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Dire Straits emerged during the post-punk era of the
late '70s, and while their sound was minimalistic and
stripped-down, they owed little to punk. If anything,
the band was a direct outgrowth of the
roots-revivalism of pub rock, but where pub rock
celebrated good times, Dire Straits were melancholy.
Led by guitarist/vocalist Mark Knopfler, the group
built their sound upon the laid-back blues-rock of
J.J. Cale, but they also had jazz and country
inflections, occasionally dipping into the epic song
structures of progressive rock. The band's music was
offset by Knopfler's lyrics, which approximated the
winding, stream-of-conscious narratives of Bob Dylan.
As their career progressed, Dire Straits became more
refined and their new maturity happened to coincide
with the rise of MTV and the compact disc. These two
musical revolutions from the mid-'80s helped make Dire
Straits' sixth album, Brothers in Arms, an
international blockbuster. The band - along with Eric
Clapton, Phil Collins, and Steve Winwood - become one
of the leaders of a group of self-consciously mature
veteran rock & rollers in the late '80s that designed
their music to appeal to aging baby boomers.
Despite the band's international success, they
couldn't sustain their stardom, waiting a full six
years to deliver a followup to Brothers in Arms, by
which time their audience had shrunk significantly.
Source:
All Music Guide
Concert photography: © Helge Øverås. Must not be used without permission.
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