#156
May 13 1985
Dire Straits
Brothers in Arms
Genre: Rock
3.25 out of 5
Highlights:
So Far Away
Money for Nothing
Walk of Life
First things that come to mind here are that, first off, I recall my brother, who had a state of the art CD player before I had even seen a CD (and he had insertable magazines that were preprogrammed to play certain orders depending on which magazine was inserted), had this on disc. It was supposed to be one of the highest rated digital recordings at the time.
The other memory is that facocta computer generated video.
So, with all this attention to computer presentation how is the album as a whole?
It starts off with a monster assault. Lulling us into comfort with “So Far Away”, then “Money for Nothing” is perfect. It’s so fucking snotty. The personae who are the narrators are portrayed as lunkheads who condescend to the rich musicians they see on MTV. In a way Knopfler is mocking the viewers AND the performers that MTV made famous. It might be the best song of the era.
“Walk of Life” is like an upbeat version of what Bruce Springsteen would try in a couple years on Tunnel of Love, it’s a simple rock tune elevated by a calliope of keys and bounce.
But it all gets so noodle flabby around the middle. It’s as though, on “Why Worry” he’s almost daring us to fall asleep, challenging us not to pick up that newly purchased remote and move on to the next song. Interesting move, Mark.
And it doesn’t pick up. It’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO boring.
Ambient dullness that won a bunch of Grammys.
Any goodwill built up by the opening is lost by the time the album gets close to being interesting again. “The Man’s Too Strong” tried to pick it up but it’s crushed under the weight of that responsibility and “One World” really isn’t any good. And the title track is like a long lost Roger Waters song, equally slow and plodding.
What a letdown this was.
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