Heard collectively, these albums suggest that Dire Straits were a far artier band than their reputation suggests, with a subdued sense of adventure that propelled the group throughout its career.ДЄrtiness was not a quality associated with Dire Straits back in 1978, when the band released its eponymous debut the UK was in the thick of punk rock, yet Dire Straits were tagged a pub-rock band.

(Regrettably, the 1983 EP Extendedance Play, with its giddy new-wave single вЂњTwisting by the Pool,вЂќ isnвЂ™t here, nor 1984 live 2xLP Alchemy.) But that modesty helps draw connections between records, tracing the bandвЂ™s growth while underscoring its constant attention to detail. Containing nothing but straight reissues of the six studio albums the group released during its lifetime, the set contains nary a frill. But beneath the digital gleam, Dire StraitsвЂ™ debt to roots rock was evident, particularly in KnopflerвЂ™s mellow growl and clean, deft guitar solos.ДЄ tension between polish and grit was evident from the start, as the 2020 box set The Studio Albums 1978-1991 illustrates. Its novel production-a DDD affair, in the parlance of the times, meaning it was recorded, mixed, and mastered digitally-appealed to audiophiles, and its reputation for sumptuous sound helped make it the first million-selling compact disc. The videoвЂ™s success could be called a fluke, but the album appealed to legions of sophisticates who couldnвЂ™t be bothered with MTV. The network placed the computer-animated video for вЂњMoney for NothingвЂќ into heavy rotation, sending the album into the upper reaches of the charts, a place it would call home for the better part of a year. In doing so, the group acted as the bridge between the вЂ™70s AOR and вЂ™80s MTV, shepherding a transition from faceless arena rockers to flashy video stars.Д«rothers in Arms benefited greatly from MTV. Musicians came and went with regularity during the groupвЂ™s heyday, the cast changing as Knopfler and Ilsley refined their silvery, slithery hybrid of British progressive rock and American country-a curious, improbable fusion that Dire Straits made seem logical, perhaps even inevitable.

Yet singer and guitarist Mark KnopflerвЂ™s fame quickly eclipsed the rest of the band, including bassist John Illsley, the only member who stood alongside him in every one of the groupвЂ™s incarnations. Their 1985 LP Brothers in Arms was a blockbuster on par with Thriller, Born in the USA, and Purple Rain for nearly a decade, it held the title as the best-selling British album ever, before being dethroned by OasisвЂ™ (WhatвЂ™s the Story) Morning Glory?. Take Dire Straits, who were by any measure one of the biggest rock bands of the 1980s. Stats donвЂ™t lie, but the tales they tell can be misleading.

Dire straits album track list