There’s some albums you just want to keep buying. Dire Straits’ 1985 long-player “Brothers in Arms” is, for me, one of them. There’s just something about this record. It was played a great deal back in 1985,
Over the years I’ve bought various editions, the most exciting of which – until now – was probably the Super Audio CD from 2005, which had the album mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound. But there have also been Mobile Fidelity editions and the 2LP half-speed master from 2021.
Of course, the success of “Brothers In Arms” was helped considerably by the clever computer-animated video for “Money For Nothing,” a sardonic attack on MTV. But what kept the record selling was Mark Knopfler’s increased sense of pop song-craft… “Money for Nothing” had an indelible guitar riff, “Walk Of Life” is a catchy up-tempo boogie variation on “Sultans Of Swing,” and the melodies of the bluesy “So Far Away” and the down-tempo, Everly Brothers-style “Why Worry” were wistful and lovely.
With the above in mind, 40 years after the album first came out, it’s somewhat surreal to be involved in the 40th anniversary. Universal Music Recordings and Dire Straits have collaborated with SDE to bring you an exclusive blu-ray audio edition which features a Dolby Atmos Mix of “Brothers in Arms” by Guy Fletcher, who was of course ‘in’ Dire Straits and still works closely with Mark Knopfler to this day. The blu-ray also includes the old 5.1 mix, both stereo mixes (CD and vinyl versions) and most interestingly, for the first time, an instrumental version of the album, which is also in Atmos.
The deluxe LP and CD issues feature a full live show that the band performed in San Antonio as part of the band’s Live In 85′ Tour.
The blu-ray is released next week, alongside 3CD and new vinyl editions On May 16th, “Brothers In Arms” will be reissued on single LP vinyl, 5LP Deluxe, and 3CD Deluxe editions, plus a super deluxe Blu-Ray edition.
The Fat Angel Sings 