Bowie – Diamond Dogs (1974) Review | This Ain’t Rock ‘n Roll, This Is Genocide

Kronomyth 8.0: Orwell that ends well.

I used to listen to this album in the mornings before I went to school, just to brace me for the Orwellian world ahead. The artist originally envisioned this as a concept album based on the book 1984, but George Orwell’s widow wasn’t buying it. So Bowie invented his own future world peopled by mutants, androgynous teenagers, and Big Brother, packaging it as Diamond Dogs. As concept albums go, the songs are only loosely connected to one another; the same themes were at work on Aladdin Sane and no one calls that a concept album. In many ways, Diamond Dogs closes a trilogy begun with Aladdin Sane and carried over onto Pin Ups. The hard-nosed rock songs twisted into fantastic shapes, torch songs that revel in their own dysfunctional sexuality, these were avenues Bowie had walked down before. In fact, songs like “Drive-In Saturday” and “Time” would have felt right at home in Diamond Dogs’ brave new world. Yet this is a more measured record than Aladdin Sane. The “Sweet Thing” suite and the pairing of “Rock ‘n Roll With Me” (one of Bowie’s most underrated songs) with “We Are The Dead” slow things down considerably, Bowie patiently winning the listener over rather than trying to land knockout punches with each song. Today, the explosive glam rock of “Diamond Dogs” and “Rebel Rebel” are most familiar to listeners; some may even have stumbled upon the overblown “1984” in their travels. But the real treasures are below the surface: downbeat gems like “Big Brother” and “We Are The Dead” (at one time my favorite Bowie song) or two songs that capture youth’s yearning perfectly, “Sweet Thing” and “Rock ‘n Roll With Me.” The album effectively ended the Ziggy Stardust period, as Bowie turned toward American soul for his next role, The Thin White Duke. In 1990, Rykodisc reissued Diamond Dogs with two bonus tracks, the unreleased “Dodo” and a completely different version of “Candidate,” the addition of which makes a great album even better.

The Product

A1. Future Legend (1:00)
A2. Diamond Dogs (5:50)
A3. Sweet Thing (3:29)
A4. Candidate (2:39)
A5. Sweet Thing (Reprise) (2:32)
A6. Rebel Rebel (4:21)
B1. Rock ‘n Roll with Me (words by Bowie, music by Bowie/Warren Peace) (3:54)
B2. We Are the Dead (4:48)
B3. 1984 (3:24)
B4. Big Brother (3:25)
B5. Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family (1:48)
All songs written and arranged by Bowie unless noted.

CD reissue bonus tracks
12. Dodo (2:55)
13. Candidate (demo version) (5:05)

30^th Anniversary Edition bonus tracks
12. 1984/Dodo
13. Rebel Rebel (US single version)
14. Dodo
15. Growin’ Up
16. Alternative Candidate
17. Diamond Dogs (edit)
18. Candidate (intimacy mix) 19. Rebel Rebel (2003 version)

The Players

Bowie (vocals, guitar, saxes, Moog, Mellotron, mixing), Aynsley Dunbar (drums), Herbie Flowers (bass), Mike Garson (keyboards), Tony Newman (drums) with Alan Parker (guitar on B3), Tony Visconti (string arrangement). Produced by Bowie; engineered by Keith Harwood; mixed by Tony Visconti and Keith Harwood.

The Pictures

Design by AGI. Cover painting by Guy Peellaert. Inside photograph by Leee Black Childers.

The Plastic

Released on elpee and cassette in April 1974 in the UK (RCA, APL1/APK1-0576) and the US and France (RCA, CPL1/CPK1-0576) with gatefold cover. Reached #1 on the UK charts and #5 on the US charts (RIAA-certified gold record).

1. Re-issued on elpee and cassette in 1980 in the US (RCA, AYL1/AYK1-3889) and Germany (RCA, NL 83889).
2. Re-issued on elpee in 1981 in the UK (RCA, INTS 5068) and the Netherlands and Spain (RCA, NL/NK-13889). Re-charted to #60 on the UK charts (1983).
3. Re-issued on picture disc elpee in May 1984 in the UK (RCA, BOPIC5).
4. Re-issued on expanded, remastered elpee, compact disc and cassette in 1990 in the UK (EMI, CDP 7 59211) and the US (Rykodisc, RALP/RCD1/RACS 0137) and  with 2 bonus tracks. Re-charted to #67 on the UK charts (1990).
5. Re-issued on 24-bit remastered compact disc in 199 in the EEC (EMI, 5219040).
6. Re-issued on expanded, remastered 30^th anniversary edition 2CD on June 15, 2004 in the US (EMI, 77857) with 7 bonus tracks.