STACK #249 July 2025

MUSIC FEATURE

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DIRE STRAITS BROTHERS IN ARMS (1984)

I n the spring of 1984, a battered Jeep ferrying Mark Knopfler crept up the steep hill to AIR Studios Montserrat – Sir George Martin’s tropical stronghold perched above the Caribbean Sea. Clutched under Knopfler’s arm was a pile of demos, including an 8-minute opus that would soon become an unlikely pop juggernaut: Money for Nothing . Dire Straits, then four albums deep, were caught in a transitional tide. Synths were swelling, digital recording was the new frontier, and Knopfler, ever the guitar-slinging storyteller, was itching to evolve. The band’s chosen environment – a volcano-shadowed island studio used by the Police and Elton John – proved creatively catalytic. But it was the arrival of a new toy, the Sony 3324 24-track digital recorder, that truly defined Brothers in Arms ’ sonic DNA. In an era where many artists were sceptical of this push into the future of recording, Knopfler saw its potential. It would provide what co-producer Neil Dorfsman would call ‘a different feel – more space, more polish, less grit.’ Knopfler, always meticulous in the studio, doubled down. Sessions became studies in refinement. He would painstakingly record and re-record guitar parts with forensic detail in pursuit of perfection. The intro riff to Money for Nothing – that slurry, jagged grind – was the accidental product of a Gibson Les Paul fed through a

Laney amp, recorded with mics that had yet to be set up for the day. An engineer heard the sound through the desk and implored Knopfler to leave the mics exactly where they were. Knopfler and Dorfsman’s concept of unwavering precision would also come at a personnel cost. Terry Williams, the band’s drummer since 1982, had already recorded several tracks early in the sessions, but his playing was considered too loose for the vision. Opting to bring in seasoned session jazz player Omar Hakim,

Dire Straits

the stickman reportedly re-recorded most of the album’s drum parts in two days. However, the sonorous, cascading drum intro at the beginning of Money for Nothing was all Williams. Despite the veneer of sleek production

DID YOU KNOW?

The iconic guitar on the cover of Brothers in Arms is a 1937 14-fret National Style “O” Resonator owned by Knopfler himself. The album has sold over 30 million copies. Upon release, it spent 14 weeks at number in the UK. The supporting tour lasted a year, from April 25, 1985, to April 26, 1986, and, incredibly, featured 248 dates. The final show was at the Entertainment Centre in Sydney. The band would also play Live Aid at Wembley Stadium, where Sting joined them onstage for Money for Nothing .

fully digital albums pressed to CD – a timely

and polish, the album’s emotional centre was elsewhere. Tracks like Why Worry, So Far Away and Your Latest Trick hinted at weariness beneath the gloss – an older, more cynical Knopfler surveying a world of war, commerce, and collapsing ideals. The title track, Brothers in Arms , is a haunting hymn, its lyrics shaped by Britain’s involvement in the Falklands War of 1982 and the futility of conflict. The band’s embrace of new tech didn’t stop at recording. Brothers in Arms was among the first

move that positioned it at the crest of the format’s rise in popularity. It became the first CD to sell over a million copies and, alongside Thriller , helped cement the compact disc as the successor to vinyl. Released in May 1985, the album topped charts worldwide. Brothers in Arms remains a landmark album, not just for the potent songwriting and production, but for its grand ambition. It’s the sound of a band stepping boldly into a new auditory frontier.

BACK DECKS ON THE GREAT VINYL BACK IN STOCK AT

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL The Ultimate Collection

BLONDIE Parallel Lines

DURAN DURAN Greatest

XX JULY 2025

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