Not perfect compilation but still excellent

A great starting point if you're not familiar with Dire Straits. This set features all the band's best known tracks, 'Sultans of Swing', 'Romeo & Juliet', 'Tunnel Of Love', 'Private Investigations' and most of the hits from the Brothers In Arms album. 12 songs in all, a few rarer tracks on here too, including a live version of 'Portobello Belle' and 'Twisting By the Pool' from the band's EP released in 1983. A live remix of the epic 'Telegraph Road' is also included, if not on the LP at least on the CD. The downside to this 'best of' is that the tracks from 'Brothers In Arms' are edited, and this set ignores 'Communique' completely apart from a remixed version of 'Where Do You Think You're Going?' that doesn't sit very comfortably with the rest of the album. This appeared before Dire Straits' last studio album 'On Every Street' was released (although that album didn't produce major hits and was probably their weakest). There are many other Dire Straits songs that are worthy of inclusion on a 'best of' set, but this is a much better compilation than the 'Sultans of Swing best of' CD that followed it 10 years later. It would take a double CD to include all the band's best songs in their full-length form, as 2005's 'Private Investigations' demonstrated. Not perfect, but excellent as a career summary of the band from 1978 to 1985 and still an enjoyable listen.Read full review