| DIRE STRAITS BROTHERS IN ARMS | |
01. So Far Away (5:11) | 02. Money For Nothing (8:26) 03. Walk Of Life (4:12) 04. Your Latest Trick (6:33) 05. Why Worry (8:31) 06. Ride Across The River (6:58) 07. The Man's Too Strong (4:40) 08. One World (3:40) 09. Brothers In Arms (7:00) Total playing time: 55:15 Mark Knopfler: Guitars & Vocals Alan Clark: Keyboards Guy Fletcher: Keyboards & Vocals John Illsley: Bass & Vocals Omar Hakim: Drums Terry Williams: Drums with: Sting: Guest Vocal (courtesy of A & M Records) Hal Lindes: Guitar Tony Levin: Bass Neil Jason: Bass Jimmy Maelen: Percussion Michael Brecke, Randy Brecker, Dave Plews: Horns Mike Mainieri: Background Vocals Produced by Mark Knopfler & Neil Dorfsman Engineered by Neil Dorfsman Assisted by Steve Jackson, Air Montserrat Bruce Lampcov/David Greenberg, Power Station Recorded at Air Studios, Montserrat, West Indies Mixed at Power Station, New York Songs written by Mark Knopfler except track 2 written by Knopfler/Sting Published by Chariscourt Ltd/ Rondor Music (London) Ltd except track 2 Chariscourt Ltd/ Rondor Music (London) Ltd/ Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd Design: Sutton Cooper & Andrew Prewett Photography: Deborah Feingold Painting: Thomas Steyer Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk, New York Our special thanks to the following for helping to make the record: Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Malcolm Duncan, Neil Jason, Tony Levin, Jimmy Maelen, Mike Mainieri, Dave Plews, Jack Sonny, Sting Ed Bicknell, Paul Cummins, Liz Whatley, Norman Dugdale, Jean Currie at Damage Management. Ron Eve of Bromley in Kent, Peter Brewis. All the staff of Air Montserrat, in particular Steve Jackson, Malcolm Kelly, Frank Oglethorpe, 'Sugar Daddy' George Morgan, Desmond Riley, Franklyn Allen, Carlton Farrell and Leroy Hixon. Trevor, Michael and Sarah at Gallery Studios, Chertsey. Staff of Power Station, New York & all at Rudy's Music Stop, 48th Street, New York. Eric Clapton. M.K. Remastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Looked at now with 20/20 vision of hindsight, the image on the sleeve of 'Brothers In Arms' seems uncannily prophetic: that National steel guitar heading up into the clouds - a shiny 6 stringed rocket devoid of any obvious means of propulsion - describes, better than any words can, what happened to Dire Straits after the release of their 5th studio album. Up til the summer of 1985 success had, for them, come as a by-product of the music making progress. They had never courted celebrity, chased fads or played safe. Dire Straits had been loved & respected as one of the few bands to have maintained strong & credible links with the multifarious roots of rock'n'roll at a time - remember all the desperate pop posing of the early 80's? - when roots were emphatically not a fashionable place to be. At first hearing, 'Brothers In Arms' didn't sound like an album which was going to storm the barricades of global popular taste, much less one which would establish itself as the UK's biggest selling album of all the time. And there lay the surprising beauty of it. Where others shouted this album talked. Having little in the way of front, it offered instead a world of inferiors. It opened not with a bang but with a gently ticking hi-hat & it faded away, 9 tracks later, on a defiantly untriumphant wash of moody keyboards & achy, echoey guitar. Many of the songs in between were quiet, reflective, sombre even: the soldierly themes contained in the title track, or 'The Man's Too Strong' or again in 'Ride Across The River' were tinged with regret & remorse. The love songs were apt to begin & end in disappointment, with Knopfler grumbling down the phone in a lonely hotel room or disconsolately reviewing a late night encounter with someone he hardly met. Like the sleeve again, the album was predominantly blue in tone. Life being what it is, 'Brothers In Arms' soon became celebrated for its lighter moments, notably the big hits 'Money For Nothing' & 'Walk Of Life'. Both of these tracks have intriguing behind-the-scenes tales to tell. Knopfler's ode to blue collar dreams, 'Money For Nothing', eventually ended up with Sting singing the catchy 'I want my MTV' refrain. The then lead singer of Police happened to be on holiday nearby & received an invitation to contribute, which he did to great effect. 'Walk Of Life' nearly didn't make it as an album track at all but co-producer Neil Dorfsman was out-voted by the band, thereby ensuring that an album etched with several varieties of sadness also contained one of the most uplifting tunes Knopfler has ever written. No wonder the world found, & continues to find this such an irresistible package. (Robert Sandall)
(P) © 1985 Phonogram Ltd. (London) 
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