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Diamond Dogs [ECD]

David Bowie - Diamond Dogs [ECD] Audio CD

A fair review of the David Bowie "Diamond Dogs [ECD]" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all David Bowie reviews here, or go back to the David Bowie tabs.

Band: David Bowie
Title: Diamond Dogs [ECD]
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-09-28
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Future Legend 2: Diamond Dogs 3: Sweet Thing 4: Candidate 5: Sweet Thing (Reprise) 6: Rebel Rebel 7: Rock & Roll With Me 8: We Are the Dead 9: 1984 10: Big Brother 11: Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family

Sense? Who cares?
guess what? made no sense at all. i recently read the lyrics to Diamond Dogs. at least not to me. and Sweet Thing/Candidate is even weirder. makes me wonder what state of mind bowie was in when he wrote them. correction, makes me envy the state of mind bowie was in when he wrote them. but, on to the album. musically, this one could even be better than Ziggy. Diamond Dogs, Sweet Thing/Candidate. and We are the Dead are the standouts. Big Brother, which is great, and the big single, Rebel Rebel, pull up the rear. We Are The Dead gets no airplay, which is a real shame; it's haunting and beautiful. and Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise) is too long for an entrance into popular culture. it could be bowie's best song ever. and that's really, really, really saying something. better than Ziggy? than Five Years? than Starman? than Space Oddity? TVC 15? Heroes? I think so. anyone who doesn't give Diamond Dogs five stars really doesn't understand Diamond Dogs.

End of the First Golden Era
This term may give rise to negative associations, which would be deeply unfair in Bowie's case. Diamond Dogs was the last great album of Bowie's first golden era of what is often referred to as glamrock. He stood in the early 1970s for some of the best and most progressive music in this genre.

After the "Diamond Dogs" he radically changed his style with the album "Young Americans" and even though the subsequent, more techno-like albums are highly praised, he never rocked more convincing than on his great early 1970's albums.

Title track is a fine rocker in the style of "Suffragette City" from "Ziggy Stardust" and "Rebel Rebel" has one of the best guitar riffs in rock and roll history. Both numbers were chosen as singles.

The suite "Sweet Thing / Candidate" is another highlight on the album.

More mainstream is the rock ballad "Rock'n Roll With Me", although certainly also one of my personal favorites. The number "1984" was originally conceived as a title number and appears almost as a movie-themed track with its energetic funky riffs.

The record probably works best when heard in its entirety; several tracks don't work very well outside the album context and the album therefore probably cannot be included among Bowie's very best.

Future Legend - 2004 30th anniversary
I had heard a couple of his songs on the radio and their riffs and his distinctive singing made me take notice. I was 13 in 1975 when I got turned on to David's music because one of my older cousins was a big fan. But I must admit,it was the visual intrigue of his posters and album art that made me look deeper. It was all very heady,and of course,at my young age, I didn't understand all the themes,(overt and underlying)in his music. But I was hooked and have remained a huge fan.
Last year I found a used copy of "Diamond Dogs" 30th anniversary release, so I couldn't resist! It had been years since I had heard this album in it's entirety! I definately recommend this edition because of disc 2 extra's like "Dodo" and a demo version of "Candidate" Diamond Dogs 30th Anniversary Editionthat is quite different from the original album version. The lyrics are very "tongue-in-cheek" and provocative - the vocals are raw and unabashed.
David Bowie is a consummate artist and this collection, like "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust", adeptly demonstrates his ability to act out a song vocally, displaying just the right emotionality to punctuate the meaning of the song he is singing. Genius!.

Strange Days Indeed
This was supposed to be Bowie's concept album, a tribute to George Orwell's politcal commentary and prediction of future events. This is an unusual release, from the morphed David Bowie, who had changed personna again, this time into the Diamond Dog depicted on the cover. The opening track, spoken over the orchestrated version of "Bewitched" arranged by Tony Visconti, "Future Legend", ends with Bowie yelling, "This isn't Rock and Roll, this is genocide". The shredding slide introduction of "Diamond Dogs" shows Bowie at his guitar playing best. The band tears through the title song, with top players including Herbie Flowers on bass. Herbie, a frequent sideman, is famous for his playing on "Space Oddity", "Jump Into the Fire" by Nilsson, and "Walk On the Wild Side", to name just a few. Drums are handled by another studio star pair, Aynsley Dunbar, and Tony Newman, while longtime favorite after the departure of Rick Wakeman, Mike Garson handles the keyboard duties. Bowie takes lead guitar on all tracks, except for the scratchy wah wah played by Alan Parker on "1984". Bowie's guitarwork is surprising, with crunchy, scratchy sound dominating the release, after the tasty melodic soaring tones that former sideman Mick Ronson used so effectively. "Sweet Thing" features soaring vocals, great orchestration by Visconti again, with Bowie on a yacking sax on a tune that morphs into "Candidate", before reprising back into "Sweet Thing". It is easy to see the political tone Bowie takes by the end of the first side, with "Rebel Rebel" with it's lyrical repetition, commenting on social decadence and decay. Again, Bowie manages to carry the song with a simplistic, yet unforgettable guitar riff, whose searing tone cuts through. "Rock and Roll With Me", co authored by Bowie and Warren Peace (collaborator G A MacCormack) begins the second side of the original release, which is more consistent with the Orwell's 1984. "We Are the Dead" a direct quote from the book follows, which rolls into "1984", a classic Bowie track, with it's guitar intro. powerful vocals and abrupt ending. "Big Brother" is another obvious Orwell reference, whose end is looped to conclude the disk. In all this is excellent release, whose highs are unbelievable. Some of the tracks are good, not great, but the ones that are on are unforgettable, making this a must own. .

Diamond Dogs
He dropped the spiders from mars, his backing band from Ziggy Stardust, so the musicianship is a little under par. This is a good CD, not a great CD. With that said, Rebel Rebel is one of my favorite songs, if nothing else, that song is worth the purchase of this album. If you're debating between this album and ziggy stardust, get Ziggy Stardust. If you love Bowie, this album will only add to your growing love of this wonderful song writer.

Oh, the three stars are because I'm being honest, and not giving 5 stars to everything that comes out.

You can see a complete list of all David Bowie discography, or go back to the David Bowie tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.