het klinkt nog wat rootsier, wat meer Americana en is wat swingerder en aanstekelijker (southbound again) dan die lange uitgesponnen gitaarplaten die zouden volgen. De sound is herkenbaar Dire Straits, maar nog zonder het pretentieuze gedoe. En Sultans of Swing is natuurlijk een banger. 7/10 Highlights Southbound Again Sultans of Swing

Swingin'.

I'm not sure why this one hit so differently from the other Dire Straits album on the list but it for sure did. It's a classic, southern rock vibe that I'm... well, I'm not exactly here for it but I don't mind it. There's a bit too much chickin-pickin for my tastes but it's relatively skillful picking... so there's that. The whole thing still comes off more than a bit try-hard boomer-rock for me but, for all that, it's pretty alright.

I can't say it was a bad album but won't say it was good either. The guitars did most of the work here but nothing that was exceptional or that stood out. My experience was enjoyable but it not a must listen album for me.

Not much variety but hints of the better things to come.

Just regular standard period music...

My friends mom always turns on Sultans of Swing at every fucking barbecue in the local fucking area and I'm so fucking tired of it please let me fucking skip it

Why is this so corny? I mean, the guitar is good, technically, but the singing ruins it. It’s so try-hard-boomer-cool. This is a reluctant 1.5

I can’t believe someone would willingly make music this boring. The first time he tried to write a song, Mark Knopfler should have put down his guitar in shame and lived a quiet, unassuming life as a monk to atone.

rizzless grateful dead

I have been in a permanent yawn for half an hour. I have never felt my face so weary. Now, most occasions of boredom lead to frustration, not physical tiredness. I am perversely impressed at how soporific this album is. It's all just one song, and quite a boring song at that. So, we have one boring song raised by an order of magnitude. An album consisting of pure halal filler. You know how pop stars are supposedly able to sing people out of comas? Dire Straits can play people into them. Punk happened for so many reasons.

Knopfler is one of the best to ever do it. Worth listening to just to hear him play, but the whole thing is well recorded and well produced. Certainly a classic, hard to believe this is a debut album.

The soundtrack to vast portions of my life. And John Ilsley's a friend of mine. Sort of.

I love dire straits .. it’s a great intro album with one or two gems .. crafted in the pubs and with jazzy/blues vibe but with more flow and tempo But the thing that sets it apart is the story telling in the songs

I haven't listened to this album in years and had to check that I had it on vinyl (I do). It is excellent, the Dire Straits sound arriving fully formed, albeit after years of playing in pubs and clubs no doubt... and this comes from the same pub scene that Elvis Costello, Brinsley Schwarz, and other 'new wave' artists came from. 'Dire Straits' is essentially country rock with an incredible guitar player, a bit like Heads, Hands and Feet (in fact I had completely forgotten that the original of "Setting Me Up" is on this album being more familiar with the Albert Lee version). "Sultans of Swing" obviously the standout but there isn't a bad track here and, for me, this is a better album than the celebrated 'Brothers in Arms'. Mark Knopfler's clean Strat sings, understated but technically and sonically brilliant and his songwriting matches it.

Heel fijn

So so so much better than Coldplay

Heard this album many times and will continue to come back to it. Love the groove this album gets into

Mark Knopfler is an exceptional talent.

Dire Straits will always be one of my favourites

the best incredible, I can't believe someone can play the guitar this good, absolute classics absolute bangers every day

Well now, from the ridiculous to the sublime. This eponymous first album is just sublime, one of my favourite ever albums. The lyrics paint pictures, and the soulful, bluesy lead guitar brings the songs to life. Strangely enough in an album entirely of brilliant tracks, the most famous one that actually launched their career isn't even the best track! This is by far the best album they produced. It's getting a 5 because there is no 11.

A tricky one this, I will have to put all my Dad music bias to one side for this. It was and still is bloody good. If you are going to make a nice relaxing blues album, then do it like this and not like the Black Crowes etc.

if I could i'd give this a 12/10

A real humdinger

This album (and band) has a reputation for its enormously popular single Sultans Of Swing. But does the rest of the album hold up? ...Yes, it does. I'm impressed by the production here. It's crystal-clear, especially for "classic" rock, which often tends to be too gritty or dirty to get a clean sound. (I'm looking at you, punk.) But here, you can hear each and every note. The instruments are separated into channels as with a live setting, and it's done in that nifty way that puts you right at the front of the audience. Onstage, even. That's how immersive it is. The vocal is pretty standard – it suits the band yet isn't virtuosic – but standout vocal tracks include Six Blade Knife and Sultans Of Swing. The former has thick, almost drawled singing that really puts in you the cool, mysterious, countryish headspace Dire Straits were going for. In the latter track, the singing is heavily Dylan-influenced, and with that insanely catchy guitar hook and all the guitar fills/interplay, it's just... incredible. Seriously, what a brilliant track. Very bluesy, starting from the very first song. The opening instrumental in Down To The Waterline is mysterious, understated, but as soon as the drums come in it's a driven, groovy, and tight soft-rock sound. And at a cool four minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome. A near-perfect opener. No wonder these guys were popular from the outset. The album flows well, somewhat Dylanesque in its songwriting approach but with orders of magnitude of better sound quality than Dylan at his 60s songwriting peak. It isn't perfect – far from it – but every song on this record is very solid, and different enough from the last to keep the listener engaged and guessing. I like the fast pace of Southbound Again that rebounds after the slower, lower-energy preceding tracks. And SoS launching off side 2 of the disc. It's that sort of track ordering that'll get bonus style points. 5/5 Key tracks: Down To The Waterline, Southbound Again, Sultans Of Swing

Stunning debut album. A bit out of step with the trends in 1978 but every song is strong. Wonderful understated musicianship and vocals. A lot more varied than I remember it.

Love dire straits, and especially this album. It's got a unique and very pleasing soundscape that only the have, and it fits very well into my music taste. Sultans of swing is an absolute classic also.

Hell yeah

The exeptional album. I now prefer this record so much. It is like a gift. Soft and slight moody music, catchy singing style. It surely must be added at mine collection.

Surprisingly enjoyable. Water of love is arguably the best song but the opening track is fantastic as well. And of course, we have Sultan of Swing.

classic and banging

I love this album

5/5 get better w every listen feels like fall and spring

One of the best guitarists ever. Nice laid back music.

Stunningly perfect.

Des putains de musiciens

Fantastic.

Dire Straits is one of those artists where, at least with the first five albums, whichever album you're listening to is currently your favorite Dire Straits album. So, right now this is it. How can it not be, cos they came out fully formed, all those mellow melodies and tasty licks, and so Dylan-esque in all the best ways. Down to the Waterline and Water of Love (that wood block...click-click...) would absolutely dominate this album with their easy flow...but the mighty Sultans of Swing is here, and it's not only the best track on this album, it's the best by the band, and a top 25-50 song of all time for me.

Sheer perfection from the first guitar notes.

I’m here for it! Some very groovy, twangy and sexy guitar. Six Blade Knife is verrrry sexy. This was so easy to listen to it made me realize how challenging it’s been to listen to some other albums. Wild West End is cute! Laughing at how he sings “duck inside the doorway, duck to eat”. A lovely fall morning secretly horny on a Brower Park bench

I know it's a bit cringe and 100% dad rock, but I have always loved how Mark Knopfler plays guitar.

I've already listened to his album (21). What a debut. The tones, the tunes, the vibes, they really came out of the gates fully formed.

Nice chill music, with surprisingly good guitar riffs/melodies

*****

En av dom bästa upptäckterna i projektet hittills, solklar femma. Trodde det skulle vara Sultans of Swing + random låtar men fan vad bra nästan alla låtar är!

Mark Knopfler weirdly does more with the guitar notes he doesn't play here, everything is so precise and on point, but every song has room to breath and the little finger picking meedly notes are just sex.

Classic!

Epically mature debut album

In Big Daddy Dyl's top 5 albums of all time. After a slightly lethal combo of pet nat and hazy IPAs last night, the husky tones and velvet guitar is exactly what my brain needs right now. Fender Stratocaster - who knew

I'm biased in my review of Dire Straits as Brothers in Arms was one of the first albums I ever owned. Listening to their debut album now, they'd be on my blues rock Mount Rushmore. I love Mark Knopfler’s voice. The guitar playing is awesome. Every song is great, capped by "Sultans of Swing". This becomes my fifth 5/5.