Customer Reviews

Brothers in Arms

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Hi people,
As Rick before me, I find this new SACD version of "Brothers In Arms" very well done. The sound is even clearer than the already amazing original one (recorded in DDD at that time).
Mark Knopfler's guitar sound just like a caress and it is such a joy for your ears. Don't wait and go get it as soon as you can. Good listening and see you at the next show of Mark Knopfler, Dom.

First off, I'd like to clarify that this review is for the SACD 5.1 mix specifically.

To speak quickly about the content of the album, it's a classic plain and simple. There was a lot of fluff that came out of the 80's (not that I didn't enjoy a lot of it) and one may be quick to dismiss this album as just that if they were to know it simply for the famed "Money For Nothing" track. But the content on this album is solid beginning to end, and although 80's synth driven in many respects, it's a complex offering. And don't think synth driven is a bad connotation in my books. It's a product of the 80's where a lot of this technology and the likes was being experimented with, and the sound is fitting; I couldn't think of having it any other way. And in general I mean c'mon, you've got a steel body guitar rocketing up through the clouds to the heavens on the front cover... you know you're in for something good. Most of my review though is to look more at the sonic aspects of this re-release.

I also have the Redbook CD 2 channel version of this album and it is indeed great, but...
This multichannel mix is absolutely shocking.

I have a fairly extensive catalog of DVD-A's and SACD's and everyone goes on about Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon as being some sort of multichannel reference of which all other recordings should be measured. I've heard the DSOTM SACD, and I'm going to have to assume then that all these people have not heard this Dire Straits release.

If you have a good surround setup in which to listen to this recording on, then you are in for a serious treat. Normally very high res stuff runs the risk of sounding hard edged, synthetic, sterile. Even a regular CD runs into these issues. But this recording manages to be highly resolute and warm and full at the same time. It's a very elusive combination.

Ultimately the amount of detail that gets revealed versus the regular CD version of this album, working in conjunction with a very engaging but not gimmicky 5.1 mix, makes for the most compelling argument for a multichannel technique applied to recorded music that I have heard to date.

Fantastic SACD. The 5.1 SACD layer just jumps out at you and comes to life. Instruments are sharp and detailed. Vocals are right in front of you. You have to own this SACD.

From the fun Money for Nothing (socio-commentary on their on business) and Walk of Life to the mournful, heart-hurting Brothers in Arms, this album is perfect. It shows the range of this group. Brothers in Arms has been was used in 1985 for Miami Vice episode "Out Where the Buses Don't Run" - on of the best Vice episodes and then then turnaround and you find it used again in 2002 for West Wing for the post funeral segments of Mrs Landingham's funeral, showing it's timeless appeal.

No one Dire Straits and this album just could not get any better.

I've waited a long time for this album to be available on SACD. The wait was definitely worth it. This is reference quality audio that beats any vinyl in my collection.
I dare you to listen to Money for Nothing and not get chills. The surround mix is fantastic,using all speakers to great effect.
My advice, rush out and buy this one. It may be the best SACD out there.

I know this is the album that really sent Dire Straits on their way to their greatest commercial success, but from someone who has been a Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler fan from the start I would rate this as pretty average, far from their best. Money for Nothing and Walk of Life are good but on the whole the album is not as strong as others such as their first album titled Dire Straits, Making Movies, Alchemy (live album) and Love Over Gold.

From the fun Money for Nothing (socio-commentary on their on business) and Walk of Life to the mournful, heart-hurting Brothers in Arms, this album is perfect. It shows the range of this group. Brothers in Arms has been was used in 1985 for Miami Vice episode "Out Where the Buses Don't Run" - on of the best Vice episodes and then then turnaround and you find it used again in 2002 for West Wing for the post funeral segments of Mrs Landingham's funeral, showing it's timeless appeal.

No one Dire Straits and this album just could not get any better.

I began listening to Dire Straits through my mother 4 years ago when I was 10, the first album being Brothers in Arms. The first four songs were indeed trademarks of Dire Straits (and very good ones too), but the ones which most influenced me were 'Ride Across the River' and 'Man's too Strong'. Listening to Mark Knopfler's husky and deep voice sing the melancholy and intense songs is something to enjoy. I think my favourites are the two above, because of the beautiful lyrics, and the intensity in which Mark Knopfler sings them, especially 'Man's too Strong'. I know it isn't a particular favourite of most people, but I enjoy the old, even ancient theme of 'Man's too Strong' and the rebellious, powerful tone of 'Ride Across the River'. The story of the 'war criminal' in 'Man's too Strong' is really terrific, especially the way 'the sun rose in the courtyard' at his hearing. The fast-paced strum of the guitar accentuates Dire Straits' skill with music and I think they truly achieved something. They don't sing empty words for singing's sake, but sing of real stories or even poetic pieces of writing, the vocals are true and the music does not simply flaunt loud noise or screaming wails, but they parade the joy of music in both melancholic, 'worth-it' tones like 'Brothers In Arms' another favourite of mine, and cheerful boisterous tunes like 'Walk of Life'.
All in all, I admire Dire Straits' fantastic music, and "Brothers in Arms" is another celebration of their beautiful music, one of the albums I most enjoy.

I first bought the original issue of this CD back in 1986. When the remaster version was out, I also bought one as this is a great CD. After comparing the two, I found that the sound of the original version is more natural, and the sound of the remastered version is good, but it lacks the depth of sound which you can feel when listening the two version back to back. From my experience, the remaster version of certain CDs did enhance the sound quality of it, but to this one, the origianl version retains the charisma of the songs, so I gave 4 stars to the remastered version and 5 stars to the original version (which is still available).

Trust Mark Knopfler not to succumb to platitude, regardless where he is and what's going on around him. There they are sitting on the Caribbean island paradise of Montserrat, and what does the man write? Songs about the pain of separation, love gone wrong and The Blues in general ("So Far Away," "Your Latest Trick," "Why Worry" and "One World"), a part tongue-in-cheek, part grating duet with Sting, who just happened to be available because he was vacationing on Montserrat, on an underdog's gripes about rock stardom ("Money For Nothing"), followed by a more upbeat variation on the "stardom" theme (although even there, we are reminded that "after all the violence and double talk, there's just a song in all the trouble and the strife, you do the Walk Of Life") ... and no less than three songs about war and the abuse of power ("Run Across The River," "The Man's Too Strong" and of course, "Brothers in Arms").

Musically, this album is more diversified than Dire Straits' prior studio albums; there's a sax in "Your Latest Trick," "Walk Of Life" has a rockabilly feel, and the instrumentation of "Run Across the River" is inspired by the Caribbean setting in which the record was produced -- but listen to that song's lyrics and see how they contrast with what at first impression sounds like airy island paradise melodies: "I'm a soldier of fortune, I'm a dog of war and we don't give a damn who the killing is for; it's the same old story with a different name -- death or glory, it's the killing game." ("The Man's Too Strong," which deals with a dictator's thoughts upon being brought to trial, is similar in that respect; although the Caribbean sound is replaced by rhythm and steel guitars, with two single guitar riffs, sharp as bullets, accentuating the chorus.) The band also took full advantage of the advances in production techniques available to them at that time. The result was an album that drove home to even the last uninitiated chump out there that Dire Straits were a musical force to reckon with, and that the success of their prior albums had not been coincidence alone. And the SACD drives this home even more forcefully ... (to the extent this is even possible).

Among all the excellent songs on this album, it is the title track which stands out mile-high. From the growling thunderstorm opening, the sad and evocative electric guitar intro, and the first verse, more whispered than sung, through the slow and steady crescendo of the song's intensity to the closing guitar solo, Mark Knopfler's ode about war, in ancient Scotland and today, "civil" and otherwise, is nothing short of a true masterpiece. The interplay of Knopfler's vocals and his guitar. The sole riff introducing the guitar part after the line "and we have just one world but we live in different ones," tearing through the song's fabric like a sore wound breaking open. And of course, the closing guitar solo which completely defies description and makes any attempt to characterize it by words like "haunting" or "dramatic" sound like a shallow cliché.

"Brothers in Arms" was Dire Straits' most successful studio album, and one of the biggest-selling albums of the 1980, thanks to an exhaustive tour and the high exposure its single releases received on MTV. But more than anything, it helped define a decade; musically and otherwise. It has made rock music history, and it will always stand right up there with the best that anybody in the business has ever produced.