Diamond Dogs [ECD]

After the heralding "This ain't rock and roll... this is genocide!", the title track comes on, sporting a snappy glam riff like T-Rex with some vocals sung as if done underwater, the story continues of the lavish rich having parties, but under prey of the diamond dogs.

The trio of "Sweet Thing", "Candidate", and the reprise of the former, all which segue into one another for a total 8:50, is the longest track (if taken collectively) Bowie's done since "Width Of A Circle." With an out-of-tune guitar and soft piano, a sense of loneliness and isolation permeates throughout the lyrics. Things go a bit more upbeat in "Candidate", with the and more nihilistic: "We'll buy some drugs and watch a band, then jump in the river holding hands." From "hope is a sweet thing", we get "love is a get-it-here thing." This part of the song deals with how one gets power with sex.

By far, the best song here is "Rebel Rebel", a tune with a hard-edged guitar done by Alan Parker and not by Bowie as has been formerly thought, and a Stones-like crunch. The 70's gender-ambiguity is shown in "not sure if you're a boy or a girl." This criminally flopped in the US, but reached #5 on the UK charts. Joan Jett covered this and it shows up on her Flashback compilation.

A soulful and gospel-like feel, with a piano and guitar melody features in the laid back "Rock N Roll With Me," a change from the previous theatrics.

The last three songs is all that's left of the concept album Bowie was trying to model after 1984, only to have George Orwell's widow deny him permission. There seems to be no justice, as Yes's Rick Wakeman released an album in 1981 titled 1984 with no repercussions. Anyway, "We Are The Dead" are the words Winston Smith utters to his lover Julia before they are captured by the Thought Police in Orwell's novel. Bowie's crooning over a slow melodic keyboard. Bowie half-speaks/sings the lyrics while in the background, he croons the title words.

"1984" has a bit of a funky disco beat like the Shaft song. Elements of brainwashing from the novel can be seen: "they'll split your pretty cranium and fill it full of air/and tell that you're eighty but rather you won't care." The song was later covered by Tina Turner on Private Dancer.

In "Big Brother and the Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" Bowie seems to be praising some ubermensch-type person: "someone to blame us/someone to follow/someone to shame us/some great Apollo/someone to fool us/someone like you/we want you Big Brother." The chant part begins with a fuzzy guitar and chants of "brother" and "shake it up" before ending with a repeated tape loop.

With the dissolution of Ziggy and the Spiders, an interesting concept and a new sound, while still continuing the nihilistic apocalyptic themes of the Ziggy era.


The Best of Bowie   October 13, 1999
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

Ziggy Stardust, Diamond Dogs and Aladdin Sane are probably the best, and at least my favorite Bowie albums, Diamond Dogs shining the brightest. Originally intended as a rock opera based on the novel '1984', Diamond Dogs is the leftovers of those sessions after the rights couldn't be purchased. You simply have to listen to this front to back, for at least the first time. Personally, I never listen to just one tune, I just put it on and let it play. 'Diamond Dogs', 'Rebel Rebel', '1984', 'Big Brother' and 'Sweet Thing' are favorites, but I should really just list Diamond Dogs as my favorite album, as every song is enjoyable. Diamond Dogs was released during David's most experimental and outrageously lavish period in his career, and it's a solid effort. This one should be right between Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane in your CD rack.


"Lord I think you'd overdose if you knew what's going down"   November 7, 2002
Clyde D. Hoops (Back where I started from in Oceanside California)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

You know, I've had this album since it was released back in 1974 and thought, "cool album, man".

But since trying to rebuild an album collection into a cd collection of the same size (currently about 400 cd's vs 900 albums) I am always hesitant about replacing some of the albums I've had with the cd format, whether its due to money or the cd formatting (straight transfer, record company ripoffs vs. digital remastering, the only way to go).

And so it came to be with this version of 'Diamond Dogs' by the master of paranoia induced futuristic tales David Bowie.

Last week I bought the 1999 remastered edition and was taken aback by scope of this particular work. Forget what you may read by Rolling Stone or AMG, this is one Bowie's deepest works. The fact that he was rebuked by Orwell's widow is a moot point. Here Bowie is bridging the gap between the glam era of "Man who sold the World"-"Aladdin Sane" to the 'Plastic Soul' period of "Young Americans" and "Station to Station" without missing a beat. The only missed beat was with the music critics, as it always is.

Listen to the often cited song cycle of 'Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing-reprise' if you don't believe, he was already there. Not the transition album some expert critics would have you believe, the real transition album would have been "Aladdin Sane". Sure you get some bleed through of moments past but this collection isn't built upon the past but pushing forward. I fail to find any music during the 'Thin White Duke' period that has as much soul or energy put into it as the aforementioned songs set of ST/C/ST-R or "We are the Dead", any of which would have been quite at home on either "Young Americans" or "Station to Station".

There are sure fire rockers included within this set as well, with "Rebel Rebel", "Diamond Dogs" and "1984", but personaaly the most overlooked gem on this entire set would have to be the track "Big Brother". The second line of the song even tells the listeners and critics "Don't think of last years capers, give me steel...," but I think the best passage of the song is the acoustic bridge in the middle of the song wherein its almost as if David were talking to his critics and especially his fans, face to face and says:

'I know you think you're awfully square
But you've made everyone and you've been everywhere
Lord I'd think you'd overdose if you knew what's going down'

And then the song slams back into the chorus with the bass and guitar to finish the song and end the collection with the "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family". An incredible tour through the mind of a truly under appreciated artist in his own time, but isn't that always the s.o.s, Shake it up, move it up, brother!


Bowie's Bizarre Concept Album   November 26, 2002
Martin A Hogan (San Francisco, CA.)
10 out of 13 found this review helpful

Just in time to usher out the end of 'glam rock', Bowie produced this dreary, but wonderful concept album. It opens with "Future Legend", a scary, hip opening that also started his concerts. This CD contains classics like "Rebel Rebel", "1984" and "Diamond Dogs" and they live on like the gems they were meant to be. "The Chant..." is a hypnotizing 'beat-down' delight ending with a word; "rot"??? "Sweet Thing" is campy gay and not his best and "We Are The Dead" is exactly like the title suggests. "Dodo" and the demo of "Candidate" really don't add much to the album, but it's nice of RYKO to give them to us. The recording quality of the songs is mediocre - almost a tinny 'live' sound. If you can get past that and just listen to the "mood" that Bowie induces, you'll enjoy it.


Listened To This In The 70's , It May Explain Things.....   August 31, 2006
Rude Boy 1979 (Today I'm in Ybor City)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

I listened to this album (my older brothers) during the 70's, ad nausea. For me it is must own Bowie. I like this album so much that I'm even into Chant of the ever circling skeletal family! I actually think that song's very cool but I may be alone on that one. For me this is Bowie's best. I followed him through the 70's (I remember seeing him on Soul Train doing Golden Years), the pop 80's from Ashes to Ashes to China Girl, even followed him a bit in Tin Machine and later hating Americans or something, lol. This is my all time favorite Bowie, I'm ordering it today so we can get reacquainted. Highly recommended, definitely a top 100 rock album of all time.