Album #279: Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

By Dire Straits (1985)

Brothers in Arms on 1001albumsgenerator

I want this to be a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Like Sgt. Pepper (Album #277, an easy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐), it was my way in to a band I still like. Brothers in Arms doesn't stand up as well. I'm not sure that any Dire Straits album belongs on a list of albums you must hear, but if any does it's not this one.

Money for Nothing is heavily overplayed, but here with the full intro, it still works. Likewise Brothers in Arms is a classic (if overly 80s) Dire Straits track. But all of the good points are drowned in synth or sharp 80s production that does it no favours. Looking back to The Sultans of Swing, Tunnel of Love, Telegraph Road, they work because they feel tight - a talented band supporting an incredible guitarist. Brothers in Arms feels like a stab at something different, a real pop album, with... SAX and hey why don't we try slapping a zydeco-esque synth on top of this otherwise mediocre track?

That sounds anti-zydeco. It's not. Straightforward Zydeco is excellent - but Walk of Life's accordionish synth stabs do a poor job of simulating it. It's as off-putting as it is on Graceland. Far from feeling like a tribute to, or introduction for an unfamiliar audience, it feels like an ingredient added to try to spice up something that otherwise just doesn't work. And that's a whole paragraph on the part that ruins just one song in the saggy middle. The Man's Too Strong has a similarly off-putting synth that sounds like someone asked what 'Epic' sounded like, and when with the first attempt.

Where I gave Sgt. Pepper a full marks - which for me means it probably does belong on a list of albums everyone should hear once - Brothers in Arms just doesn't. It's just not consistent enough. Dire Straits on the other hand would definitely feature in my 'Bands who could have an incredible Best Of album'.

Rating

⭐⭐⭐

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