Home · Albums · Dire Straits · Dire Straits

Dire Straits 1978
Album · by Dire Straits ↗ View artist

Dire Straits

When Dire Straits released their self-titled debut album in 1978, the music scene was dominated by punk. However, this work presented itself as a more restrained, almost pub-rock offering that, against all odds, managed to make its way. Much of this success was due to the voice and singing style of Mark Knopfler, with a style reminiscent of Chuck Berry and Bob Dylan, and to the song "Sultans of Swing," which became a major hit. Knopfler's lyrics transport us to London's nightlife, but also explore themes such as invisibility in the art world, the usefulness of a sharp object, or the dynamics of a relationship. This debut album proved to be one of the band's most solid and enduring throughout their career.

Year
1978
Songs
9
Duration
41 min 55 seg
Listen to the album ★

9 song|s

Song list

# Title Available ⏱
01

Down to the Waterline

4:03
02

Water of Love

5:27
03

Setting Me Up

3:20
04

Six Blade Knife

4:13
05

Southbound Again

3:00
06

Sultans of Swing

5:49
07

In the Gallery

6:17
08

Wild West End

4:42
09

Lions

5:04

About the album

Dire Straits, according to DoReSol

For this album, Dire Straits gathered much of their repertoire, drawing on demos they had recorded themselves. Songs like "Move It Away," "Real Girl," and "Me & My Friends" were left out of the final cut, as was a rendition of "Nadine," a Chuck Berry classic. It is interesting to note that a song like "What's The Matter, Baby?", written by Mark and David Knopfler, was performed during the album's promotion, although its official release would come later, in 1995, on the album Live at the BBC. The cover art image comes from a painting by Chuck Loyola.

The album underwent a remastering process and was reissued along with the rest of the Dire Straits catalog in 1996 in most of the world, and specifically on September 19, 2000, in the United States. A peculiarity of the original edition of "Sultans of Swing" was that it featured a slightly shorter version, omitting the final seconds of the guitar solo, but the full version was included in the remastered editions. Curiously, some cassette versions reversed the order of the sides, and on the French edition, songs like "Down to the Waterline" and "Wild West End" were even swapped to balance playback time.

Discography

More from Dire Straits

See all →
Brothers in Arms 1985

Brothers in Arms

9 song|s