I count myself among the biggest of fans of Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler and consider him to be the greatest guitarist of all time (certainly the greatest non-classical guitarist) so on that alone I gave this CD a 5 star score.

I would just mention one potential drawback, that being the editing. Several of the songs, for instance "Money For Nothing", are in their 'single' form, which is to sat edited for time to fit into an FM radio broadcast, therefore, if you really want the whole song you need to buy the original CD. So this is a plug to buy the whole collection. More expensive, surely, but totally worth it.

I am a bit unsure who picked the songs for this CD, but the mix is a bit tilted to newer stuff. I think it might have been improved if a couple of tracks ("Heavy Fuel" comes to mind) had been left out and the unedited versions had been put on the CD.

Of course, this is all quibbling. I still recommend the CD, the sound quality is superb and the mix of old and new makes it an interesting career retrospective (to date). I have seen Dire Straits and Mark in concert several times and "Local Hero/Wild Theme" live at the close of the CD still gives me goosebumps when I hear it.

Dire Straits was made great by Mark Knopfler's relentless pursuit of technical guitar excellence and mastery of the subtleties of the English language. Great music AND meaningful lyrics--an increasingly rare breed these days!

This is a wonderful compilation of some of Dire Straits best work, from the raw energy of their classic "Sultans Of Swing" of 1978 to their hauntingly enchanting closer to the film Local Hero, "Wild Theme". Every song is an artistic gem, with layers of meaning to be gleaned only from repeated listens.

The only disappointment here is the exclusion of Telegraph Road, which can be found on the Love Over Gold CD--another classic!

Kudos!

Best of collections are always easy way to start listening some band or artist, but seldom the real fan of the artist is not getting very much out of those best of collections, if all the formerly published records are already on the CD rack.

This CD is not the usual "the best of" -collection. The real value is on the Bonus disc. Live recording from Wembley stadium is just amazing and worth of buying! I bought this version even I had the same cd without Bonus disc! Live disc contains a legendary live versions of Sultans of Swing and Brothers in Arms recorded in very high quality. You may have heard the live version of Sultans of Swing in Alchemy live, but this is better, extremely professional sound quality and amazing specimen of skill in quitar playing by Mark Knopfler, more feeling, more ambience. Even you are serious fan or just freshman in listening Dire Straits, I really recommend this one. You'll get comprehensive collection of their music with one of the best live recordings ever!

Dire Straits were a very talented band who made some decent music. Unfortunately this collection leaves off two of their strongest songs, "Skateaway" and "Industrial Disease" (three, if you count "Solid Rock") - and even more outrageous is the editing out the second verse of "Money For Nothing." No warning on the label? Big-time cave-in to the evil forces of political correctness!

A better introduction to the band would be to just buy the album "Making Movies." They haven't made a decent greatest hits collection for Dire Straits, and they probably never will :(

It would of gotten 5 stars but i'm not a huge fan of a couple of the songs such as heavy fuel (not true Dire Straits). However these songs are eclipsed by the legendary songs like sultans of swing and romeo and juliet(top 5 favourite songs). Best compilation created by Dire Straits and lets face it Mark Knopfler is one of the greatest guitarists ever. Definately some excellent music on the CD.