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David Bowie – Diamond Dogs

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What does it sound like?:

Today, quite incredibly to me as it barely seems possible, marks the 45th anniversary of the original release of this album. It’s now been reissued on coloured vinyl to commemorate the occasion, in line with Bowie’s earlier albums. This era, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups and this one, encompasses most of my favourite Bowie albums, maybe because of my own age when they came out I think. They are the ones where the music has stayed with me over the years, and that I’ve returned to time and again.

Denied the rights to produce a musical piece based on Orwell’s seminal 1984 novel, the songs Bowie had already composed by and large ended up on the second side of this record – 1984, Big Brother, We Are The Dead etc, while the first side dealt with his vision of life in a future apocalyptic world. There really is some consistently great music on here, my own favourite being the atmospheric Sweet Thing/ Candidate section, but it’s fair to say there are no duds here. This album marked the end of Bowie’s glam period – typically, it was time to move on to pastures new and of course many other landmark albums were still to come, but this remains a classic album, and one which also of course has the iconic artwork to match the music.

Incidentally, the powers that be in their wisdom have decided this will be a ‘bricks and mortar’ release, so it will be available only from high street retailers and not online.

What does it all *mean*?

A shame the anniversary didn’t also see a cd reissue with the bonus tracks that were on the Rykodisc and EMI rereleases from twenty years or so ago now. I was always particularly partial to Dodo (aka You Didn’t Hear It From Me) and the different Candidate.

Goes well with…

Remembering your youth.

Release Date:

24/05/2019

Might suit people who like…

Bowie, classic glam rock

6

Comments

  1. This was always a favourite of mine too Bargey. Terrific production and, of course, strong songs make this a really cohesive and immersive listen. To me it always, rather obviously, marked the high water mark of the Ziggy/glam period, but gets overlooked a little in favour of Ziggy itself. Ihave the original vinyl and the 2004 double CD reissue (which includes all the Rykodisc/EMI bonus material) so won’t be investing in this, but anyone who has somehow missed it should definitely catch up.

    There are a few reissues coming out that my local record ‘shop’ (actually a market stall) have been promoting as only available off line, so to speak – has anyone else noticed this trend? It sounds like an extension of Record Store Day but without the associated hype.

    • Self produced, of course. Bowie played everything except bass and drums (there are two of them). Mike Garson contributed keys & Alan Parker provided the guitar for 1984. So, those dirty, filthy guitar & sax lines are all Bowie.

  3. Wow – forty-five years ago. I love this album. The Passion Puppets a band I played guitar in were all David Bowie fans. We were recording our album at Rockfield studios and our producer went home ill for a day. We grabbed the opportunity to record a cover of ‘We are the dead’ with Paul Cobold the engineer. Of all the tracks we could have recorded this is the one we agreed on. Interesting Bargepole that you call it glamrock. I never saw the album as Glam at all.

    • There’s a whole career for a lesser artist in those three songs, and to think I used to skip them when I was a teenager…too slow, too weird (the songs. not me). They also inspired a lot of debate between me and my similarly obsessed friend about what he was actually singing, and who exactly was “Les Treecutter” and why could you smell his blood?

  7. Diamond Dogs came out when I was still fifteen. It scared the shit out of me. It seemed to be entirely about death and decay both topics that weighed heavily on my mind in those days. Side One is relentless even though Rebel Rebel brings a little relief with its punch-the-air excitement but Side Two is immediately back to business with an exhumation of Ziggy on Rock & Roll With Me.

    Oddly enough, for an album inspired by 1984, that track simply does not belong. The addition of some basic guitar to Dodo would have been a better fit. 1984 is actually the oldest song here, written during the recording of Aladdin Sane, but it gives us the best glimpse of Bowie’s future. Its stylish funk, nibble orchestration and cool, full production points towards Young Americans, Fame and onto Golden Years. Try playing those four songs in sequence and their sibling nature is undeniable. It should have been a stand alone single. It was a 45 in the US, Japan and New Zealand but wasn’t a hit. Nevertheless, Diamond Dogs was Bowie’s first top five album in the US. It was a decisive step towards the huge worldwide sales he enjoyed in the eighties.

  8. Diamond Dogs is a tale (tail?) that has grown with the telling. Has to be heard on vinyl, first pressing if you can. None of the CD masters are any good at all. This rekird has matured with age.

    The day Bowie died someone asked me which two Bowie albums were my favourites. I replied without thinking “Hunky Dory and Diamond Dogs” which even surprised me, but I stand by it. Not a duff song on here and Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing is Bowie’s finest moment on record, though Lady Grinning Soul runs it very close.

    “Let’s buy some drugs and watch a band; jump in the river holding hands.”

    • Thanks, Moose. Indeed a terrific piece. I did think it may have needed a little editing but the guy is very well informed. I feel very unread after reading it. His referrence points are far and wide. I see it was written in 2014 so it is easier to review with hindsight but excellent none the less.

      • Obviously inspired by the not-entirely-unscholarly writings of the great Chris O’Leary. I think discussing Bowie particularly lends itself to profuse verbiage, sometimes with indigestible consequences (hello Paul Morley)

  11. Just got around to reading that Quietus piece. Wow, what a great read. I thought I knew DD inside out but I never knew that Rebel Rebel plagiarised George Formby. Thanks for the link Moosey.

    I also checked out the Quietus link of best 100 albums of 2018. That was chastening: there were less than a handful of artists I had even bloody heard of. It is a niche within a niche. Right about Diamond Dogs though.

  12. And in the death, as the last few corpses lay rotting on the slimy thoroughfare, the shutters lifted in inches in Temperance Building high on Poacher’s Hill, and red, mutant eyes gaze down on Hunger City. No more big wheels….fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats, and ten thousand peoploids split into small tribes, coveting the highest of the sterile skyscrapers, like packs of dogs assaulting the glass fronts of Love-Me Avenue, ripping and rewrapping mink and shiny silver fox, now legwarmers, family badge of sapphire and cracked emerald, any day now…the Year of the Diamond Dogs….”This ain’t Rock’n’Roll….This is Genocide!”

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