Private Investigations: The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler is the third compilation album by Dire Straits and Scottish-born British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released in 2005 by Mercury and Vertigo internationally, and Warner Bros. in the United States. Named after their 1982 hit single, the album consists of material by Dire Straits, with songs selected from the group's six studio albums (excluding the 1979 album Communiqué) from 1978 up through the group's dissolution in 1995. It also features work from the solo career of the group's singer, songwriter, and guitarist Mark Knopfler, including some of his soundtrack material. The only previously unreleased track on the album is "All the Roadrunning", a duet with country music singer Emmylou Harris. It was released as a single, reaching #8 in the UK. The United States version omits "Darling Pretty", but adds "Skateaway".

Release

Private Investigations was released in four different versions:

Critical reception

In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek gave the album four out of five stars and praised the 2CD release, describing a 1CD version as "a silly thing at best and a hopelessly frustrating one at worst." He concluded that "This is not only a fine collection for fans because of its wonderful sequencing, but the best introduction to the man and the band that one could ask for."

Track listing

All songs were written by Mark Knopfler, except where indicated.

Single disc version

Two-disc version

Two-disc American version

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications