Dire Straits
by Dire Straits

Album
Dire Straits by Dire Straits
Year: 1978
Release date: 1978-06-09
Overall rank: 656th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 660 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1978 (11th)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (144th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (656th)

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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 224 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 6,878.

Dire Straits album bestography « Higher ranked (656th)
Dire Straits This album (656th)
Dire Straits Lower ranked (2,016th) »
Communiqué

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

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Dire Straits track list

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

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (860 - 167 votes)
Down To The Waterline
Average Rating: 86 (167 votes)Comments: View 2
2.
Water Of Love
Average Rating: 81 (129 votes)Comments: View 1
3.
Setting Me Up
Average Rating: 76 (112 votes)Comments: View 0
4.
Six Blade Knife
Average Rating: 78 (121 votes)Comments: View 2
5.
Southbound Again
Average Rating: 76 (113 votes)Comments: View 0
6.
Track pick (920 - 395 votes)
Sultans Of Swing
Average Rating: 92 (395 votes)Comments: View 7
7.
In The Gallery
Average Rating: 78 (116 votes)Comments: View 0
8.
Wild West End
Average Rating: 78 (116 votes)Comments: View 0
9.
Lions
Average Rating: 77 (115 votes)Comments: View 0

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Dire Straits rankings

Dire Straits rankings summary
Overall rank: 656th | 1970s rank: 144th | 1978 rank: 11th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 2 hours ago)

Dire Straits collection

Dire Straits ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 660 votes)
  Ratings distribution 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 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 660 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 !		5 hours ago Steinerik  Ratings distribution  788/100
 
80/100
 !		09/18/2026 09:08 Timooosterink  Ratings distribution  90972/100
 
85/100
 !		07/23/2026 02:08 stryker700  Ratings distribution  29590/100

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 78.4/100, a mean average of 77.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.5.


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Dire Straits favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 109 members

abbolton
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Dire Straits forum mentions

This album has been referenced 69 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 07/08/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5367): By borninhockeytown
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ) 1. by by (1974) 3. (1989) 4. by (2015) 5. by (1973) 6. by (2005) 8. by (2003) 9. by (1986) 10. by (1966) 11. by (2005) 12. by (2016) 13. (1996) 14. by by (1968) 16. (1977) 17. by (1987) 18. by (2024) 19. by by (1996) 21. by (1993) 23. by…”
View forum post →

From matterhornrider 06/09/2026 15:24 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
“Release date: 1978-06-09 (48th Year Anniversary)”
View forum topic (10 mentions) →

From BestEverAlbums 08/04/2025 20:00 in Album of the day (#5342): Dire Straits by Dire Straits
“Today's album of the day Dire Straits by Dire Straits ( | ) Year: 1978. Country: Overall rank: 617 Average rating: 78/100 (from 635 votes). Tracks: 1. Down To The Waterline 2. Water Of Love 3. Setting Me Up 4. Six Blade Knife 5. Southbound Again 6. Sultans Of Swing 7. In The Gallery 8. Wild West…”
View forum post →

View all forum mentions

Dire Straits comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 35 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/30/2026 12:43 | #314219
Brilliant… It’s the sort of album that gets just that little bit better every time you listen to it! (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 1
Reply
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. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 1
Reply
Rating:  
15/100
From 03/26/2023 07:39 | #295459
Best track - 7 ? He plays like garage groups of the middle 60s ?? (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 0
Reply
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..... (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
Reply
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/06/2022 17:19 | #289400
Great record (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 2
Reply
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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. Die Mensch·Maschine by Kraftwerk
6. Van Halen by Van Halen
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