Dire Straits – Dire Straits

As everyone has mentioned, Knopfler is a musical genius. His guitar playing is exquisite and timeless. This album is fantastic with beautiful mix. My pressing is awesome! Highly recommended!

In a decade brimming with legendary, classic albums, this debut from Dire Straits is still a standout. Totally original, tonally diverse yet still cohesive, and artfully presented both visually and aurally. Consistently excellent.

This is definitely a nice pressing. Very intimate soundstage, like they're just performing in your local pub. Bass is nice and thick, if a bit fuzzy around the edges. Nobody is stepping on anyone's toes, but everyone is still very present and audible throughout. My favorite aspect of this debut LP is how the dynamic range is wide and balanced enough that Mark Knopfler's quiet, tiny—and apparently frequent!—little licks, flourishes, and filigrees really shine and color the pictures at this marvelous exhibition. Very happy to have this in my collection.

5/5.

Very nice-sounding LP. Open & clear, with good detail & bass.

I have an Ex+ copy of this Dire Straits`s 1st LP & it`s a great place for any fan,record collector or popular music lover to start.
My Ex+(Excellent +) copy is only one notch lower than a near mint (n/m) copy for those that are wondering so it has(very little)
surface noise in a few places,it plays really very nicely as it`s only noticeable(surface noise)in a few places.
I would say the sound reproduction is neutral,highs,mids & lows are on a very even balance throughout on my copy with a wide soundstage too, it is always easy to pick out individual instruments even when things get dense.So you get the full impact of the drumming on "Six blade Knife"(amazing)& Mark Knopfler`s excellent guitar work IN FACT all through the album.
The production & mastering are clear & precise & you know you`re listening to a four piece rock band,the album cover is nothing
special but the inner sleeve has all the printed info i.e. liner notes,credits etc.
Thank you for reading this review if you see a OG copy of this album in Ex+ or higher & it`s a reasonable price,go ahead & make
the purchase you won`t regret it,recommended five stars.

Music:5.0.
Mastering/pressing:5.0.
Inner sleeves:4.5 printed card.
Cover:3 single card.

Turntable used:
Modified Rega P3:RB880 tonearm w/144g counterweight, 11g Denon DL103r in a metal cap/housing,Delrin Platter, Rega Neo, Swagman Isoacoustic Orea bronze feet(3),pro-ject turntable platform, Whest Audio TWO.2 class a dual mono fully balanced phono stage.

Which 1978 pressing sounds the best? I'm thinking about buying a copy.

A: BSK-1-3266 WW2 #5 -------◁
B: BSK-1-3266 WW3 #3 -------◁

Missing inner Lyric sheet slightly grubby sleeve record looks virtually scratch free.

a mature debut that surprised the punk world

Mark Knopfler ranks among the best guitarists in the world, along with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Cropper, Peter Green and others, too many to mention. His status as a composer (for soundtracks as well), producer and guest musician has grown over the years. The only difference with the other guitarists is that his rise to stardom started when he was 29 years old, in 1977, more than a decade after all the other guitarists had made it big. And it started with this very record, in the middle of the punk era.
Music critics in the U.K. didn’t get it at first, and ignored it. It had to be a major hit in the U.S.A., first, before they recognized the value of the record. Then trying to label it somehow, in order to sell it, they compared the virtues of the music with the ones found in a Bob Dylan and a J.J. Cale album. Although the similarities do exist and, after all, it is a great compliment to compare you with such established musicians, the point is that none of them had the authenticity of Knopfler's guitar playing. His playing made him a household name from the very beginning (Steely Dan, Bob Dylan, Mavis Staple asked for his guitar work, before the release of Dire straits' second album) and eventually a guitar hero, in an era that dismissed all such heroes.
Of course the luck factor for a music band is very important, even if they are always ready, and they were pretty lucky in a sense. Their demo tape was sent to the late Charlie Gillett, a radio producer, who was so amazed by a song that he played it over and over during his radio hour. The executives/scouts of the record industry had their ears open and it was only a matter of time for one of the major labels to sign them.
The song in question was no other than "Sultans of swing", which is such a classic that needs no other introduction. The rest of the songs are marvelous showcases of sincere songwriting and brilliant musicianship. "Down to the waterline", the opener of the album is another classic, showcasing the abilities of the band, for upbeat songs. The album is filled with slower paced songs (with the exception of “Southbound again”), that gave many reasons to the critics, to label them a “pub” band.
Stories of people in dire straits - the financial state they were in, was terrible and thus they didn’t have to look any further for a name- (“Southbound again”), people in love and despair (“Six blade Knife”,“Setting me up”,“Water of love”), the problems of finding your way through the world with jobs and arts (“In the gallery”) and last but not least scenes of everyday life (“Wild West End”, “Lions”) .All these lyrics were crafted so carefully and narrated with such fluency that they work even without the music.
But it was the same case, with the similarities with Dylan and J.J. Cale, when critics called them a “pub” band.Critics failed to see that all the similarities with types of music and musicians were totally superficial. The key element that everybody heard but refused to admit was the unique guitar work. Finger picking was never so inspired in rock. Even Clapton, in his autobiography admitted, upon listening to Mark Knopfler, that he feared his star would eclipse.
Only “Sultans of swing” have remained in Dire straits’ live playlist by 1994, but somehow it was the only fitting song that has changed and expanded, in order to be the centerpiece of their live act. The rest, are songs that are best appreciated in the peace and quiet of your home.A masterpiece

1 of 1 found this helpful

Great guitarwork throughout, the record manages to maintain a mood beginning to end giving this work a great cohesion.

Great album where Mark shows how to handle the guitar. I didn't discover this album until recently and was a real nice find. Who needs the new stuff...