Album #92 : Dire Straits - Dire Straits

Dire Straits
Dire Straits (1978)

Dire Straits went from humble beginnings (their name was a pretty accurate description of their early financial situation) to one of the biggest bands on the planet in the space of four or five years. In all the hubbub surrounding some of their bigger, more well known releases (i.e. Love Over Gold and Brothers In Arms) their early work is often largely overlooked, the classic, iconic Sultans of Swing notwithstanding.

This album, their self-titled debut, was the result of a chance decision to play a five-track demo to a London DJ the group liked, in the hope of getting his advice on where they could go with their sound. The DJ loved it so much he started playing it (especially Sultans of Swing)...and the rest was history.

The Album

The early Dire Straits sound is one based in blues, folk and country music. This stripped back, laidback style is perfect for the guitar noodlings of Mark Knopfler. Nimble of fingers, he has a remarkable gift for making his guitar playing sound so easy and natural, even when banging out million-note runs. Beyond Knopfler's majestic skills, the musicianship is solidly dependable.

Obviously the biggest and best song on the album is Sultans of Swing. This ode to a crap jazz band Knopfler watched in Ipswich happens to also capture the public's shift in musical mood over the last twenty years; it also captures well the nature of most jazz bands. With a wonderful hook and a magnificent guitar solo at the close, it deserves every ounce of hype it gets. However, it's not the only great cut here. Opener Down To The Waterline uses a sweet instrumental chorus structure, consisting of a lightfingered earcatching picked guitar riff (the axework, as you'd expect, is intricate throughout). The sprawling, rootsy Water of Love, with its slide guitar work and simple arrangement, is another great tune. It features a sometimes insightful, sometimes cliched set of lyrics, delivered in that trademark Knopfler drawl.

Setting Me Up is another track I enjoyed - a rockabilly style guitar riff and elements of country music fuse together in this cleverly humourous tune. It's a sound that they would only sparsely revisit over the rest of their career. This country influence can also be heard on the decent Southbound Again, especially in the guitar riff; it's another jaunty song with a catchy hook. On a different musical note, Wild West End is a fairly placid guitar ballad with folky elements, though again, there's some good lyrics and more of that dexterous guitarwork.

Gradually, the band would shift away from these influences and develop a more rounded sound (by the time they got to Love Over Gold, they were au fait with progressive rock influences and more complicated arrangements), however this album represents perfectly the early sounds that the group was interested in.

The Verdict

It's not their best album (it's also not their worst - that's the followup Communique in my view) but Dire Straits is a fine debut that laid the groundwork for the career that was to follow. It established Knopfler as a songwriter and guitarist of note, and suggested that the band had plenty of promise. 

Although there are a few tracks that are of little interest, for the most part it's a good collection of soft blues, country and folk-tinged rock tunes. Worth checking out, if only to hear the two water-related songs....

My rating: ***

Standout Tracks

Water of Love

Down to the Waterline

Sultans of Swing

Tomorrow, one of the most influential albums of all time.......