The first rock music I ever heard, and I still love them.

great stuff early on but could never put out an absolute 5 star album. There would always be two or three or more tracks worth skipping. However i feel that when it came down to sheer brilliant guitar playing, knopffler was unparalleled. He wasn't about the noise and the speed so much as about feel and texture. Like Carlos Santana, he understood the significance of every note. I once read someone say about his guitar playing that Knopffler always found "the note that wasn't there". So true. Sorry Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Hendrix, SRV,Clapton, van Halen etc fans out there. As a lead guitarist, this guy was the best.

Re: dire straits, I've often wondered why you never hear the full version of 'money for nothing' on the radio anymore, with the "controversial" lyrics.

One of the best bands of the entire rock era, Mark Knopfler would be my choice for the best guitarist of all time. (Apologies to the Van Halen- Hendrix warriors here)

White trash is a nice word for this band...and I really didn't appreciate their tirade against new wave music in their one hit...can't remember the name of it cause it was repulsive...I am so glad they aren't on the charts anymore....

Up to and including Making Movies they were a half decent band with an original guitar stylist who was a refreshing change from both the army of cliched fretw@nkers on the sh*te 70s-80s metal/hard rock scene and the p*sspoor 3 chord merchants to be found in 2nd and 3rd division generic punk bands. They began to lose the plot with the proggy Love over Gold and then came the hugely overrated Brothers in Arms which contains among two of the most irritating rock songs ever -Money for Nothing and Walk of Life. Still, there are millions worse.

Just a damn good, tasty band - love the song "Heavy Fuel".

One of the more under appreciated groups. The guitar work is on par with the best. Mark Knopfler's movie scores are very good.

A lot of people like them, but I find them to be boring and generic.

3 Words - DIRE STRAITS AMAZING

They were great for a few albums then conformed to the top 40 world. I know sometimes that is necessary for record companys and sales, but they lost what made them so good in the first place. I did love money for nothing, but besides that song they never got back to the earlier albums like making pictures or their self titled debut.

They schould of had the song Skateaway on the greatest hits album.

Besides Queen, one of the best bands of the 70's, 80's, and early 90's. Knopfler is better than Clapton! Deserving of the Rock Hall? Heck yes!

Dire Straits is a quality band. Mark Knopfler still makes music that is very good but unfortunately no one seems to care. If you liked Dire Straits consider buying some Knopfler CDS. He has put out 3 in the last 5 years.

Great band-great songs and great variety. Sultans of Swing, So Far Away and Brothers in Arms are personal favourites but they have many other classics

Great! if you gonna listen to oldies or 80's gotta try those.

Mark Knopfler's voice and guitar are so unique, so expressive, that even now when you hear his solo work, you just *know* it's that guy from Dire Straits. Dire Straits is one of the few bands that has nearly every song, whether a hit or not, work. The lyrics are good. The guitar is good. The singing is good. The beat is good. This was one of my favorite all-time bands, and I'm still impressed whenever I hear Knopfler's guitar ability.

Another of my all time favorite bands. Very talented, unique sound & songs. Alchemy is absolutely a wonderful album [live], Romeo & Juliet, Private Investigations, etc... listening to it right now, and it is good! Mark's guitar playing is wonderful.

Dire Straits was a port in the post punk, new wave storm that was the late 1970's, early 1980's. Fronted by singer/songwriter Mark Knopfler and his literally singing guitar, the band fought the good fight, almost single handily keeping the pub rock (albeit with a jazzy slant) sound alive. While there are some compilation releases available, their essential full-length efforts are not that numerous, so why sacrifice? The band's 1978 self-titled debut starts out strong right off the bat and features Down To The Waterline and the immortal Sultans Of Swing. The band did suffer a slight sophomore slump with Communiqué (1979); however, this release does include the catchy Lady Writer. Dire Straits bounced back with the more jazzy and excellent Making Movies (1980), highlighted by the singles Tunnel Of Love, Romeo And Juliet, and the early MTV favorite Skateaway. The track list on Love Over Gold (1982) is short. The structure for Love is similar to Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here or Animals, and it experiments with similar extended tracks. Nevertheless, the songs still have a nice pace which belies their length (eg Telegraph Road, Industrial Disease, and the title track). The band ended this amazing run of quality releases with Brothers In Arms (1985) which features So Far Away, Money For Nothing, and Walk Of Life. While I personally didn't like the more commercial sound of Brothers, the popularity on radio and early MTV was (and remains) undeniable. As all of these aforementioned efforts were originally released on lower capacity vinyl, there is a chance that the first four (at least) will be released on a combined compact disk (eg Dire Straits/Communiqué and Making Movies/Love Over Gold) in the near future, and at the very least, they could probably be combined and burned on one 80 minute disk if so desired.

I had a Dire Staits breakthrough this year, realizing they sing two of my favorite songs: Sultans of Swing and Walk of Life. Money for Nothing also is great.

A two-song wonder. Knopfler's vocals sound like a second-rate Dylan imitator, and his guitar work gets very tiresome after listening to three or four tracks. However, better than most of the crap that has been signed to contracts over the past two decades, which is pretty sad when you think about it.

Brothers in Arms - Best album ever

4 songs and over 25 yrs thanks thats all I like but kudos for staying in the biz!

Hey, my favorite band of all time is Black Sabbath.. and even I think Dire Straits - especially the first album and Communique - is some of the most moving music ever put on vinyl or beyond. Highly recommended.

Dire Straits is one of those really good bands that rescued the eighties from being nothing more than a decade of formulaic glam. "Love Over Gold" with its amazing instrumentals, earthy vocals, and sensual overtones has earned its place as a classic rock album. And there's of course Money For Nothing, the hit that helped define the character of MTV in its golden days (my father didn't care for MTV, but I remember us both taking a minute out to watch Money For Nothing). Unfortunately, Dire Straits didn't have the flexibility to make it out of the eighties. By the end of the decade, people felt like they knew what to expect. But what Dire Straits gave us in the eighties has survived in style. Mark Knopfler is now taking his genius down other avenues and has today's music lovers asking, "Hey, who is that guy? Where did he come from?"

When I first heard Dire Straits back in, ah, 1980 - their first LP, I listened to it in darkness on my new stereo system, a beautiful MARANTZ system. This album is still in my collection and the only Dire Straits album I own. I had never heard such music before or probably ever since. The album just tore me up and it was beautifully haunting in parts. The guitar work from Knopfler was absolutely brilliant stuff and crispy clean notes. Their first LP was outstanding and every so often I pop the old vinyl on for sentimental reasons. Very original, classy stuff. For this, I rate them a 5 star...

There’s a brief passage in Dire Straits’ “Romeo and Juliet” that breaks my heart every time I hear it—in the third verse, as Mark Knopfler sings “But I’ll do anything for you,” the piano breaks in over the guitar/dobro accompaniment with a soft, plangent little four-chord riff that crystallizes every ounce of sorrow and desperation in the lyric. It’s that sort of subtly sophisticated touch that makes Dire Straits a great band, and illustrates the depth of Knopfler’s songcraft. His tunes are rarely very sing-able (he writes for himself, after all, and frankly he’s not much of a vocalist) but his orchestrations are brilliant.

Not much of a fan but I'm trying to see how far down I can push Creed.

Dire Straits are a fine band of the 1980s. Two songs that I enjoy greatly from them are "Money for Nothing" and especially the "Sultan of Swing." They are one of the few really good bands from the MTV era.

Who would have thought that a song about appliances could be so damn cool??

Mark knofpler's music is just great! His song writing and bluesy lead guitar is too good! Dire Straits were great as a band.

The Dire Straits are one of my all-time favorites. I absolutely have to own everything they ever recorded, and I really wish they had recorded more. Mark Knopfler's guitar alone would rate 5 stars, and I actually like his vocals. "Romeo and Juliet" is the most romantic song ever; also loved "It never rains", most of the "Making Movies"CD, and almost all of Mark's solo stuff.

Come on, though Knopfler might not have had the most perfect voice in the world these guys sure knew how to play and Knpofler could fill an arena just for his amazing guitar work.

Only like a song or two.

Dire Straits were the only contemporary group that I ever listened to regularly in the eighties. Mark Knopfler's well-crafted songs, bittersweet lyrics and emotive blues/rock guitar are terrific! "Love Over Gold" is one of the best albums of the last twenty years! They had the talent, perseverence and artistry to create stunning music in a rather dismal time period for popular music.

Ok, for me, Dire Straits has one major flaw. They broke up. But Mark has done some awesome work since. Neck and Neck with Chet Atkins. Unbelieveable. Sailing to Philadelphia. I can hear it every single day. But his Dire Straits work, man o man, I was never so excited about a bands new stuff coming out, but for the Beatles, the Stones and the Dead. Thanks for the great music guys. Keep on keeping on.

Now here is a band that really fooled me before I bought their first album. After hearing the infamous “I want my MTV” (actual song title is Money For Nothing), I expected a somewhat typical rock band from the rest of the album. I got more than I expected. I’ve never been a big fan of the distorted wailing and gnashing of guitar strings, so when I heard Knopfler’s clean playing style I was pleasantly surprised. It got even better, when I really got the feel of the blues infused rock sound the group carries. Great musicianship with decent rock vocals makes this group an excellent adder to any music collection.

Mark Knopfler...uh, Dire Straits has a plethora of great tracks. Knopfler's trademark guitar plays a large role in most of these tracks and they are all much better for it. Best tunes: Brothers In Arms, Tunnel of Love, Private Investigations.

Unique sound, great rockin tunes.....when you HEAR a Dire Straits song, you KNOW it's Dire Straits.

Very underrated band and often sneered at for being 'Dad rock' but Dire Straits (or to be precise, Mark Knopfler) have made a lot of great songs.Everyone thinks of 'Brothers in Arms' which is a fantastic album, but 'Sultans of Swing' and the much maligned 'Communique' are both strong albums featuring Knopfler's songwriting ability at its best. Actually think 'Making Movies' is weak in a lot of places & 'Love Over Gold' doesn't have enough on it (although what's there is v.good). Knopfler's guitar playing is always flawless, and he can make a guitar wail and snarl without resorting to distortion, just a brilliant, emotive, often haunting playing style.

I think my favourite tune by Dire Straits was the live version of 'Sultans Of Swing' where after all the vocal parts of the song were completed, you would then hear piano, synthesiser, drums, bass, electric guitar and saxophone all competing against each other and as a result, providing a great few minutes of instrumental music.

Romeo and Juliet as a great tune.

If you like Dire Straits and don't have Making Movies and Alchemy, you're missing out. They're two of the band's best CDs, but a lot of people pick up Brothers in Arms and think that's enough.