Sultans Of Swing: The Very Best Of Dire Straits (HDCD)

Released October 19, 1998 via Mercury. A career compilation sequenced in chronological order, opening with "Sultans of Swing," the single that broke the band out of the London pub circuit, and closing with live takes from On the Night and Encores. This copy is the HDCD-encoded edition: it plays on any CD player, and HDCD-equipped players decode it with extended dynamic range.

The middle of the disc is where Mark Knopfler's reach shows: the full eight minutes of "Tunnel of Love," the cinematic "Romeo and Juliet," picked on a National resonator, an edited "Private Investigations," and the Brothers in Arms run of "So Far Away," "Money for Nothing," "Brothers in Arms" and "Walk of Life." Several tracks are edits or radio versions, so the long album cuts are trimmed here. Every song is written by Knopfler, with Sting co-credited on "Money for Nothing." The compilation reached No. 6 in the UK and went triple Platinum there.