Dire Straits’ ‘Brothers In Arms,’ Mark Knopfler’s ‘Local Hero’ For Half-Speed Vinyl

UMC/EMI have announced the March 19 release of half-speed vinyl masters of Dire Straits’ immortal 1985 album Brothers In Arms, and Mark Knopfler’s revered soundtrack to Bill Forsyth’s 1983 movie Local Hero.

Both albums have been remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. They will be available on 180gsm black vinyl with a series branded obi-strip and a certificate of authenticity from Abbey Road Studios. The double vinyl Brothers In Arms will have a full colour outer sleeve with printed inner sleeves; Local Hero will have a full colour outer sleeve with a facsimile of the original artwork.

The massively successful Brothers In Arms was Dire Straits’ fifth studio album. It went on to be one of the biggest-selling releases in recording history, with ten-times platinum status in the UK (the first record ever to achieve such status) and nine-times platinum in the US alone. It included the hits “Money For Nothing,” “Walk Of Life,” “So Far Away,” “Brothers In Arms” and “Your Latest Trick,” and won a BRIT Award for Best British Album and a Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The 20th Anniversary Edition also won a Grammy for Best Surround Sound Album.

Two years before the arrival of Brothers In Arms, Knopfler’s score for Local Hero became his first film soundtrack and his first release in his own name. It includes the memorable film theme “Going Home,” which to this day is played before every home game at the songwriter-guitarist’s home town football club Newcastle United. An acclaimed musical of the story, with new music and lyrics by Knopfler, opened at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre in 2019; its planned arrival on the London stage last year was delayed by coronavirus, and performances are now planned for 2022.

The half-speed vinyl masters of Brothers In Arms and Local Hero are released on March 19. Pre-order them here.

Listen to the best of Mark Knopfler on Apple Music and Spotify.