Dire Straits (studio album)
by Dire Straits

Album
Dire Straits by Dire Straits
Year: 1978
Overall rank: 631st   
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 648 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1978 (11th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (145th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (631st)

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1979 DIRE STRAITS Communique In Shrink Complete W/Original Sleeve US Excellent
Condition: Used

$32.94


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Dire Straits - Live 1978-1992 [New Vinyl LP] Boxed Set
Condition: New

$187.64


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Dire Straits - Money For Nothing [New Vinyl LP] Rmst
Condition: New

$33.98


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Dire Straits bestography

Dire Straits is ranked 4th best out of 16 albums by Dire Straits on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Dire Straits is Brothers In Arms which is ranked number 221 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 7,137.

Dire Straits album bestography « Higher ranked (611th)
Making Movies This album (631st)
Dire Straits Lower ranked (1,980th) »
Communiqué

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Jan
09
Fri
22:00
Last Call: GHENGAR [Soundcheck Closing Series]
Soundcheck, Washington, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Feb
24
Tue
20:00
The Strumbellas - Into Dust Tour
The Loft, Atlanta, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Feb
21
Sat
20:00
Palomazo Norteno
H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, Cedar Park, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Discover more upcoming concerts

Listen to Dire Straits on YouTube

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Dire Straits track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (860 - 166 votes)
Down To The Waterline
Average Rating: 86 (166 votes)Comments: View 2
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2.
Water Of Love
Average Rating: 81 (128 votes)Comments: View 1
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3.
Setting Me Up
Average Rating: 76 (111 votes)Comments: View 0
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4.
Six Blade Knife
Average Rating: 79 (120 votes)Comments: View 2
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5.
Southbound Again
Average Rating: 76 (111 votes)Comments: View 0
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6.
Track pick (920 - 393 votes)
Sultans Of Swing
Average Rating: 92 (393 votes)Comments: View 6
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7.
In The Gallery
Average Rating: 78 (114 votes)Comments: View 0
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8.
Wild West End
Average Rating: 78 (115 votes)Comments: View 0
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9.
Lions
Average Rating: 77 (114 votes)Comments: View 0
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Dire Straits rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 631st | 1970s rank: 145th | 1978 rank: 11th

Dire Straits collection

Dire Straits ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 648 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 648 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 !		12/12/2025 15:14 Siromynian   1,58478/100
 
90/100
 !		12/11/2025 06:02 mash   1,40388/100
 
75/100
 !		12/08/2025 06:27 Exist-en-ciel   4,78070/100
 
85/100
 !		12/05/2025 14:58 Araldo   1,46980/100
 
50/100
 !		12/04/2025 03:46 brent13   1,64971/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.3/100, a mean average of 77.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.5.

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Dire Straits comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 34 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
80/100
From 11/04/2025 22:39 | #311564
I never took much notice of Dire Straits when they were popular as I was a tad anti-commercial music. I owe then an apology. Great album with some top finger pickin' goodness. They deserved the fame and accolades they received.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
15/100
From 03/26/2023 07:39 | #295459
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 12/13/2022 16:58 | #291959
One of the best debut albums, all the tracks are jewels, the guitar is unique.....
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/06/2022 17:19 | #289400
Great record
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 05/30/2022 20:38 | #285824
Incredible album, it has this atmosphere of being drunk late at night in pub. Sultans Of Swing is amazing on its own, but it's even better in the context of the whole album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 01/05/2022 11:41 | #278594
Uno de los mejores debuts de la historia del rock.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
5/100
From 12/31/2021 18:09 | #278274
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -4 votes (0 helpful | 4 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 10/14/2021 15:11 | #274980
a personal favorite since its release.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 08/09/2020 06:34 | #256847
The rating on the tracks of the album is way to low. Their second best imo, I like pretty much every song.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 06/28/2020 18:25 | #254674
Dire Straits' self-titled debut is often labelled as "pub rock". Whoever saw these guys play in a small club/pub/bar/whatever should be considered extremely lucky. Excellent guitar work throughout. I love the combinations of genres; folk, blues, rock 'n' roll, little bit of country. Sultans of Swing is an amazing song, one of my favorites to play on guitar (even if I can't keep up during the solo).
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Buy album United States
Best Albums of 1978
1. Darkness On The Edge Of Town by Bruce Springsteen
2. Parallel Lines by Blondie
3. The Cars by The Cars
4. This Year's Model by Elvis Costello
5. Van Halen by Van Halen
6. Die Mensch·Maschine by Kraftwerk
7. Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
8. The Kick Inside by Kate Bush
9. Some Girls by The Rolling Stones
10. More Songs About Buildings And Food by Talking Heads
11. Dire Straits by Dire Straits
12. Hemispheres by Rush
13. Outlandos D'Amour by The Police
14. 3rd by Big Star
15. All Mod Cons by The Jam
16. Chairs Missing by Wire
17. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! by Devo
18. The Modern Dance by Pere Ubu
19. Real Life by Magazine
20. Powerage by AC/DC
 
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