Communiqué (Dire Straits album)


Communiqué is the second studio album by the British rock band Dire Straits released on 15 June 1979 by Vertigo Records internationally, Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Mercury Records in Canada. The album produced the single "Lady Writer", which reached #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #51 on the UK Singles Chart. The album reached #1 on album charts in Germany, New Zealand, and Sweden, #11 in the United States and #5 in the United Kingdom. Communiqué was later certified gold in the United States, platinum in the United Kingdom and double-platinum in France.

Recording

Communiqué was recorded from 28 November to 12 December 1978 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, and mixed in January 1979, in New York. The album was produced by Barry Beckett and Jerry Wexler, veteran producers from Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.

Release

Communiqué became the first album ever to enter the German charts at number one in its first week of release, while their debut album, Dire Straits was still at the number three position.
Communiqué was remastered and released with the rest of the Dire Straits catalogue in 1996 for most of the world outside the United States and on 19 September 2000 in the United States.

Artwork

The album cover was designed by Hothouse, art directed by Alan Schmidt with the cover illustration by Geoff Halpin.

Critical reception

In a 1979 review for the Birmingham Daily Post, Jonathan Daümler-Ford called it a "competent record", but wrote that "the songs sound like pale imitations, or the cuts which were not good enough for Dire Straits".
In his retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann gave the album two and a half out of five stars, writing that the second album "seemed little more than a carbon copy of its predecessor with less compelling material."

Track listing

Personnel

Dire Straits

Albums

Communiqué spent 32 weeks on the UK Albums Chart.
Chart Peak
Austria Albums Chart7
Germany Albums Chart1
Spanish Albums Chart1
UK Albums Chart5
US Billboard 20011

Sales and certifications