[1] So Far Away (Knopfler) - 5:06
[2] Money For Nothing (Knopfler) - 8:24
[3] Walk Of Life (Knopfler) - 4:09
[4] Your Latest Trick (Knopfler) - 6:31
[5] Why Worry (Knopfler) - 8:25
[6] Ride Across The River (Knopfler) - 6:57
[7] The Man's Too Strong (Knopfler) - 4:36
[8] One World (Knopfler) - 3:36
[9] Brothers In Arms (Knopfler) - 6:56
John Illsley - Bass, Vocals
Mark Knopfler - Guitar, Vocals, Producer
Guy Fletcher - Keyboards, Vocals
Omar Hakim - Drums
Terry Williams - Drums
Sting - Vocals
Michael Brecker - Horn
Jimmy Maelen - Percussion
Randy Brecker - Horn
Malcolm Duncan -
Neil Jason - Bass
Tony Levin - Bass
Alan Clark - Keyboards
Dave Plews - Horn
Mike Mainieri - Background Vocals
Jack Sonni - Background Vocals
Deborah Feingold - Photography
Sutton Cooper - Design
Thomas Stever - Artwork
Recorded at Air Studios,
Monserrat. BROTHERS IN ARMS found Dire Straits at the peak of a long
climb in the music industry. After an auspicious debut with DIRE
STRAITS, they stuggled on through personnel changes and shifting
musical tastes. Knopfler's work with Bob Dylan (SLOW TRAIN COMING and
some touring) and the band's appearance at Live Aid helped to keep
their recognition high. This album proved to be the payoff, as "Money
For Nothing" hit number 1, and the second single, "Walk Of Life" also
made the top-10.
Brothers in Arms brought the atmospheric, jazz-rock inclinations of
Love Over Gold into a pop setting, resulting in a surprise
international best-seller. Of course, the success of Brothers in Arms
was helped considerably by the clever computer-animated video for
"Money for Nothing," a sardonic atttack on MTV. But what kept the
record selling was Knopfler's increased sense of pop songcraft --
"Money for Nothing" had an indelible guitar riff, "Walk of Life" is a
catchy uptempo boogie variation on "Sultans of Swing," and the melodies
of the bluesy "So Far Away" and downtempo Everly Brothers-style "Why
Worry" were wistful and lovely. Dire Straits had never been so concise
or pop-oriented, and it wore well on them. Though they couldn't
maintain that consistency through the rest of the album -- only the
jazzy "Your Latest Trick" and the flinty "Ride Across the River" make
an impact -- Brothers in Arms remains one of their most focused and
accomplished albums and, in its succinct pop sense, it is distinctive
within their catalog.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide
5 Stars - Indispensable - "...the commercial and artistic
culmination....repeated listening reveals it as [a] singularly
melancholic collection...where joy is as sharp as sorrow..."
Q Magazine 7/96, p.141
"The reality is that 'Brothers' is an exception to Dire Straits' sound.
A delightful exception, to be sure, and one that turned the band into a
multiplatinum superact."
ROLLING STONE ALBUM GUIDE ****1/2
Mit Mark Knopflers intelligenten Songs, seinem rauhen Gesang und seinem
feingesponnenen Gitarrenspiel räumten Dire Straits die
anfängliche Skepsis beiseite, die ihnen, mit ihrem Widerstand
gegen den New Wave der 70er und ihrem Beharren auf gewachsenen
Traditionen, entgegengebracht wurde. Auf diesem Album aus dem Jahre
1985 entwickelt die Band einen weitaus epischeren Stil, als ihn die
kompakten Shuffles und Balladen aufwiesen, die jenes
zusammengestoppelte Quartett in früheren Zeiten ablieferte. Ein
Umstand, der wohl damit zu tun hatte, daß das Medium "CD" ihren
Ambitionen mehr Raum bot. Brothers in Arms war eines der ersten Alben,
das sich die längere Spielzeit der CD zunutze machte, es erschien
ursprünglich in zwei unterschiedlichen Fassungen, einer
CD/Kassettenversion und einer gekürzten LP-Ausgabe. Eine von der
CD-Industrie gesponserte Welttournee machte die Band zum
Aushängeschild des digitalen Zeitalters. Die Kritiker, die der
Band einst wohlgesonnen waren, mokierten sich zwar über diese
Marketingkampagne, aber Brothers in Arms wurde zu ihrem bekanntesten
Album, hauptsächlich wegen des MTV-Dauerbrenners "Money for
Nothing" und des luftigen Rock-Shuffle "Walk of Life", aber auch
aufgrund des wehmütigen "So Far Away" und der inhaltsschweren
Stories in "Ride Across the River" und dem Titelsong.
Sam Sutherland, Amazon.de
Highfidel unkten die Dire Straits Money For Nothing, lieferten mit dem
Titelstück eine der sahnigsten Rock-Hymnen und schoben als
Digital-Pioniere ganz nebenbei den CD-Boom kräftig mit an.
Here I am again in this mean old town
And you're so far away from me
And where are you when the sun goes down
You're so far away from me
So far away from me
So far I just can't see
So far away from me
You're so far away from me
I'm tired of being in love and being all alone
When you're so far away from me
I'm tired of making out on the telephone
And you're so far away from me
So far away from me
So far I just can't see
So far away from me
You're so far away from me
I get so tired when I have to explain
When you're so far away from me
See you been in the sun and I've been in the rain
And you're so far away from me
So far away from me
So far I just can't see
So far away from me
You're so far away from me
Money for Nothing
Now look at them yo-yo's that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and chicks for free
Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Lemme tell ya them guys ain't dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb
We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV's
See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy that's his own hair
That little faggot got his own jet airplane
That little faggot he's a millionaire
We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchens deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV's
I shoulda learned to play the guitar
I shoulda learned to play them drums
Look at that mama, she got it stickin' in the camera
Man we could have some fun
And he's up there, what's that? Hawaiian noises?
Bangin' on the bongoes like a chimpanzee
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Get your money for nothin' get your chicks for free
We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV's, Lord
Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and your chicks for free
Money for nothin' and chicks for free
Walk of Life
Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby What I Say
Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah, the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day
He do the song about the sweet lovin' woman
He do the song about the knife
He do the walk, he do the walk of life
Here comes Johnny and he'll tell you the story
Hand me down my walkin' shoes
Here come Johnny with the power and the glory
Backbeat the talkin' blues
He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah, the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day
He do the song about the sweet lovin' woman
He do the song about the knife
He do the walk, he do the walk of life
Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby What I Say
Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah the boy can play
Decidation devotion
Turning all the night time into the day
And after all the violence and double talk
There's just a song in the trouble and the strife
You do the walk, you do the walk of life
Your Latest Trick
All the late night bargains have been struck
Between the satin beaus and their belles
And prehistoric garbage trucks
Have the city to themselves
Echoes roars dinosaurs
They're all doing the monster mash
And most of the taxis and the whores
Are only taking calls for cash
I don't know how it happened
It all took place so quick
But all I can do is hand it to you
And your latest trick
My door was standing open
Security was laid back and lax
But it was only my heart got broken
You must have had a pass key made out of wax
You played robbery with insolence
And I played the blues in twelve bars down Lover's Lane
And you never did have the inteligence to use
The twelve keys hanging off my chain
I don't know how it happened
It all took place so quick
But all I can do is hand it to you
And your latest trick
Now it's past last call for alcohol
Past recall has been here and gone
The landlord finally paid us all
The satin jazzmen have put away their horns
And we're standing outside of this wonderland
Looking so bereaved and so bereft
Like a Bowery bum when he finally understands
The bottle's empty and there's nothing left
I don't know how it happened
It was faster than the eye could flick
But not all I can do is hand it to you
And your latest trick
Why Worry
Baby I see this world has made you sad
Some people can be bad
The things they do, the things they say
But baby I'll wipe away those bitter tears
I'll chase away those restless fears
That turn your blue skies into grey
Why worry, there should be laughter after the pain
There should be sunshine after rain
These things have always been the same
So why worry now
Baby when I get down I turn to you
And you make sense of what I do
I know it isn't hard to say
But baby just when this world seems mean and cold
Our love comes shining red and gold
And all the rest is by the way
Why worry, there should be laughter after pain
There should be sunshine after rain
These things have always been the same
So why worry now
Ride Across the River
I'm a soldier of freedom in the army of man
We are the chosen, we're the partisan
The cause it is noble and the cause it is just
We are ready to pay with our lives if we must
Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side
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
Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side
Nothing gonna stop them as the day follows the night
Right becomes wrong, the left becomes the right
And they sing as they march with their flags unfurled
Today in the mountains, tomorrow the world
Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side
The Man's too Strong
I'm just and ageing drummer boy
And in the wars I used to play
And I've called the tune
To many a torture session
Now they say I am a war criminal
And I'm fading away
Father please hear my confession
I have legalised robbery
Called it a belief
I have run with the money
And hid like a theif
I have re-written history
With my armies and my crooks
Invented memories
I did burn all the books
And I can still hear his laughter
And I can still hear his song
The man's too big
The man's too strong
Well I have tried to be meek
And I have tried to be mild
But I spat like a woman
And sulked like a child
I have lived behind walls
That have made me alone
Striven for peace
Which I have never known
And I can still hear his laughter
And I can still hear his song
The man's too big
The man's too strong
Well the sun rose on the courtyard
And they all did hear him say
'You always were a Judas
But I got you anyway
You may have got your silver
But I swear upon my life
Your sister gave me diamonds
And I gave them to your wife'
Oh father please help me
For I have done wrong
The man's too big
The man's too strong
One World
Can't find no sleeves for my records
Can't get no laces for my shoes
Can't get no fancy notes
On my blue guitar
Can't get no antidote for blues
Can't find the reasons for your actions
Or I don't much like the reasoning you use
Somehow your motives are impure
Or somehow I can't find the cure
Can't find no antidote for blues
They say it's mostly vanity
That writes the plays we act
They tell me that's what everybody knows
There's no such thing as sanity
And that's the sanest fact
That's the way the story goes
Can't get no remedy on my TV
There's nothing but the same old news
They can't find a way to be
One world in harmony
Can't get no antidote for blues
Brothers in Arms
These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arm
Through these fields of destruction
Baptism of fire
I've watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms
There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms