| Love Over Gold | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Dire Straits | ||||
| Released | 20 September 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 8 March - 11 June 1982 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock, Jazz Rock, Rock | |||
| Length | 40:59 | |||
| Label | Vertigo Warner Bros. (US) |
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| Producer | Mark Knopfler | |||
| Dire Straits chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Robert Christgau | (C+)[2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
Love Over Gold is the fourth album by British rock band Dire Straits.
Contents |
Due to its lengthy atmospheric instrumental passages, the album has been cited as the band's attempt at progressive rock.[4]
"Private Investigations" was released as the lead single from the album in Europe, which reached #2 in the UK. "Industrial Disease" was, instead, the lead single in USA, only reaching #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983.
In 1986, Love Over Gold had sold 4.4 million copies in Europe, whereas the album had only reached gold status in the United States by that stage.[5]
It was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world on Vertigo Records outside the US and in 2000 in the United States. The remastered CD also features slightly altered cover art; the album title is rendered underneath the band name, both in larger type, rather than arranged across the top. The image of lightning is also somewhat zoomed in and made brighter, making for a more purple colour. It is the only remastered Dire Straits CD with altered cover art.
The album was the last on which drummer Pick Withers played.
"Private Dancer", a song originally planned for the album, was recorded by the band except for the vocals. Mark Knopfler decided that a female voice would be more appropriate and handed the song to Tina Turner for her comeback album of the same name.[6]
"The Way It Always Starts", another song written during the Love Over Gold sessions, ended up on Knopfler's soundtrack to the film Local Hero with vocals sung by Gerry Rafferty.
"Badges, Posters, Stickers and T-Shirts" was cut from the album, released in the UK as a B-side, and subsequently released in the U.S. as the fourth track on the ExtendedancEPlay EP.
Many guitars were used by Mark Knopfler on the album, these included four Schecter Stratocasters(two red, one blue and one sunburst), a black Schecter Telecaster, a Ovation Classical Guitar on Private Investigations and Love Over Gold, a custom Erlewine Automatic on Industrial Disease and his 1937 National steel guitar on Telegraph Road. Ovation twelve and six string acoustics appear on the album. Knopfler's sunburst Fender Telecaster, his pair of red Fender Stratocasters, his red Gibson Les Paul special and his Gibson Jazz Guitar were also present at the recording of the album, but it is unknown if they were used or not.
All songs written by Mark Knopfler.
The album spent 200 weeks in the UK Albums Chart.[7] In Australia, the album was the twelfth best-selling album in 1982 and the sixth best-selling in 1983.
| Year | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Australian Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1982 | Austrian Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1982 | Italian Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1982 | Norwegian Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1982 | UK Albums Chart | 1 |
| 1982 | Swedish Albums Chart | 2 |
| 1982 | Billboard Pop Albums | 19 |
| 1983 | Australian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Year | Song | Peak positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US Rock | AUT | ITA | SWI | UK | ||
| 1982 | "Private Investigations" | - | - | 19 | 28 | 4 | 2 |
| "Industrial Disease" | - | 9 | - | - | - | - | |
| 1983 | 75 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Organisation | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| BPI – UK | Silver | 27 September 1982 |
| BPI – UK | Gold[8] | 27 September 1982 |
| CRIA – Canada | Gold | 1 November 1982 |
| CRIA – Canada | Platinum | 1 November 1982 |
| BPI – UK | Platinum[8] | 15 November 1982 |
| IFPI – Germany | Gold | 1982 |
| SNEP – France | Platinum | 1984 |
| BPI – UK | Double Platinum[8] | 5 August 1985 |
| CRIA – Canada | Double Platinum | 12 November 1985 |
| RIAA – U.S. | Gold[5] | 1 April 1986 |
| IFPI – Germany | Platinum | 1987 |
| Preceded by The Kids from Fame by The Kids from "Fame" |
UK Albums Chart number one album 2 October 1982 – 29 October 1982 |
Succeeded by The Kids from Fame by The Kids from "Fame" |
| Preceded by 1982 Out of the Blue by Various Artists |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 11 October 1982 – 16 January 1983 11–17 April 1983 |
Succeeded by The John Lennon Collection by John Lennon |
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