Communique
Warner Brothers, 1979
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_Straits
REVIEW BY: Curtis Jones
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 06/20/2013
After a bit of a slow start, Dire Straits' eponymous first album was a success. This made the group somewhat of a rock oasis in a New Wave and disco world. The inevitable follow-up album 
Communiqué was well anticipated internationally, so much so that it actually entered the German charts at number one while their first album still sat at number three. But as with many sophomore albums, the effort fell well short of the first.
It's not necessarily that Communiqué is bad music. It is just very bland. You could turn this record on and listen to it straight though and find yourself drifting, with very few musical moments grabbing you pulling you back into the album. It is also a bad copy of the first album: similar grooves, similar stories, similar gimmicks. "Once Upon A Time In The West" is somewhat catchy, but it’s also very similar to the previous album's opener, "Down To The Waterline." "Lady Writer" was this disc’s lead single, but while the hook is good, it's just a shadow of "Sultans Of Swing." "Angel Of Mercy" is at least a second cousin to "Water Of Love." Sadly, the list goes on and on.
Communiqué is a rung on the Dire Straits ladder and was the close of the early Straits period. The following year's release would bring changes to the band, major developments in lead singer Mark Knopfler's songwriting, and a slight change in sound. Be thankful that it is not 1979 when you would have had to wait for 1980 to go get Making Movies. You can just skip ahead now.
Communiqué was well anticipated internationally, so much so that it actually entered the German charts at number one while their first album still sat at number three. But as with many sophomore albums, the effort fell well short of the first. It's not necessarily that Communiqué is bad music. It is just very bland. You could turn this record on and listen to it straight though and find yourself drifting, with very few musical moments grabbing you pulling you back into the album. It is also a bad copy of the first album: similar grooves, similar stories, similar gimmicks. "Once Upon A Time In The West" is somewhat catchy, but it’s also very similar to the previous album's opener, "Down To The Waterline." "Lady Writer" was this disc’s lead single, but while the hook is good, it's just a shadow of "Sultans Of Swing." "Angel Of Mercy" is at least a second cousin to "Water Of Love." Sadly, the list goes on and on.
Communiqué is a rung on the Dire Straits ladder and was the close of the early Straits period. The following year's release would bring changes to the band, major developments in lead singer Mark Knopfler's songwriting, and a slight change in sound. Be thankful that it is not 1979 when you would have had to wait for 1980 to go get Making Movies. You can just skip ahead now.
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