#18: Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

I'm gonna be honest guys, I really love this album. I mean I know I'm trying to stay out of my biases here and I certainly did go into this one treating it like the last two, but the thing is, when I was listening to it I just really fell in love with it again.

It doesn't seem of it's time though, it feels like it's from the 1970s rather than 1985, in fact if it wasn't for the contemporary sound of Money for Nothing or One World you'd be forgiven for thinking it was from the 70s. It's chock full of ballads though, which after the mood established by Money for Nothing and Walk of Life is kind of jarring, and there are so many different styles taken on in this record that it really shouldn't work, but for some reason it does surprisingly well.

There's some fantastic guitar playing on this record though, which if you know nothing about Mark Knopfler is a nice thing to listen to for the first time, and everything has a nice swing to it, a lot of the songs, though rooted heavily in blues, have a nice soul feel to them, and it carries even the slower songs very well.

I think it's safe to say I can recommend this one. It's diverse while still feeling cohesive, it's got one or two bona fide pop classics on it, it's well structured musically, it's just a good album guys. It definitely deserves a spot in your collection.

Next week, #17: Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen.