I'm a big fan of Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler is my second favourite guitarist of all time, just after David Gilmour. My ranking of their albums is as follows:
1. Love Over Gold - Gets my vote as my favourite Straits album as I love every track (including the less heralded tracks on side two such as Industrial Disease and It Never Rains). Telegraph Road is a total classic and I consider it to be Knopfler's greatest song, with Dire Straits or solo.
2. Making Movies - Another great album - side one is superb, with Tunnel Of Love, Romeo & Juliet and Skateaway being one of my favourite opening sequences on any record. I think it is near perfect for most of its length, and runs Love Over Gold close for top spot, although is let down by the weak closer Les Boys, a track I care so little for I don't actually have it on my iPod.
3. Dire Straits - A strong and generally consistent debut album. Sultans of Swing is the obvious standout here, but there are several other great tracks (Down To The Waterline and the other tracks from side two) and no real weak tracks. I also like the low-key production style, which suits this set of songs well.
4. Brothers In Arms - I can't quite agree with the widely held view that this is their finest album, partly because (although I like them) I don't think So Far Away or Walk Of Life are amongst their very best songs. Nonetheless, this is a very good album, with the title track being the highlight.
5. Communique - I think this is an underrated album and much better than the reviews of it would suggest. The best songs are Once Upon A Time In The West, Where Do You Think You're Gone and Single Handed Sailor. The rest is generally good rather than great, but an enjoyable listen in the vein of the debut album.
6. On Every Street - I think this is their weakest effort by some distance. I really love the title track, especially the powerful outro, but apart from that the peaks aren't all that high and it contains a couple of their worst songs (The Bug and My Parties).