Sultans Of Swing: The Very Best Of Dire Straits - Dire Straits

I remember listening to Dire Straits as a child when my dad would put his music on. Being young and foolish I would scoff at his musical tastes, snorting with derision and never dreamed that a decade later, he and I would end up with practically the same CD collection! So, I knew Dire Straits by name growing up, but it wasn't until University that I started listening to them seriously, and being blown away thinking "Damn! My dad has GREAT musical taste!" For the uninitiated, Dire Straits was formed in 1977 by Mark Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums). Their first album ...  Read the complete review

Dire Straits. Note. This review is mainly for people (probably Men) born before 1985 otherwise your view of music will probably be warped and you wont appreciate older music. An 70's and 80's legend, in their day Dire Straits were eternally famous. Front man Mark Knopfler : Mark was born in Glasgow where he lived for 7 years, it was then he moved to Newcastle Upon Tyne and attended Gosforth Grammar School. From an early age it was obvious he was destined to make it as a musician. He formed many bands as a young lad and eventually at 16 got a chance to shine on TV! where he played a duo alongside Sue Hercombe. Over the ...  Read the complete review

Sultans of Swing is a colleciton of Dire Straits most famous songs ranging from Sultans of Swing from 1978 to 1993's Local Hero. Since Dire Straits have had such an illustious career the songs on this compilation cd are very diverse and the cd contains a variety of musical styles. The early songs are more like country songs than rock ones and they are very different to what other bands of the era like Zeppelin were doing. The newer songs have a bit of gentle rock in them they almost sound like REM, especially ones like Brothers in Arms. Dire Strais have come up with quite a few hits over the years and possibly their most famous song is Twisting by the Pool. I ...  Read the complete review

I think it is fair to say that Dire Straits are one of those love or hate groups. There is no contesting Knopfler's skills on a guitar, but a lot of people do find their music dirgey. This best of album gathers sixteen of their biggest hits. The big opener is 'Sultans Of Swing' which has one of the most memorable guitar hooks of all time. I like to play it to mellow my mood. The song has an instant calming effect on you and Knopfler's vocals are icy cool and chilled. 'Romeo and Juliet' sounds very romantic from the title and I suppose it is in an odd way. His bluesy tones tackle the song with a hearty readiness and again it never gets too ...  Read the complete review

This is second Dire Straits greatest hits album, and a glance at the track list will show that it shares 8 songs with the previous greatest hits album (entitled 'Money for Nothing'). So given this, is the album worth buying? 1. Sultans of Swing * 2. Lady Writer 3. Romeo and Juliet * 4. Tunnel of Love * 5. Private Investigations * 6. Twisting by the Pool * 7. Love Over Gold (Live) - from the 'Alchemy' album 8. So Far Away 9. Money for Nothing * 10. Brothers in Arms * 11. Walk of Life * 12. Calling Elvis 13. Heavy Fuel 14. On Every Street 15. Your Latest Trick (Live) - from the 'On the ...  Read the complete review