The first Dire Straits album… This album comes as a no brainer for me with everyone I care about. Mark Knopfler and the boys come out of the gate hot with this release! Showing the world a reason to love the Dire Straits. I’d say that Mark’s twangy finger pickin’ guitar is one of the most identifiable guitar styles I know of, and it provides comfort to me as I prepare myself for some next level storytelling.

The album opens with one of my favorite Dire Straits songs, Down The Waterline, where a sole guitar sounding like it’s being played at the end of a busy hallway introduces the track. Disconnected and alone, until… BAM! The drums and rhythm guitar immediately pull you in. Suddenly you're right in the thick of it, the breakaway from the introduction catapults me into a car driving through the middle of nowhere Nevada. Windows are all down and the sun is beaming, baking everything it touches. While life and time move slow in the outskirts of civilization, your car rockets through, disconnected from the desert and the plains. For me, this whole album provides a sense of taking in surroundings that you ultimately feel disconnected from. If at some point I were to put together some of the best roadtrip albums, you can bet that the Dire Straits would be front and center.

The high energy of Down The Waterline gives way to Water Of Love, a song that feels like it’s taking its time and has no where to be (not in a jam band way, but in a slow moving sort of manner). Knopfler has such a unique delivery in his vocals that feels guttural and in a sense reminds me of how someone might approach phrasing on a guitar. Without a doubt Mr. Mark lands on my list of best guitarists in the book.

My friend Nina introduced me to Wild West End freshman year of college, prior to me listening to the album all the way through. This song takes the cake as my number 1 Dire Straits tune, and makes me feel like I’m flirting with a waitress in a diner off Route 66. I’ve never been to Route 66, but I doubt it’s as picturesque and perfect as the illustration Mark Knopfler paints in this song. One tune with a guitar that I find deeply moving is Six Blade Knife. A simple and straight forward drum and bass (not the D&B) hold down the rhythm as lead guitar embellishes and brings forward a story worth listening to.

My good pals Carte Josh and Z have mentioned that listening to the Dire Straits makes them think of me. I don’t know what I’ve done in this world to deserve such an honor as being associated with Mark and The Funky Bunch, but now any time I hear this band I feel a bond strengthen with two of my friends whom I love dearly.