Diamond Dogs

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For other uses, see Diamond Dogs (disambiguation).
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs cover
Studio album by David Bowie
Released April 24, 1974
Rykodisc Reissue October 16, 1990
Recorded Olympic and Island Studios, London
Ludolf Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands
October 1973 – February 1974
Genre Rock
Length 38:25
Label RCA Records
Producer David Bowie
Professional reviews
David Bowie chronology
Pin Ups
(1973)		 Diamond Dogs
(1974)		 David Live
(1974)

Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel 1984 by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world. Bowie had wanted to make a theatrical production of Orwell's book and began writing material after completing sessions for his 1973 album Pin Ups, but the late author’s estate denied the rights.[1] The songs wound up on the second half of Diamond Dogs instead where, as the titles indicate, the 1984 theme was prominent.

Contents

[edit] Production and style

Though the album was recorded and released after the 'retirement' of Ziggy Stardust in mid-1973, and featured its own lead character in Halloween Jack ("a real cool cat" who lived in the decaying "Hunger City"), Ziggy was seen to be still very much alive in Diamond Dogs, as evident from Bowie's haircut on the cover and the glam-trash style of the first single "Rebel Rebel".[1] As was the case with some songs on Aladdin Sane, the influence of The Rolling Stones was also prevalent, particularly in the chugging title track.[2] Elsewhere, however, Bowie had moved on from his earlier work with the epic song suite, "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (Reprise)", whilst "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" and the Shaft-inspired wah-wah guitar style of "1984" provided a foretaste of Bowie's next, 'plastic soul', phase. The original vinyl album ended with the juddering refrain (actually, a tape loop) Bruh/bruh/bruh/bruh/bruh, the first syllable of "(Big) Brother", repeating insistently.

Diamond Dogs was the first Bowie album since 1969 to not feature any of the 'Spiders From Mars', the backing band made famous by Ziggy Stardust. Instead, Herbie Flowers played bass with drums being shared between Aynsley Dunbar and Tony Newman. In a move that surprised some commentators, Bowie himself took on the lead guitar role previously held by Mick Ronson, producing what NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray described as a "scratchy, raucous, semi-amateurish sound that gave the album much of its characteristic flavour".[3] Diamond Dogs was also a milestone in Bowie's career as it reunited him with Tony Visconti, who provided string arrangements and helped mix the album, and who would go on to co-produce almost all his work for the rest of the decade.

[edit] Cover

The cover art features a striking half-dog, half-Bowie figure painted by Guy Peellaert. It was controversial as the full painting clearly showed the hybrid’s genitalia. Very few copies of this original cover made their way into circulation at the time of the album's release. According to the record-collector publication Goldmine price guides, these albums have been among the most expensive record collectibles of all time, as high as thousands of US dollars for a single copy. The genitalia was quickly airbrushed out for the 1974 LP’s gatefold sleeve, although the original artwork (and another rejected cover featuring Bowie in a cordobes hat holding onto a ravenous dog) was included in subsequent Rykodisc/EMI re-issues.

[edit] Release and aftermath

The record was Bowie's glam swansong; according to author David Buckley, "In the sort of move which would come to define his career, Bowie jumped the glam-rock ship just in time, before it drifted into a blank parody of itself".[1] At the time of its release Bowie described Diamond Dogs as "a very political album. My protest ... more me than anything I've done previously".[4] Disc magazine compared the album to The Man Who Sold the World (1970), while Rock and Sounds both described it as his "most impressive work ... since Ziggy Stardust".[4] It made #1 in the UK charts and #5 in the US, Bowie's highest stateside placing to that date.

Rough in sound and pretentious in theme, Diamond Dogs' raw guitar style and vision of urban chaos, scavenging children and nihilistic lovers ("We'll buy some drugs and watch a band / And jump in the river holding hands") have been credited with anticipating the punk revolution that would take place in the following years.[5] Bowie played all of the album's songs except "We Are the Dead" on his 1974 US tour (recorded and released as David Live). "Rebel Rebel" has featured on almost every Bowie tour since, "Diamond Dogs" was performed for the 1976 Station to Station and 1995-96 Outside tours, and "Big Brother/Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" was resurrected for the 1987 Glass Spider tour.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by David Bowie except where noted.

[edit] Side one

  1. "Future Legend" – 1:05
    "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" (Richard Rodgers)
  2. "Diamond Dogs" – 5:56
  3. "Sweet Thing" – 3:39
  4. "Candidate" – 2:40
  5. "Sweet Thing (Reprise)" – 2:31
  6. "Rebel Rebel" – 4:30

[edit] Side two

  1. "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" (Bowie, Warren Peace) – 4:00
  2. "We Are the Dead" – 4:58
  3. "1984" – 3:27
  4. "Big Brother" – 3:21
  5. "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" – 2:00

[edit] CD releases

Diamond Dogs was first released on CD by RCA in 1985 with censored cover art. The German (for the European market) and Japanese (for the U.S. market) masters were sourced from different tapes and are not identical for each region.

The album was reissued by Rykodisc in 1990 with two bonus tracks and the original uncensored artwork. It was again reissued in 1999 by EMI featuring 24-bit digitally remastered sound and no bonus tracks, and in 2004 by EMI as the 30th Anniversary Edition, containing a bonus disc with additional material (a demo instrumental containing elements of "Sweet Thing (Reprise)" called "Tragic Moments" was scheduled for inclusion but remains unreleased). In 2007, a Japanese mini LP was released that replicates the artwork of the original RCA LP.

[edit] 1990 rerelease bonus tracks

All songs written by David Bowie.

  1. "Dodo" (Previously unreleased, recorded 1973) – 2:53
  2. "Candidate" (Demo version, recorded 1973) – 5:09

[edit] 2004 rerelease bonus disc

All songs written by David Bowie except where noted.

  1. "1984/Dodo" (Recorded 1973) – 5:29
  2. "Rebel Rebel" (US single version, 1974) – 3:00
  3. "Dodo" (Also known as "You Didn't Hear It From Me", recorded 1973) – 2:53
  4. "Growin' Up" (Bruce Springsteen) (Recorded 1973) – 2:25
  5. "Alternate Candidate" (Demo version, recorded 1973) – 5:09
  6. "Diamond Dogs" (K-Tel Best of Bowie edit, 1980) – 4:41
  7. "Candidate" (Intimacy mix) – 2:58
  8. "Rebel Rebel" (2003 mix) – 3:09

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Additional personnel

[edit] Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1974 UK Albums Chart 1
1974 Billboard Pop Albums 5
1974 Norway's album chart 8

Single

Year Single Chart Position
1974 "Rebel Rebel" UK Singles Chart 5
1974 "Rebel Rebel" Billboard Pop Singles 64
1974 "Rebel Rebel" Norway's single chart 9
1974 "Diamond Dogs" UK Singles Chart 21

[edit] Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – USA Gold July 26, 1974

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: pp.210-217
  2. ^ Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: p.63
  3. ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p.14
  4. ^ a b Nicholas Pegg (2000). Op Cit: pp.289-291
  5. ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Op Cit: p.64

[edit] External links


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