Customer Reviews

Sultans of Swing - Very Best of

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I count myself among the biggest of fans of Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler and consider him to be the greatest guitarist of all time (certainly the greatest non-classical guitarist) so on that alone I gave this CD a 5 star score.

I would just mention one potential drawback, that being the editing. Several of the songs, for instance "Money For Nothing", are in their 'single' form, which is to sat edited for time to fit into an FM radio broadcast, therefore, if you really want the whole song you need to buy the original CD. So this is a plug to buy the whole collection. More expensive, surely, but totally worth it.

I am a bit unsure who picked the songs for this CD, but the mix is a bit tilted to newer stuff. I think it might have been improved if a couple of tracks ("Heavy Fuel" comes to mind) had been left out and the unedited versions had been put on the CD.

Of course, this is all quibbling. I still recommend the CD, the sound quality is superb and the mix of old and new makes it an interesting career retrospective (to date). I have seen Dire Straits and Mark in concert several times and "Local Hero/Wild Theme" live at the close of the CD still gives me goosebumps when I hear it.

I was lucky enough to be living in England just outside London in a little town called West Ruislip just down the cobbled streets from the "T" station near the famous "Orchards" pub when Dire Straits released their "Love Over Gold" album in 1982, and the young English couple living in the flat upstairs played it over and over, introducing me both to their good taste in music and the terrific group called "Dire Straits" in the process. Of course, as I think back upon it, I was familiar with their hit "Sultans Of Swing", but never really paid much attention until hearing this terrific album and Mark Knopfler's unbelievably stirring, crisp and innovative guitar solos. Soon I was down at the music shoppe buying all their other albums. By that time I was familiar with their unique and unforgettable sound and also their very introspective lyrics. I came to love all their albums as much as "Love Over Gold", and I was pleased when they recently released this anthology of many of their hits, even including a theme from Knopfler's "Local Hero" movie score.

I really like all the cuts here, from "Sultans Of Swing' to "Romeo And Juliet" to "Lady Writer". In each, Knopfler's distinctive twanging guitar sound echoes in my house till all hours of the morning, along with "Private Investigations, " Tunnel Of Love", and "So Far Away". My own personal favorites here are the live version of "Love Over Gold" and "Money For Nothing". In the time since the band was actively recording in the mid 1980s, Knopfler has become a kind of institutionalized artistic force everywhere one looked, writing soundtrack music for (among other films) "Local Hero" and "Cal", performing both alone and with Dire Straits, and collaborating with other artists, as well. The music here is very and innovative progressive rock, and the electric guitar work literally sings by itself. When I listen to the album now, it is a source of continuing amazement to me that Knopfler could make the sounds that emanated out of that instrument so uniquely animated as he did. The whole band is terrific, and it is sad that they made so few albums before internal frictions broke them apart. Enjoy this and their other wonderful albums. Dire Straits made an indelible stamp on modern rock that I am sure you will find entertaining and entrancing. Enjoy!

Dire Straits was made great by Mark Knopfler's relentless pursuit of technical guitar excellence and mastery of the subtleties of the English language. Great music AND meaningful lyrics--an increasingly rare breed these days!

This is a wonderful compilation of some of Dire Straits best work, from the raw energy of their classic "Sultans Of Swing" of 1978 to their hauntingly enchanting closer to the film Local Hero, "Wild Theme". Every song is an artistic gem, with layers of meaning to be gleaned only from repeated listens.

The only disappointment here is the exclusion of Telegraph Road, which can be found on the Love Over Gold CD--another classic!

Kudos!

This is the best compilation of Dire Straits ever put together. All those who love Dire Straits and the guitar, will love this CD. Ofcourse a few live songs from LIVE AID 1985 could be added to this album. This CD is truly a tribute to Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits. Its an ever green album.

While this was as good a compilation of Dire Straits as you could find for a time, the recent "Private Investigations: The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler" ups the ante for two reasons. First and foremost, on that 2-disc collection, the Dire Straits songs are included in their full length versions (edited versions are here for "Money For Nothing" in particular), and the live cuts - especially "Love Over Gold" - are replaced with studio versions. Since Dire Straits were always a product of studio perfections and the belief that great things last longer than 4 minutes, losing almost half of "Money For Nothing" just isn't acceptable.

Secondly, the "Private Investigations" set has its second disc devoted to the best of Mark Knopfler's solo career. Since that was madly uneven, it beats his spotty solo albums. Here, "Local Hero" is the only solo track, and again in a live version.

While I have long been a fan of Dire Straits ("Love Over Gold" and "Brothers In Arms" were the two CD's I often used to show off - gawd I'm Getting Old - the brand new CD player and its spanking new technology), "Sultans Of Swing - The Very Best Of" under represents the band. On the other hand, "Private Investigations" leaves off "Heavy Fuel" and the goofy "Twisting By The Pool." That was the first time Knopfler showed off his sense of humor prior to (the also missing) "Industrial Disease." ("Private Investiagtions" also completely ignores the "Communique" album).

I have a few personal favorites here. The shock of hearing "Sultans Of Swing" during the period of all things Clash or Sex Pistols has never worn off. As a calling card of Mark Knofler as new guitar hero, it remains very hard to beat. The Noir detective tale of "Private Investigations" has long affected me, as has the call for understanding of "Brothers In Arms." My personal favorite missing songs are "Skateaway" and "The Bug." But since they appear on neither collection, maybe Knopfler isn't too keen on them, either.

So while you may finds yourself drawn to the more expansive collection, if you're a casual listener, "Sultans Of Swing" will do ok. Just be aware that the two songs you probably most want here are trimmed from their LP versions. If you are really interested in them, starting with the debut album or the still incredible "Brothers In Arms" is an even better bet than this particular Dire Straits best of.

It would of gotten 5 stars but i'm not a huge fan of a couple of the songs such as heavy fuel (not true Dire Straits). However these songs are eclipsed by the legendary songs like sultans of swing and romeo and juliet(top 5 favourite songs). Best compilation created by Dire Straits and lets face it Mark Knopfler is one of the greatest guitarists ever. Definately some excellent music on the CD.

Dire Straits were a very talented band who made some decent music. Unfortunately this collection leaves off two of their strongest songs, "Skateaway" and "Industrial Disease" (three, if you count "Solid Rock") - and even more outrageous is the editing out the second verse of "Money For Nothing." No warning on the label? Big-time cave-in to the evil forces of political correctness!

A better introduction to the band would be to just buy the album "Making Movies." They haven't made a decent greatest hits collection for Dire Straits, and they probably never will :(

Firstly in response to the editorial - 'Communique' is not a dismal record by any means! It may not have fared as well as other DS albums and had no hits so to speak, but it was a good album!
Its a shame that instead of releasing a 2 CD compilation, instead cramming 16 songs onto one CD meant editing so many great songs - 'Money for Nothing', 'Brothers In Arms', et al. More over, this collection has too many annoying live renditions of songs which were superior in their original studio format - 'Love Over Gold' in particular. With the new 'Private Investigations' CD out now (in single and also double CD form), check that one out, or stick to the original studio albums, this is not a showcase of DS at their best. Several tracks including the superb 'Telegraph Road' areis also missing from this collection.

Good coverage of the hits and good sound quality, but two quibbles keep it from a 5-rating:

1. I'd choose slightly different selections (Skateaway and Industrial Disease in particular are missed).

2. Be aware that several songs are edited from the original; especially Money For Nothing which had almost half its length (intro, one verse, trailer) chopped!

I would have preferred the previous compilation (Money For Nothing) with this compilation's sound quality. Oh well,

it's still a good collection, just be aware of the edits, which caught me by surprise.

This remastered very best of replaces the 1988 Money For Nothing. On first glance one quickly notices how similar this compilation is to its predecessor.

It features the same single edits of Private Investigations, Money For Nothing, and Brothers In Arms. Both also seem to reflect the UK in terms of hits singles represented (the above mentioned Private Investigations, Tunnel of Love).

However, one would have wished it reflected the domestic market as well. Though Tunnel of Love is a strongly written track off of Making Movies, I would have much preferred Skateaway which was a hit single. This also neglects Industrial Disease from Love Over Gold as did its predecessor.

Though this does hit all the albums up to the live album, On The Night, Your Latest Trick (live) and Local Hero/Wild Theme (live) are less interesting and could have been dropped in favor of older material such as Down To The Waterline (which was on Money For Nothing).

However, HDCD mastering, the inclusions of hit songs from On Every Street, make this a slightly better retrospective than the one replaced. And since Warner Brothers was supposed to remaster the Dire Straits catalog several years ago as was done in the UK, and hasn't (no surprise there), this is the only way to get remastered Dire Straits.

However, I strongly recommend you track down these remastered imports. Brothers In Arms, Making Movies, and Love Over Gold are worth the effort and sound superb!