Dire Straits vs the Police

Hadn't explored Straits much.  Unfortunately, the most prominent thing in my head is their pop stuff, but I I know Knopfler is respected for his musicianship as a guitarist. 

The Police however became known and enjoyable enough for me to get their latter albums as well as follow Sting and Summers into their post solo stuff.  Not sure what Copeland went after there.  Most familiar with him coming up from Curved Air and have two of those albums.

I do think Straits is a similarly good band, but am totally unfamiliar and not interested in further exploration at the moment.

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Slartibartfast wrote: Hadn't explored Straits much.  Unfortunately, the most prominent thing in my head is their pop stuff, but I I know Knopfler is respected for his musicianship as a guitarist.   The Police however became known and enjoyable enough for me to get their latter albums as well as follow Sting and Summers into their post solo stuff.  Not sure what Copeland went after there.  Most familiar with him coming up from Curved Air and have two of those albums. I do think Straits is a similarly good band, but am totally unfamiliar and not interested in further exploration at the moment.

If I remember correctly, he ended up writing video game music for Spyro the Dragon.

For me, I have two DS albums and was never really able to penetrate them ... haven't listened to them in a while and don't remember anything other than the singles that a bought them for. I bought a few police albums as well, and while they didn't really blow me away as albums, they had a fair number of tracks that wouldn't be on a greatest hits collection I enjoyed (particularly, Canary in a Coalmine and Miss Gradenko). Synchronicity was my favorite album by them so far. So, The Police by a mid-sized margin.

Same as Drew above

Dire Straits, but only a matterof personal taste.

The Police.  One of my favorite non-prog bands, and I've never much cared for Dire Straits.  While I think Knopfler is a great guitarist, I often thought their music had a sameness to it from one song to the next. 

Blacksword wrote: The Police by a long way. I think they were a more varied, versatile and interesting band. Knopfler was a god awful singer too, imo.

Knopfler's monotone singing/sprechgesang/whatever you want to call it was what gave Dire Straits its charm, although his guitar was his true voice if you ask me. I like his timbre too. He's one of those rare cases of singers getting better as they get older, his voice has got a Cohen quality nowadays.

Strangely enough, I am listening to Brothers in Arms on Last FM now - the track, not the album, which, as ide from this gem, was very ordinary. However, the earlier albums were incredibly inventive and brave in the type of music played at a time when punk was supposedly riding roughshod over all else. They were a very good rock band, and The Police, to these ears, were an average new wave/pop band.

Dire Straits it is.

This Brothers in Arms version was my introduction to DS and always gave me goosebumps (especially the solo). That guitar tone is just perfect.

I dunno much Dire Straits except for the hits which annoy me. The actual album might be ok.
Voted The Police as they are one of the best bands in rock history.

is it Eric Clapton on rythem guitar

very good preformance, one word sublime, and the words Mark Knophler sings are so perfect one of the gratest lyracists in Rock on pare with Dylan, Springsteen Cat Stevans, Waters, Paul Simon and Roger Hodgson