Brothers In Arms
by Dire Straits

From HoldenM 08/27/2026 20:00 | #315850

After an iffy first few tracks, I'm pretty locked into this. Love the instrumentation. Don't care for the lyricism on here much at all.

I think this album is a bit underrated on this site. it has everything that you could want out of an album, and is a very good front to back listen even though it’s a bit top heavy. (Edited)

Shortlisted for album of the year at the 1986 Grammys. The winner was No Jacket Required by Phil Collins (Edited)

The opening 4 tracks and closing track are fantastic but everything in between is pretty much filler and can be skipped out. This leads to a long album feeling even more stretched out than it already is. Why Worry? is a prime example of this as it is great for the first 4 minutes then has a ridiculously long outro that is so unnecessary. After that is tracks 6 to 8 which are all pure filler. You remove those songs and this album is amongst the greatest of all time. Despite this, the group are at their very best on the big songs on here with So Far Away, Money For Nothing, Walk Of Life and Brothers In Arms being their greatest ever songs in my opinion. Those tracks drag me back to this record time and time again as they are that amazing. Overall, a lack of consistency holds back the true potential of this album.

Along with "Making Movies" this must be my favorite album with Dire Straits. Without knowing it it for sure I would think taht it was the group's biggest commercial success; not least by virtue of the five singles "So Far Away", "Money for Nothing", "Brothers in Arms", "Walk of Life" and "Your Latest Trick". Except for the latter, which peaked at number 26, they were all top twenty hits. The album and especially the hit singles were therefore somewhat overplayed in its time. This, unfortunately, has made it a bit of a hate album for some, which is a real shame and very unfair.

As for the individual songs, "So Far Away" is a fine mid-tempo melodic rock song, where Knopfler's vocals remind me a bit of George Young; maybe the track goes on a bit too long, a trend that is repeated on a couple of other tracks too. "Money for Nothing" is a shamelessly catchy rock number, with a perfect guitar riff. The number smoked all the way to the top of the singles charts. "Walk of Life" is equally catchy; a number in rockabilly style; a genre that Knoffler had previously frequented. "Your Latest Trick" is a more jazzy bluesy track with an amazing and memorable saxophone line. "Why Worry" is a quiet melodic song with guitar playing that may lead the mind towards Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac. "Ride Across the River" is one of the album's less memorable tracks, there are some slightly Western / Morricone-like sounds here and there and a special reggae-like beat. "The Man's too strong" is a folkish / Dylanish song with some sudden heavy guitar fill-ins. Also one of the less memorable tracks. "One World" is a pretty ordinary heavy blues rocker. The album ends majestically with the overwhelmingly beautiful "Brothers in Arms" – one of Knopfler's strongest melodies.
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