Blue is the colour . . . (Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits)

Member Name: themoomin

Product:	Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
Date:	18/01/01 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great music all the way through

Disadvantages: Not a one!

The album cover is blue and most of the songs are blue, so how come this album is one of the biggest selling albums to come out of the UK in recent years? After all, this 1985 offering is the 6th outing for Dire Straits - so why did it take so long for them to gain world-wide recognition?

You know, I can't answer those questions. I have a couple of the earlier Straits albums on vinyl, the most often-aired being 'Making Movies' which contains the classic track 'Romeo and Juliet', and of course I own Brothers in Arms, which I regard as the seminal album of this group, and one that deserves a place in everyone's collection. If you haven't got it already, read on - I might just manage to convince you!

Brothers in Arms contains 9 tracks in total, and features the well-known singles 'Money for Nothing' and 'Walk of Life', the latter featuring a much younger Sting in the famous opening bars - ' I want my, I want my MTV . . . '
After hearing these two upbeat songs, you would expect to hear more of the same on the album. What you actually get is an album full of soul, great music, great lyrics and superb sounds. The opening love song 'So Far Away' is a moody classic, the petulant vox of Mark Knopfler illustrating exactly the feelings of a fed-up, love-struck lover, separated from his partner.

Followed by the aforementioned singles 'Money for Nothing' and 'Walk of Life', these are about as upbeat/poppy as this album gets. Both top tunes, with excellent lyrics - check out the chorus of 'Money for Nothing' which goes like this:

"We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveri-e-e-e-ees
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV's"

'Walk of Life' apparently almost wasn't on this album at all, but the band managed to convince the producer, and it was spared. And it's a gr
eat song, with catchy keyboard riffs and the occasional 'woo-hoo' thrown in for good measure.

Track 4 - 'Your Latest Trick' - again soulful, bluesy and magnificent. Another pained statement of love lost - my favourite line being
" You played robbery with insolence, and I played the blues in twelve bars down Lover's Lane"
12-bar blues? Or twelve bars he played the blues in? Clever stuff!

The simple and stunning 'Why Worry' follows. A precursor to the 'Everybody Hurts' type ballad of REM, this is a song that will uplift the saddest soul, and make you feel as if everything can be okay.
The vocals fit the lyrics perfectly.

Next comes the first of three soldier songs -
'Ride across the River'. Moody and stirring, this is one of the best tracks of this album.

Followed by 'The Man's Too Strong', in which clever words and another top tune unite to form another great song. Play this one with the Bass level turned up!

The words of the next track say it all - entitled 'One World' and predominantly saying "Can't get no antidote for blues", this is still a track that you can sing/dance along to. Again, the backing and the vocals fit together well, and the guitar of Mr Knopfler really boosts the song .

Finally the title track - 'Brothers in Arms'. Thought-provoking and topical, continuing the soldier theme, this track is gently sombre and the lyrics are beautiful. A fantastic ending to a quality album.

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