Dire Straits
Making Movies

THE REVIEW

I was twelve years old when my dad first told me about the legendary Dire Straits. Now I'm seventeen, and I'm still thanking him. Especially for that day in the CD section of a big department store, he pointed out a CD on sale with an entirely red cover that went by the name of "Making Movies". I bought it, and it was one of the best purchases I've made since I could buy things. It's not that my dad just liked them, but he already knew how to explain why the Dire Straits were brilliant; Mark Knopfler's splendid guitar, the elegant and poetic lyrics, certain '70s prog inflections (but I discovered this only recently). And I developed a mad crush on them. Which has lasted for six years now. Why? Because in this album, there's genius, poetry, the music of Mark and company.
It starts with "Tunnel Of Love", a sweet love story that begins with the "Carousel Waltz", a sort of twenty-second intro to the track (live, it lasted over two minutes) which then builds and rises into a captivating riff, sweet and powerful at the same time, immediately engaging the listener but not for that reason commercial. The rhythm is quite strong until the sixth minute, then slows down to begin again in a stunning and brilliant crescendo, leading to a series of magnificent guitar and keyboard solos, a divine back-and-forth.
I later discovered that already with this song, there was a clear stylistic departure from the two previous albums, which nonetheless proves to be a great step forward for this group; now Knopfler's country influences are more subdued, and his Stratocaster has more space to express its genius.
Next is "Romeo And Juliet", one of the most beautiful love songs of all time, sweet and sad at the same time, an absolute masterpiece of all rock ballads; with its sweet initial notes, with lyrics that are nothing short of sublime, with its final arpeggio that remains one of the most beautiful moments of all their production, it makes the listener fall in love at first listen. Six minutes of pure poetry. We return to more upbeat and fast-paced sounds with "Skateaway", nice but not exciting because perhaps it lacks that surge we would all expect, and then it continues with "Expresso Love", slightly similar to "Tunnel Of Love", but of a lesser caliber, which is a fine piece of work and we have an excellent live performance of it in "Alchemy".
"Hand In Hand" is sweet but not at all mawkish, rougher than "Romeo & Juliet", and it's a pity we don't have live recordings of it because it’s indeed a good track, and the irony is that it appears as one of the "supporting" tracks on such an exceptional album, while on any other album it would be a leading track. "Solid Rock" is a good, fast, and direct rock song, quite loved by the group, and perhaps it’s the last "cheerful" song by the band (excluding those from "Extended Dance Play"); after this, the songs become more reflective, a bit tougher, and more profound. "Les Boys" is an ironic but weak and skippable track, I expected much more for the concluding track of this album, especially after being moved by all the other six songs.
Flaws? It ends too soon, but it’s ideal for getting to know the Dire Straits and falling in love with them, says someone who's been with them in the tunnel of love for five and a bit years...