I've always been inclined to believe that the release of this record coincidentally with the continued rise of MTV (despite the scathing message contained in Money for Nothing) and the widespread adoption of compact discs made this album far more popular than it otherwise might have been. It's a solid record, but I was stunned to see it turn Dire Straits into a huge act.
While visiting a friend for a weekend way out near Kingston back in 1986, or so, I was surprised to discover that her father had a copy of this record on cassette. When the previous generation likes your music, it makes you pause to think. I wondered if it was uncool to like Dire Straits. Perhaps the band had jumped the shark? Anyway, her father popped in the cassette on a drive to a restaurant, but it was on side two, and he complained that he needed to flip the tape to hear the "good tunes." I've always preferred side two. Brothers in Arms, the title track, is awesome, for example.
Some tracks on the LP are shorter than the CD and cassette versions, which I suppose is understandable, given the limited space, but they really should have released this as a double record.
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