There was a time when I considered "Brothers in Arms" to be a masterpiece of 1980s mainstream rock and Dire Straits’ best album. I wouldn’t stand by either of those statements today. At the time of its release, Dire Straits were arguably the biggest band in the business (alongside U2). Except that the actual band had fallen apart. Of the original quartet, only Mark Knopfler and his faithful Sancho Panza, John Illsley on bass, remained. The outstanding drummer Pick Withers had left after "Love Over Gold" and been replaced by the run-of-the-mill 1980s rock drummer Terry Williams. Rhythm guitarist David Knopfler had already left after just two albums. The band’s sound had gradually shifted from the blues and folk of their early albums to stadium-friendly rock-pop. Simple, catchy tunes like the daft “Walk of Life” – which had always been the fly in the ointment of the Straits’ albums – became key singles. Admittedly, the album still contained more introspective tracks such as “Ride Across the River”, “The Man’s Too Strong” and the title track “Brothers in Arms”, but overall the album remains unbalanced; from today’s perspective, it’s covered in a thick layer of that typical ’80s patina. So no, it’s not the band’s best album (that would probably be their debut or “Love Over Gold”), but the album and the accompanying tour certainly secured Knopfler a decent pension. An even weaker Dire Straits album was yet to be released – “On Every Street” – after which Knopfler disbanded the group and devoted himself to his solo career, which veered less and less towards commercialism and, ultimately, away from the sound of Dire Straits.
