Making Movies

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A strong cinematic feel soaks the album from the opening "Tunnel Of Love" (featuring a fitting extract form Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel Waltz") which depicts a carnivalesque tale of romance and possible loss through "Romeo and Juliet" and the amusingly playful "Skateaway". The song is filled with romantic projections, though in real life most women would run away from a creepy carnival worker hitting on them. Tunnel of Love was a little closer for me comparing the two but still have the give the nod to this release. Always more about the whole than the sum of their individual parts, Dire Straits demonstrate that while Knopfler is the lynchpin, this record is a true band effort.

After Dire Straits' Communiqué Tour ended on 21 December 1979 in London, Mark Knopfler spent the first half of 1980 writing the songs for the band's next album. He even went as far as getting Springsteen's piano player Roy Bittan to play lots of sweeping arpeggios and big full chords when needed, and at the very beginning of the album is an extract from Rogers and Hammerstein's The Carousel Waltz, a very Springsteenian theme. That 2023 release I have also suffers a slightly noisy sound floor so I suppose it’s a good comparison of the two mixes of that song. With new group members Alan Clark and Hal Lindes on board, Dire Straits embarked on tours of Europe, North America, and Oceania [6] from October 1980 until July 1981 to promote the album.Ask critics what their favorite Dire straits album is, they'll always tell you it's their titleless debut. And the songs are big and dramatic, with crescendos and huge hopeful choruses, and lines like "it's just the danger when you're riding at your own risk/she said 'you are the perfect stranger' she said 'baby let's keep it like this'". You know you're in the presence of sonic greatness as soon as the first few seconds of the opening "Tunnel of Love" pass, as the introductory passage built on organ and piano – new additions to Dire Straits' palette – intertwine with the unmistakable coil-spring twang of Knopfler's guitar.

Iovine had also worked on Springsteen's Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town albums, and he was instrumental in recruiting E-Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan for the Making Movies sessions. Group Has Sold More Than 2 Mil Disks - Dutch Delight In Dire Straits - Dutch Delight in Dire Straits" (PDF).

But whatever will happen in the future, he'll never sound as inspired and brilliant again as on this wonderful album.

Mark Knopfler's songwriting took a significant leap on "Making Movies" as if it were time to try more innovative techniques following two albums.The album sessions continued with Sid McGinnis on rhythm guitar, although he was uncredited on the album. Considered by many fans to be the group's most complete album, the 1980 set witnesses leader Mark Knopfler greatly expanding his songwriting palette and setting his storytelling amidst more complex, involving arrangements. A slightly noisy sound floor on the lead in on side one is the only production issue I noticed, not enough to complain about and hardly noticeable in the songs.

Rolling Stone ranked Making Movies number 52 in their survey of the 100 Best Albums of the Eighties. It’s not a Mofi 45 or UHQR but it’s as good or better than the 33 ⅓ versions that come from those efforts. However, this Mofi does an unbelievable job of separating the instruments to let them all breathe and give them space. David appears on video playing "Solid Rock" and "Les Boys" live in concert, but these performances preceded the recording.The lengthy but wonderful "Tunnel of love" has been a stage favorite for a long time, listen to the wonderful repeating 'Girl you look so pretty to me' chorus halfway through. I've heard the OG US, this MoFi, the MoFi SACD, the 1996 CD, the BG AAA cut from 2010 (same cut as 2014), and the Japanese SACD and the 1980 US is by far the best. The album includes the single " Romeo and Juliet", which reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as “ Tunnel of Love,” featured in the 1982 Richard Gere film An Officer and a Gentleman. The song “Skateaway” has an interesting backing rhythm and actually contains the title words of the album ‘Making movies’.