Dire Straits' spangled guitars and poetic ruminations provide plenty of sparks for other artists to make their own fires. Counting Crows and The Wallflowers pick up and build on the band's rootsy rhythms and Mark Knopfler's warm, raspy vocals. Alt-rockers tap into Dire Straits' gift for morphing from spooky to splashy (The Hold Steady) and stretching out to build towers of melancholy grandeur (The War on Drugs).