Dire Straits' 'Brothers in Arms' Album Broke Records 41 Years Ago Today

Dire Straits were at their zenith during the '80s. They defined that era in rock music. Exhibit A: the British rock outfit released their most commercially successful album, Brothers in Arms, in 1985. The fifth studio album out of six, Dire Straits hit multiple musical milestones, including one that no one in history had achieved.

Brothers in Arms was released on May 17, 1985. On this day, 41 years ago, the album skyrocketed to No. 1 on the UK Albums chart-only eight days after its debut. It spent 14 non-consecutive weeks in the top spot, and eventually peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The record also achieved a whopping 34-week streak at the top of the Australian Albums chart.

The record-smashing for Dire Straits' second-to-last album didn't end there. For starters, it became the first album to reach 10x Platinum certification in the UK. As of writing, Brothers in Arms is the eighth-best-selling record in UK chart history, too.

It also ushered in a new music format era and was one of the first albums to cater to the CD market. The album fully adopted the DDD process (digital recording, digital mixing, and digital mastering), a rarity at a time when artists were still recording on analog equipment. While it's not the first album recorded on a CD, it isthe first to sell one million copies on CD.

Interestingly, initial reviews from UK critics were largely negative, whereas those from US critics were more positive. Rolling Stone praised lead vocalist and lead guitarist Mark Knopfler's "terrific guitar work," noting that it catches "the best light." Retrospectively, the aforementioned publication ranked Brothers in Arms on three versions of its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, with it sitting at No. 418 on the 2020 edition.

Dire Straits' most popular album scored two Grammy Awards: one in 1986 for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and one in 2006 for Best Surround Sound Album for its 20th anniversary edition.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 1:26 PM.