Dire Straits

How can I even judge my childhood, my dad's favourite band, an old cassette that kept playing in my house... I love it.

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Much better than Brothers in Arms

My first thought that, okay this not my genre. Overall, it was a nice listening.

3/5. Singles were good and I liked the vibe but not sure I'll go back to it

An album people will never hear the same way twice. Mark Knopfler is a legend, and this record shows exactly why. It is so smooth and jazzy that it feels like pure pleasure from start to finish. Knopfler’s guitar playing is the heart of everything. Clean, precise, and full of quiet confidence, it never needs to shout to make its point. The songs move with a relaxed but focused energy, sitting somewhere between rock, blues and a light jazz touch. Nothing feels rushed. The whole album breathes at its own easy pace and still stays completely engaging. The production is clear and warm. Every instrument has space, the rhythm section stays tight and understated, and Knopfler’s voice and guitar sit naturally in the middle. It sounds simple on the surface, yet the longer you listen the more the details come through. Dire Straits’ debut is a quiet classic. Smooth, expertly played, and endlessly easy to return to.

Dire Straits is a debut with an unusually strong identity. Mark Knopfler already sounds like himself: precise but never sterile, technically accomplished without being flashy, and more interested in the details of ordinary lives than in rock-star mythology. “Sultans of Swing” is the obvious masterpiece, but “Down to the Waterline” and “Wild West End” prove that the album has more to offer than its most famous song. My reservation is that the record's relaxed confidence sometimes becomes a little too comfortable. A few tracks feel like excellent examples of the band's sound rather than compositions that truly expand it. That distinction matters when we're judging the album against the very best records in your listening project.

Rock, 1978 -> 5

galopirajući i vukući sebe, sunčanicama okrepljeni

I love Sultans of Swing but I don't really care about the rest of the album

Great weekend to get this album. Played it while grilling and running around the hills on a stunning fall morning. Honestly that probably helped the album a lot, but it's just great blues rock Favorite Songs: Down to the Waterline, Water of Love, Sultans of Swing

This debut album has an atmospheric feel that is a blend of American West county music and 70s British rock. Mark Knopfler puts in a legendary guitar performance on almost every track and Sultans of Swing sits solidly as one of the best rock and roll songs of all time. After an atmospheric slow opening it kicks off with Down to the Waterline and keeps it up until a great finale in Lions. Southbound Again and Wild West End stand out as some other great songs on one of the best debut albums of all time.

8 out of 10. Can't decide which is better, this or Brothers In Arms. Both great.

too slow for, it did not have any movement, felt very primitive rock and roll.

one guy says this sounds like it could be any bar band. one guy says this sounds like kiss. what?? some people partaking in this project are fuggin' tone deaf. did you find their way here on accident? do you even like music? i understand that i am a far more adventurous and varied listener than most, but c'mon. a great debut of one of the best bands and probably the best and most unique guitar player of the era. it only has the one hit, but the whole thing is solid. my fav album of theirs is the live album "on the night". they nail it.

Great guitar playing and some outstanding songs.

this was kinda epic

It's a fine album with some interesting notes. The blend of folk, country, funk and some more under rock Institution has a thing about it. Mark Knopfler is indeed a great unusual guitar player. Obviously with his pickless technique but as much- his musical choices. I do have to say it doesn't the strongest tracklist. Some blend songs unfortunately. This time the two that impressed me the most are the opener, with the truly jaw-dropping guitar licks, wild west end with the great addition of resonator guitar, and the closer with the beautiful chord sequence and backing Vocals. A good solid debut record for the band. A high 3.

Sultans of swing is epic obviously, but I hadn't heard any of the other songs on this album. I liked Water of Love, Wild West End, and Lions. As an album though a lot of the songs blend together as is the nature of not entirely distinct jam sessions. Dope shuttle ride to this music yesterday morning.

Gosh this is a great album, I want to give it a 4 so badly because of how great Sultans of Swing and Down to the Waterline are. The rest do the tracks are also great but start to blend together and are really jammy, which isn't a bad thing but makes them less memorable. Overall, awesome vibe and a couple amazing stand outs. Great album

Just good music

love the vibe of the album, mark knopfler is a guitar genius

Nice easy-going sound, but I didn't feel the lyrics carried for such a mellow tune. So, it was a little bland for me.

Was fine, didn’t make a huge impression on me. To be fair I couldn’t give it a ton of attention at work today

When I first heard this album, it was just boring 70s soft rock to me. The band may have been good, but the music was not that interesting. Not sure if it has grown on me over repeated listens or I'm just getting older and have started to like boring music, but I can appreciate this much more now. The songs are good, and Mark Knopfler really is a very good guitar player, just like Rolling Stone magazine told me he was. You win this round Rolling Stone magazine. That said, it's good, but it ISN'T that interesting. You definitely don't need to listen to this, but you might enjoy listening to this. I did. Essential listening: no Desert island disc: no

Great album! Mark Knopfler is one of my favourite guitarists of all time :)

Very good album. I didn't know most of the songs, but all of them sound very nice. Marks Knopfler's guitar sounds amazing, it's got that touch of swing, sometimes bluesy... Some songs are not as great as Sultans of swing, of course, but all of them are good.

8/10

Twangy rock blues like riding through country roads leaving a huge dust trail behind. The flow of the music keeps a constant energy moving forward without kicking it into the next gear, slow but effective. The guitar work is the main voice of the songs to me, so much personality is delivered in those twangs. Very enjoyable album beginning to end.

forse un po' meno di 4 ma la chitarra mi piace troppo

Very smooth, will be playing this in the future.

Sultans of Swing was the only song I knew and was the only song that I really enjoyed. The rest of the album was a little plain jane

I listened to this while cleaning up my garden at the end of the growing season. Notes are somewhat less specific than I like. Knopfler writes better Americana than most American writers in the genre. He's maybe #3 behind Petty and Springsteen (if you count the Boss), and easily the equal of Tweedy. 'Sultans of Swing' is an incredible achievement of writing and playing, dedicated to a cover band who only played for love of the music; that may tell you everything you need to know. Dire Straits always take a bit of a hit because there's little here that you couldn't find elsewhere, possibly in a more-original form. They basically do everything perfectly except their recipe comes from someone else's book. Mark Knopfler could write a version of anything her heard but, unlike Lennon-McCartney, it's rare for it to come off as a particularly unique contribution to any genre he dabbles in. Exceptions are made -- 'Sultans' for being a perfect execution, 'Money For Nothing' (not present) for being a departure from his own usual -- but they prove the existence of the rule. That's the double-edged sword of Dire Straits: Knopfler & co. always seem perfectly comfortable no matter what they're doing but they're also responsible for their staying pretty solidly in their own comfort zone. That zone has an impressive width but I think they could have taken bigger swings and we'd all have been rewarded by it. Well worth a listen and probably a buy (to own a recording of 'Sultans', if nothing else) and you'll rarely tire listening to this album. Brothers in Arms is a better work, though, and you'll never surprise and impress anyone by showing them this. For context, though, The La's were writing something (poppier, granted) in a similar vein and they never got close enough even to hear the roar of Dire Straits' crowd. So respect is due: 4/5

Buenisima, muchos sonidos y bass distintos. Mi fav "Southbound Again" La q menos me gustó pero sigue estando buena "Wild West End"

A couple of good tunes but the rest a lot of boring guitar noodling.

5/5

Not long ago, I listened Brothers In Arms by the already seasoned Dire Straits — by then transformed into something akin to stadium rockers — but now it's time to revisit where they started. They began with so-called pub rock — music that lived up to its name perfectly: airy, country-blues guitar fingerpicking played quietly enough in pubs not to drown out the conversations of patrons enjoying a pint. Mark Knopfler’s signature style adds an extra layer of beauty: his decision to forgo the guitar pick entirely when playing electric guitar. The problem is that the album’s cathartic peak arrives with "Sultans of Swing," leaving the remaining tracks feeling like a drawn-out, near-mirror image of the opening ones. That’s why I personally give this record only a strong three stars. Still, releasing such an "unfashionable" album in late-70s England — sandwiched between the rising forces of punk rock, new wave, and the encroaching metal scene — was a truly bold move.

Banger after banger 10/10

okej dobra spoko

Such a slick, well-crafted album. I will forever love Mark Knopfler's guitar. Songs like "Sultans of Swing", "Down to the Waterline" and "In the gallery" have such groove and restraint. I've loved this album for a long time, and it held up.

Sultans of Swing is a vibe Although there are a lot of other vibes, it's a 4

ну такое

I've always heard the name, never knew any songs. Well... I did in the end. But I really liked this album. Uplifting

I definitely liked this more than Brothers In Arms, but it still falls into the "okay but not entirely my thing" category. "Sultans of Swing" is obviously the standout here, but also enjoyed "Down to the Waterline" and "Six Blade Knife"

I’ve always liked Dire Straits sort-of understated version of blues rock. This starts brightly with Down To The Waterline, before meandering along through the next few songs, building up to the crescendo of Sultans Of Swing, a beautifully painted story of a blues dive bar and all the people within, along with some excellent guitar playing. The album slowly winds down from there, leaving nothing but a warm fuzzy feeling like the buzz of an amp. Good stuff

Very good, makes me want to time travel to the 70s and listen to this album during sunset on the highway with the top down- 4.2

I liked the guitar effect on Lions, mid way through, and obviously Sultans of swing is a perfect song, but the rest of the album was largely uninteresting, but relaxing.

A real masterclass in clean lead guitar such that it's an entire second voice through the entire album. Popping funk and bluesy howls and chunky thrumming and isn't it just the versatility that sets this sucker alight? Then the voice, growling and a bit wry, as an almost exact counterpoint, a one two punch of timbre and wicked instrumental wit, one always locked in step with, or else seeming to fight against, the other. This struck me as an impressionistic album of mood and tone, and I suppose I listened to it that way, straining my ear for interplays of sound and texture rather than content, which is great fun as far as I'm concerned, but which also perhaps makes any lyrical content and skillful broader songwriting fall a little by the wayside: I guess you might call it a one trick pony. But what a stonking great pony it is. A lovely gem that I'd not heard before and will listen to a good few times again before I'm sated.

A quintessential 3*. Nothing here I find especially offensive, but nor is there anything that remarkable (Sultans of Swing excepted). Perfectly fine blues rock, but I can only assume this is rated pretty highly because people have heard of Dire Straits?

This was decent enough but not brilliant. 'Sultans of Swing' is obviously great, and I liked the opener too. It's very easy to listen to, but there's not a lot else on here that really grabbed me.

A really solid debut album that explores various styles of bluesy rock music. Mark Knopfler dominates with his fluid, clean, melodic lead guitar and his contrastingly half-spoken, drawling vocals, both of which sound great. For the standout tracks, ‘Down to the Waterline’ is a fantastic, atmospheric opener, the moody ‘Six Blade Knife’ smoulders wonderfully, and ‘Wild West End’ is a beautiful country-influenced ballad, but of course it’s the all-time classic ‘Sultans of Swing’ that steals the show. The other five tracks aren’t as special but they’re still pretty good, and the album overall is certainly strong enough for 4 stars.

Exactly my kind of guitar work. Great grooves. A few songs are ok, but most are spectacular.

This one is a certified dad rock classic. Down To The Waterline and Sultans Of Swing were my favourites. It can be corny at times but Mark Knofler has so many tasty minor licks I'll have to give it a pass.

Sort of dreamy rock with its final song lions

Not my bag

Nice stripped back rock. Sultans of swing an absolute banger

поки харашо

This is another 'it's fine' album for me. Everyone keeps shouting out the Sultans of Swing (fair) but Down to the Waterline was actually the stand-out track for me.

in my top 5 easiest 5-star ratings so far

When this album came out, I was in 1st grade and I hated it because Sultans of Swing sounded nothing like Kiss. Now, almost 50 years later, I don’t hate it. I just don’t like it at all. So… progress?

3.6/5

Mark Knopfler has such a distinct guitar sound that sings nearly as much as he does. It’s all fairly relaxing nasal vocals and chiming guitars and then out of the northern mist saunters ‘Sultans of Swing’. A majestic upbeat gem of a song that really stands the test of time and still sounds fresh today.

This starts off well with “Down to the Waterline”, but let’s not kid ourselves - there’s only one song we’re waiting for. And the road to get there is a bit dull, although I did like the sort of funky (or as funky as Dire Straits get, I suppose) guitar on “Southbound Again”. “Sultans of Swing” is a masterpiece, with some of the most recognisable, and best, guitar work ever created. It wouldn’t matter what came next - nothing was going to match those heights. The last 3 tracks aren’t quite as boring as those in the first half, but they’re not enough to pull this higher than a 3.

Guitar noodling of the highest standard, saved for me by a combination of nostalgia and, you know, being done by someone who is really talented. I have always enjoyed Mark Knopfler's voice too. I do think it ends up feeling a little samey over the length of a full record, but it's a sound I like so it bothers me less than maybe it should. Sultans Of Swing is bloody brilliant too. I think this is actually a 3.5, but as I tend to use 3 stars for albums that are just fine, it's getting rounded up. 4/5

6 Oct 2026 · 7/10 I really liked this. I saved a lot of songs to listen again, Sultans of Swing is obviously one of the GOATs. It lacks variety though, and gets a bit stale. I'm not adding it to my list of albums to listen again.

Better than Brothers in Arms. While there are less mega hits overall I felt this was more consistent. Less of the lounge music and more of the blues rock. Sultans of Swing is a fantastic track.

This is a nice chill country rock-sounding kind of thing. The guitar is very good. I have heard “Sultans of Swing” about 45 million times, and the rest of it nearly that much, so I qualify for having heard this one at some point before my inevitable demise.

4,1/5

I've been starting to wear off the honeymoon phase of starting up the project, but Dire Straits is a nice oasis in a desert. It's not the greatest album, God no, but it gets the job done. There's a reason why Sultans of Swing is the most popular hit.

Oh I added multiple songs from this baby, brava👏 3 stars but a high 3 stars

This was an amazing listen for me. Almost exactly what I was looking for in this experience. This album easily transcends you into a different time period, even one you never lived in.

i lurv dire straits

Listening session: october 4th, while making a puzzle Listened to before: listened to one song before Thoughts: Sultans of Swing is amazing but the rest of album does not really stand out for me Favourite tracks: Down To The Waterline & Sultans Of Swing

Tej it's like beige with a T (4.3/5)

It’s 2026, should be called dire gays. Tone, that too me is what defines this album. Knopfler's unmatched guitar tone is just so perfect and unique. "Check out guitar George. He knows every single one of dem mutha fuckin chords" - Tej

This album was a revelation when it came out. I had never heard a guitar player like Mark Knopfler before. I was in a rock band in high school. We were very impressed by a friend of mine who played guitar who could actually play Sultans of Swing. To this day, Knopfler is one of my very favorite guitarists, and Dire Straits simply does not miss.

Clean, uncluttered, and relaxing... a record I'd happily have as background music to a woodworking project. Sultans of Swing is obviously great, but feels a tad out of place - but maybe its because of its familiarity? Survivors: Down to the Waterline | Water of Love | Six Blade Knife | Sultans of Swing | Wild West End | Lions

BOF Sultan of swing y un par mas porque me suena todo igual y me aburre cuando suena el mismo sonido durante todo un álbum, aunque alguno habrá que sea eso lo que mas me guste, bien por la homogeneidad aunque en este caso no sea para mi. Alguna canción hay que hubiese preferido que solo fuera instrumental.

Pre-listening: I’ve known Sultans of Swing but never really listened to Dire Straits other than that. Best: Lions Runner-Up: Six Blade Knife Third: Sultans Post-listening: I love the guitar in pretty much every song but the vocals for Dire Straits has never done anything for me. To me, it’s like Randy Newman tried his hand in Brit-pop. After some scrutiny, I found out Mark Knopfler produced albums for Newman so that checks out. When I read that Mark was an English teacher that helped piece together the lyric’s poetic style, but for me it can’t magnetize me any closer to them. The sound is great, but the drab of Knopfler’s voice is just too much for me. But I’m sure that there are people who think the band’s phenomenal because of his voice. I mean, this album did go double platinum. I’m glad I took some time to listen to Dire Straits and I have an unearthed appreciation for them. Stars: 3/5 Rating: 7/10

Great album. Great guitars driven blues rock for the most part. Big Mark Knopfler fan.

01) Down to the Waterline - 9,0 02) Water of Love - 10,0 03) Setting Me Up - 9,0 04) Six Blade Knife - 9,0 05) Southbound Again - 9,0 06) Sultans of Swing - 10,0 07) In the Gallery - 9,0 08) Wild West End - 9,0 09) Lions - 9,0 TOTAL: 9,22 (92/100) Current ranking: 49/1054

I've really disliked Dire Straits from the very beginning. I reflexively hated "Sultans of Swing" from the first time I heard it. I can't place my finger on a specific reason. Maybe it's Knopfler's monotonous, laid-back, sing/talk vocal style. Maybe it's the tone of his guitar and that he plays a lot of his little solo bursts in the higher register. Maybe it's the song structure where the verse is sung over the groove followed by his little flourishes or solos in kind of a call-response sort of thing. This one earns a generous 2 because most of it was new to me so I didn't have the opportunity to grow sick of it which is what would invariably happen with more than one listen.

Mark Knophler has such a unique guitar style. It’s very southern, almost “chickin pickin’” in a way; with a very distinctive southern twang. It’s like something you would expect to hear on a country album, and I think those influences do exist in Dire Straits, but he also does it in a jazzy way. It’s a very cool melding of styles, and there’s nothing else like it. Pair all that with great songwriting, structure, and lyricism, and you have one great and unique debut album.

Okayy

Never listened to the group's debut, but familiar with "Sultans of Swing". You can tell they started more as a blues rock band, just smooth rhythm guitars in pretty much every track here. Makes for a good flow and overall listen honestly.

great!!! funky!!! fun!!!

Banger.

Pre Listen: 2nd Dire Straits album I've gotten on here. The last was "Brothers in Arms" and I remember it being very inconsistent in its quality. Had some really great songs, and some really poor ones, so I gave it a balanced 3/5. Hoping this one will be more consistent. Notable Tracks: Sultans of Swing - Classic of the album, I like it. It's not something I could listen to on repeat, I'd get sick of it pretty quick, but it's alright. Enjoyable enough. Wild West End - Favorite track. The addition of a piano is much needed for a lot of these more flavorless tracks. Works well. Post Listen: Well, it was certainly more consistent, so I guess I got what I want. Sadly, it was consistently more mid, so I really need to be more careful to what I wish for. Really felt like generic bar rock to me. Sort of thing if I heard live, I'd enjoy, but outside of that it's background music. It's decent background music, not bad, but really *just* decent. Everything played decently well, but nothing sticks out. No lyrics, no specific instrument, it's all decent. If I had to choose, the guitar was the best aspect, but even then, it's mostly just smooth playing. It's a very plain album. I'll give it a very plain rating, and an ultimately rather plain review. 3/5

As much as I respect the guitar legend, this is a pretty boring album.

Three stars just for Sultans of Swing. The rest of the album is not that good.

beach boys x a tad of country

Very good album. I prefer "Making Movies", "Communiqué", and, even more so, "Lover Over Gold" (and also "Brothers in Arms", which happens to be also included in this 1001 album list). The guitar playing is fantastic. Mark Knopfler is a great guitarrist with a unique style. Even if the title track may have been overplayed, I still enjoy it very much whenever I listen to it. Some other songs I enjoyed: "Down To The Waterline" (which I enjoy just as much, if not more, than "Sultans of Swing"), "Wild West End", "In The Gallery", "Six Blade Knive", or "Water Of Love". Overall, this is a very solid 4 star album.

Dire straits are always a good time.

Mark Knopfler the god. He's got to be up there as one of the all-time guitarists with Clapton, Hendrix, Beck, and Van Halen (Mayer too??). Wild West End and Down to the Waterline are just as good as Sultans of Swing. And In the Gallery is also incredibly groovy.

Sultans of Swing is a 5/5 song and clears every other song on this album but to me, that speaks more to the quality of that track than a lack of quality with the others. It's a great album that really sticks the landing in the second half and rewards the listeners who didn't tune out after Sultans. The first half isn't anything to scoff at either but I'm partial to the Side 2. Favorite tracks included Down to the Waterline, Sultans of Swing, In the Gallery, Wild West Ends

damn this actually might be better than brothers in arms

First time I heard this album, played it several times. The albums that followed were even better.

Made me think of my dad and the background music I heard as a kid.

Exceptionnel