Dire Straits Celebrate ‘Brothers In Arms’ 40th Anniversary With Deluxe Reissue

One of the biggest albums of all time is coming home in style. Dire Straits’ landmark 1985 album Brothers In Arms celebrates its 40th anniversary this May, and the band is marking the occasion with a very special reissue. On May 16, Brothers In Arms will be reissued on single LP vinyl, 5LP Deluxe, and 3CD Deluxe editions, plus a super deluxe Blu-Ray edition.

First released in May 1985, Brothers In Arms was a global smash, quickly becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. After emerging from the UK pub scene in 1977, Dire Straits had their first real breakthrough with their 1978 self-titled album and its single “Sultans Of Swing.” However, nothing could prepare them for the runaway success of Brothers In Arms, which has sold over 30 million copies and has been certified 40x Platinum in the United Kingdom.

The new reissue of Brothers In Arms single LP is the first time it has been released in this configuration since its debut, with subsequent issues trimming the runtime of “So Far Away,” “Money For Nothing,” “Your Latest Trick,” and “Why Worry” to fit the parameters of the record. 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. Both also feature a 16-page booklet featuring liner notes and interviews with band members Mark Knopfler, John Illsley, and Guy Fletcher. The Blu-Ray edition packs in the 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix, 2023 Dolby Atmos Mix Instrumentals, 2005 5.1 mix, CD version stereo mix, and 1985 vinyl version stereo mix into a single disc, plus exclusive liner notes from Fletcher.

Led by singer-songwriter, composer, and producer Mark Knopfler, Brothers In Arms is one of the defining albums of the MTV era, with single “Money For Nothing” receiving significant play on the channel with its computer-generated video, one of the first of its kind. Incorporating the iconic “I want my MTV” slogan (via some guest vocals from Sting) into the track was just icing on the cake—the track topped the Billboard Hot 100, and won the VMA for Video Of The Year.

“I’m proud of those songs. I wrote them and I’ll still play them. They’re signposts for people’s lives. If I play Brothers In Arms, you better believe it means so much to people,” Knopfler told Louder in 2024. “These songs walked away from me long ago. They belong to you now. I feel very privileged to be able to play them for people.”

Order the 40th anniversary edition of the Dire Straits album Brothers In Arms now.