: ''For the
2001 Novella by
Alastair Reynolds , see
Diamond Dogs (novella) ''
'' 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. The songs wound up on the second half of ''Diamond Dogs'' instead where, as the titles indicate, the ''1984'' theme was prominent.
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"), most commentatiors regard Ziggy as still very much alive in ''Diamond Dogs'', noting in particular Bowie’s haircut on the cover and the glam-trash style of the first single "
Rebel Rebel ". As in some songs on ''
Aladdin Sane '', the influence of
The Rolling Stones was also seen in the chugging
Title Track . Elsewhere, however, Bowie appeared to have 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 "Bruh-bruh!", a corruption of "(Big) Brother", repeating insistently ''ad infinitum''.
''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 critics, Bowie himself took on the lead guitar role previously held by
Mick Ronson , except on "1984". The album was also a milestone in Bowie's career because it reunited him with
Tony Visconti , who would co-produce almost all his work for the rest of the decade.
Though ''Diamond Dogs'' made #1 in the UK charts and #5 in the US, it has been criticised as rough in sound and pretentious in theme. However, Bowie’s 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") has also been credited with heavily influencing the
Punk revolution that would take place in the following years.
The cover art features a striking half-dog, half-Bowie figure painted by sleeve, although the original artwork (and another rejected cover featuring Bowie in a sombrero holding onto a ravenous dog) was included in subsequent
Rykodisc /
EMI re-issues.
Bowie played much of this album on his 1974 US tour (featured on ''
David Live '') and some on the ''
Station To Station '' tour in
1976 , but apart from "Rebel Rebel" has rarely performed any of the material in concert since.
All tracks written by David Bowie except "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" lyrics by Bowie, music by Bowie and
Warren Peace .
# "
Future Legend " - (1:05)
# "
Diamond Dogs " - (5:56)
# "
Sweet Thing " - (3:39)
# "
Candidate " - (2:40)
# "Sweet Thing" (reprise) - (2:31)
# "
Rebel Rebel " - (4:30)
# "
Rock 'n' Roll With Me " - (4:00)
# "
We Are The Dead " - (4:58)
# "
1984 " - (3:27)
# "
Big Brother " - (3:21)
# "
Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family " - (2:00)
This album has been rereleased on
CD three times to date, the first being in
1990 by
Rykodisc (containing two bonus tracks), the second one in
1999 by
EMI (featuring 24-bit digitally remastered sound and no bonus tracks) and the third, most recent, in
2004 by
EMI being the album's ''30th Anniversary Reissue'' and containing a bonus disc with previously unreleased material. An early instrumental version of "Sweet Thing" called "Tragic Moments" (known in bootleg circles as either "Zion" or "A Lad in Vain") was scheduled for inclusion but remains unreleased.
# "
Dodo " (Unreleased, 1973) - (2:55)
# "Candidate" (Demo Version, 1973 ) - (5:07)
# "1984/Dodo" (also known as "You Didn't Hear It From Me")
# "Rebel Rebel" (US single version)
# "Dodo"
# "
Growin' Up "
# "Candidate" (alternate)
# "Diamond Dogs" (K-Tel edit)
# "Candidate" (Intimacy mix)
# "Rebel Rebel" (2003 mix)
- :
- --- David Bowie
- --- Tony Visconti
- --- Keith Harwood (on "Rebel Rebel", "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" and "We are the Dead")
- Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). ''Bowie: An Illustrated Record'': 61-64
- David Buckley (1999). ''Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story'': 207-216
