Communiqué
by Dire Straits

Communiqué by Dire Straits
Year: 1979
Release date: 1979-06-05
Overall rank: 2,005th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 313 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1979 (40th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (364th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,005th)

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Product Details
Availability

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Dire Straits - Communique (CD, 1979)
Condition: Very Good


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Dire Straits - Communique [2LP, 45 RPM] NEW Sealed Vinyl LP Album
Condition: New


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DIRE STRAITS COMMUNIQUE VERTIGO RECORDS CD 696A
Condition: Very Good


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Dire Straits bestography

Communiqué is ranked 5th 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 7,020.

Dire Straits album bestography « Higher ranked (639th)
Dire Straits
This album (2,005th)
Communiqué
Lower ranked (2,554th) »
Alchemy

(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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Communiqué rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,005th | 1970s rank: 364th | 1979 rank: 40th

Communiqué collection

Communiqué ratings

Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 313 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 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 313 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 
05/11/2026 04:23 emnasut  Ratings distribution  15387/100
 
35/100
 
04/30/2026 17:09 Pavloss  Ratings distribution  47650/100
 
80/100
 
04/21/2026 02:58 Skerns  Ratings distribution  5,09180/100
 
85/100
 
04/10/2026 03:37 RetoK  Ratings distribution  10276/100
 
75/100
 
02/22/2026 16:17 markl73  Ratings distribution  60578/100

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 8% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.0/100, a mean average of 74.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 75.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.6.

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Communiqué comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 19 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:  
70/100
From 01/10/2025 20:48 | #306897
I think this is my favourite album of their's. Follow Me Home is my top track.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/08/2023 13:54 | #299868
I like this
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
40/100
From 04/24/2023 05:43 | #296344
Second track is the best on the album ?
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 09/18/2022 13:14 | #289750
Solid enough album with the Once Upon A Time In the West and Portobello Belle the standout for me
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 06/28/2021 12:26 | #271116
Underrated masterpiece. My favourite studio album of Dire Straits
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/04/2021 11:06 | #270358
A masterful album, some exquisite touches, cool cruisey rhythms, good hooks and sublime sounds. I bought this on cassette tape in my penultimate year of high school, was one of my high rotate albums that year, most enjoyed very late Sunday evening as wind down/chillax, head phones on! Tape got mangled a long time ago, so listening again over 40 years later on Spotify and thanks to BEA for getting me to rethink what ARE great albums and redisco er again old treasures. This album is not as raw or perhaps quite as exciting as the debut album, nor as popular with big hits as later albums, but this album is consistently good, very high quality and perhaps a bridge between 1st and later. Probably a good reason Knopfler and Pickett were invited to play on Dylan's A Slow Train Coming later that year
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 01/03/2021 22:31 | #263786
Probably my favourite Dire Straits album - certainly the one I play the most. I could never understand why it was less revered than their other offerings.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 05/15/2020 06:53 | #251452
To me, their best album. Captures them at the turning point between raw and a product.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/21/2020 22:04 | #248969
Some shite written about this one on here. Anyways, I never thought I thought I'd get back into listening to these. This and the debut are sounding fantastic to me at the moment. Got both on recent repress vinyl and wonderful jobs have been made with both. You can't can't beat sitting back late at night with a drink and this or the debut bon the rekid player. Not fussed about anything else they did nowadays but they'd already nailed it with those two anyways.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/11/2018 04:59 | #224282
Nice, mostly mellow second album by Mark Knopfler and the boys. Great album to relax to. Mr. Knopfler's guitar work is extraordinary on this one. Pick this one up if you're a fan of Dire Straits or Mark's wonderful playing.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1979
1. London Calling by The Clash
2. The Wall by Pink Floyd
3. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division
4. Fear Of Music by Talking Heads
5. Off The Wall by Michael Jackson
6. Breakfast In America by Supertramp
7. Entertainment! by Gang Of Four
8. Highway To Hell by AC/DC
9. Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
10. Reggatta De Blanc by The Police