“Pure manna for a fanbase denied any whiff of a reunion”: Dire Straits’ 30-million-selling Brothers In Arms celebrates its 40th birthday with energised extras

Was it written in the starlight? Mark Knopfler’s Newcastle pub-turned-arena rockers Dire Straits had certainly built a formidable following by 1985, thanks to his brimstone-and-ambrosia guitar playing on debut single Sultans Of Swing and beyond, the breathless melodic beauties of 1980’s Making Movies album and the immersive tonal song-films of 1982’s Love Over Gold. But 30 million sales? The first CD to shift a million? Somehow, above the cramped Caribbean studio of its making, the planets aligned.

Revisiting their behemoth fifth album Brothers In Arms on this five-LP/three-CD reissue four decades on, its era-defining charms still exude the assured, enfolding warmth that first made it such a massive hit with estate agents testing the limits of their Mazdas on the M11.

So Far Away slips down like honeyed malt whisky, subtle and undemanding yet fundamentally satisfying, like the 80s drifting by in fragrant, gaseous form. Walk Of Life still bristles with fairground honky-tonk vivacity; tranquil ballad Why Worry? is rendered even more affecting with the 2022 Dolby Atmos mix enhancing its Mediterranean stillness.

Some tracks are museum-ready now: the shoulder-pad blues of One World, and Money For Nothing, presented in its full eight-minute version and dated by its casual gay slurs and sense of Bruce Springsteen’s Glory Days.

But much has grown rewardingly evocative. Jazz-bar torch song Your Latest Trick, recalling Sade, Arthur’s Theme and Moonlighting. Ride Across The River, their take on Peter Gabriel’s electro-fied world music, telling of Latin American mercenaries, swathed in pan flutes, reggae brass and mariachi trumpet. And the war-themed second half, including the lustrous title track and the dramatic impacts of bluegrass confessional The Man’s Too Strong, recalling a time when arena rock aspired to be a force for global political good.

Key to the reissue’s appeal, however, is the inclusion of a two-hour 1985 live show from San Antonio, pure manna for a fan base denied any whiff of a reunion. Here the likes of Ride and Sultans are energised for the stage, Tunnel Of Love stretches out over 20 dense and driving minutes, and we can revel once more in Knopfler’s acoustic refrain rising balletically from the back end of Romeo And Juliet’s chorus, still one of the most wonderful moments in recorded music. It ends with a euphoric Going Home, but this package feels more like the ultimate arrival.

Mark Beaumont is a music journalist with almost three decades’ experience writing for publications including Classic Rock, NME, The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Times, Uncut and Melody Maker. He has written major biographies on Muse, Jay-Z, The Killers, Kanye West and Bon Iver and his debut novel [6666666666] is available on Kindle.