Dire Straits (1978)

UK #5
US #2

hit singles:
"Sultans Of Swing" UK #8/ US #4

All songs by Mark Knopfler.
1. "Down to the Waterline" 3:55
2. "Water of Love" 5:23
3. "Setting Me Up" 3:18
4. "Six Blade Knife" 4:10
5. "Southbound Again" 2:58
6. "Sultans of Swing" 5:47
7. "In the Gallery" 6:16
8. "Wild West End" 4:42
9. "Lions" 5:05

The debut album from Dire Straits was a very impressive one especially because it seemed so out of touch with current trends in music such as Punk, Soft Rock and Disco.

Mark Knopfler immediately established a style that involved Country, Rock and Blues and played with his thumb and that solo on "Sultans Of Swing" still makes my jaw drop today. I love that song so much and it's fun to play though I cannot even remotely attempt the leads-just the chords. Knopfler was very influenced by the playing of Chet Atkins and that shows.

I also feel Pick Withers is a very underrated drummer and his skills on this cut are on display for all to hear not to mention the whole album. Man, was he good and had great feel and I love the way his drums were recorded.

The only other cut I heard on FM radio was "Down To The Waterline" another great song with style and class and excellent, understated guitar work.

Other lesser-talked about songs such as "Six Blade Knife", "Lions", "Setting Me Up", "In The Gallery" and "Wild West End" are well worth listening to as is this entire album. Some fans and critics lumped Dire Straits in with New Wave, Pub Rock and Rockabilly but I don't think they were any of those things, though there were elements of those aspects.

Muff Winwood did a tremendous job with the producing as did Rhett Davies engineering. It sounds stellar to this day because of their work.

It's funny that "Sultans Of Swing" initially flopped in the UK and did not chart and the album was slow to take off. The single didn't take off in the US until 1979 and then the UK took notice. The album would chart 132 weeks in the UK when all was said and done and went multi-Platinum in the States!

Anyway, a great debut although I feel much better was ahead of the band.

I did not know this, but apparently the original vinyl release cut the very end of that amazing solo on "Sultans Of Swing" though it was restored on the remastered CD. Is this true?

"Sultans Of Swing" was all over the radio in the Fall of 1978. I was just starting college and it seemed all you heard in those days was Dire Straits, Tom Petty and Cheap Trick. A great time for music.

I never did buy this album because it seemed I didn't have to, it was on everywhere. Also never got the CD. Dire Straits is one of those groups that I need to go back and explore. Did they ever release a box set of all their albums?

the first 3 are essential

Agreed...actually I would say the first four.

This is a wonderful record...beginning to end.

Oh, I go with all 6. Not a turkey there. Glad you mentioned Love Over Gold. That is in my Top 100 albums ever made and probably much higher than that.

Love Over Gold is a great album! There is not a bad song on it.

Awesome band and great debut. Several overlooked tracks on this - "Down To The Waterline", "Wild West End", "In The Gallery" and "Water Of Love" stand out for me. No need to mention the epic "Sultans". I have a compilation that has a different mix/edit of "Sultans" (along with other hits from that era). Any time I pick up a Strat, I flick it to that in-between position and play the chords from "Sultans". It's a cliche, but it's a good 'un.

Aside from Knopfler's guitar work, his voice was the other thing that was unique in the pop music world of the time.

Excellent band - one of my all-time favorites. This should be fun!

Very fond memories of this, it came out my senior year of college. Their best album IMHO, surreal, magical, great pickin', great growl singin', great lyrics and story telling about some very uncommon topics.

Love the mix of tempos, too. A good album to put on and turn out the lights, ha...

My vinyl LP (bought very soon after release date) has a 5:47 Sultans, I don't know what the CD has...

It's worth mentioning that their shows at this point were a real treat too. Very understated and tasty playing, with MK charmingly mumbling between songs...non of the self-indulgiance we sometimes saw later (do we really need an 11 minute version of Sultans?). I'm a huge fan of Straits and MK's solo work, and these early albums stand right up with anything he did with Straits or after.

I remember that at that time everyone thought he sounded Dylanesque.

Well you guys convinced me, just bought the first 4 albums at Amazon (and they're very cheap). I have the fifth album of course, who doesn't? in multiple formats (LP, CD, SACD, DVDA).

Yes - that piano coda was gorgeous!

I agree!

That version brought down the house at Live Aid. Still gives me chills. Almost orchestral what they did with that. One of the few bands who added keyboards and made it sound even better and fuller with taste in tact (aside from the annoying "Walk Of Life" but that's later).

I still need Communique and On Every Street remastered-I have the others. And these remasters sound gorgeous, but the albums sounded impeccable anyway. Love Over Gold souns like it was recorded and mixed today. Actually, I take that back-it sounds better than today because of the harshness of many records!

So, I guess this thread means I buy those last 2 remasters??? Jimbo what do I do?

I usually fall on the side of live stretch-out versions, but Sultans of Swing is the reason I never listen to Alchemy anymore...not to be negative. It's a minor nit for me to pick.

Buy! Buy! Buy!

One of the most elegant and accomplished debuts ever. This and Steely Dan's "Aja" were the foundations of the soundtrack to my college days. And it has held up beautifully over the ensuing years. This will be fun, 'cause there's not gonna be a weak studio album here.

I wasn't very into music when I was 10 and 11 years old but I did own a few records, most given to me by my brother in law, who was a guitarist and music obsessive. I listened to three bands really: Jethro Tull, The Police, and Dire Straits.

I have not listened to Dire Straits in years--I think some of the later hit singles put a bad taste in my mouth--but I occasionally think that I should buy the first four albums. Hopefully this thread will inspire me to do that.

I love the song "Wild West End."

It's a great album.....like every song on it.....Sultans, Waterline, and Wild West End in particular.

Probably another case of first album being the best (my opinion)......I only really play the first 2 these days.....love and prefer the straightforward, understated (someone else used that word), not as commercial sound. I didn't love when they added keyboards....though there's definitely lots of good songs later on.

Agree Pick Withers drummed brilliantly on these early Dire Straits albums. I have a first CD pressing of the debut Dire Straits album and it still bloody fades out on Sultans Of Swing ! Oh well.

Got the first 4 albums from Amazon last night! Plus they were automatically added to my Amazon Cloud Player.

I love that first album, start to finish. I actually like every Dire Straits record. First time I heard "Sultans" on the radio, I was one of those who wondered "Is this Dylan"?

The only Dire Straits album I own is Brothers In Arms. Maybe it's time to delve deeper into the catalog.

On the next Jimbo Lunch!

(Corrected due to brain fart)