Dire Straits:
Love Over Gold
(1982)

"Private Investigations" is one of the best songs recorded by Dire Straits. Just as "Love Over Gold" is their best album. The album topped a golden period for Dire Straits with the greatly successful "Brothers In Arms" to follow. These two albums are probably the keystone in Dire Straits' career. Most of their albums are good, but these two have something special. In the case of "Love Over Gold", it's the way the band have given every one of the five songs space and time to develop its own personality. In fact, at least four of the five songs are Dire Straits classics by now. And the fifth, "It Never Rains" is also really a classic in its own way. But listen to the instrumental side of songs like "Private Investigations", "Telegraph Road" and "Love Over Gold" and you'll understand why this album is the best by Dire Straits. It's from before they got the commercial success they deserved and contains elements you do not find on the albums that followed. The length of the songs is one of them. Another one is not feeling an obligation to be a hit. There's no "Money For Nothing" or "Sultans Of Swing" but instead you get songs that work best when you sit down and listen closely.

Overall Rating (on a scale from 1 to 10):9

If You Like This Artist, Check Out:

Mark Knopfler, Notting Hillbillies, The Alan Parsons Project.

Links To Artist:
About Dire Straits
All-Music Guide (loads of information)