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 and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. 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. The album went on to sell over 7 million copies worldwide: in Europe, it sold 3.6 million copies, and in the United States it was certified gold in 1979.

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 Phonogram's advertising agency Grant Advertising UK. It won album cover of the year in the NME awards in 1979.

Critical reception
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."

Dire Straits

 * John Illsley – bass and vocals
 * David Knopfler – rhythm guitar and vocals
 * Mark Knopfler – vocals, lead and rhythm guitars
 * Pick Withers – drums

Additional personnel

 * Barry Beckett (credited as B. Bear) – keyboards and producer
 * Geoff Halpin – illustrations
 * Gregg Hamm – mix engineer
 * Bobby Hata – mastering
 * Bob Ludwig – remastering
 * Jack Nuber – engineer
 * Thelbert Rigby – tape operator
 * Alan Schmidt – art direction
 * Jerry Wexler – producer
 * Paul Wexler – mastering supervisor

Albums
Communiqué spent 32 weeks on the UK Albums Chart.