I’ve had access to a car the last few days so I grabbed, almost at random, a bunch of CDs to keep in the glove compartment. The one I’ve been listening to over and over (and loudly) is the untitled first album by Dire Straits. Most would agree that their perfect album was their third — “Making Movies” — but this debut is fantastic, too. The two big hits “Down to the Waterline” and “Sultans of Swing” deserve their place in the classic rock/air guitar pantheon — they never get old. But the lesser known songs, like the funky “Settin’ Me Up” and “Southbound Again” could just as well have been major hits. The ballads toward the end of the album, “Wild West End” and “Lions” are, to quote myself from just last night, “really sweet.”
All kidding aside, if you have this album collecting dust somewhere, dig it out and listen to it.
