Artist: David Bowie
Title: Diamond Dogs-30th Anniversary 2CD Edition (1975/2004)
Genre: Rock
Label: EMI
Website
Red mutant eyes gazed down on hunger city-no more big wheels-fleas the size of rats sucked on cats the size of rats…so went the immortal words of David Bowie circa 1975 on his album Diamond Dogs. His futuristic Orwellian album cover drew a lot of attention and so did the music. I think the cover is still shocking and ghastly to this day, although that is exactly what makes it so appealing to the darker rock 'n' roll side in many of us. Originally, the cover was airbrushed to cover the animal genitals, which was subsequently restored back to its original concept in the 90's and it remains so on this very special anniversary edition.
Diamond Dogs-30th Anniversary 2CD Edition pays tribute to one of Bowie’s masterpieces of rock, in his own words-the closest thing to a rock musical he ever created. Bowie wanted to reinvent himself again so the demise of Ziggy Stardust and the band was inevitable. The new faces Bowie would unveil became a common occurrence with every album he released. This time out he played most of the instruments on the recording proving his all-around talent to be one of the phenomena’s of the musical world. Previous albums featured different musicians, never allowing his audience to see all of his talents focused so well on one album. This album served as a revelation to me in 1975, when disco was becoming a force (argh!), I discovered Bowie with Ziggy Stardust and his music really took hold with this album, from that point forward I started to look at his previous releases, now anything he puts out I buy without a second thought.
"Rebel Rebel" is one of his best songs; it broke him in U.S. in a big way. Filled with hooks and interesting lyrics regarding a cross-dressing rebel teenager that put his mother in a whirl, Bowie created a hero that youngsters found something in common with whether they were a cross-dressing neurotic or not. Regardless of the characters' aloofness, he was a juvenile success because of the non-conformity he stood for. It was not only the music that would stick to you like gum on the bottom of your shoe, it was the lyrics, they were risqué and so different, a polar opposite of what was ruling the airwaves of the day. In the descriptive, enlightening, and beautiful booklet that accompanies this set, the discussion revolves around the process Bowie went through while creating this masterstroke of rock 'n' roll decadence. Legend has it he was seen cutting up words and piecing them together for the lyrics. If that is true, it gives more evidence of the man’s outright genius as a writer, musician and performer.
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
I was really disappointed to see this packaged in a cardboard slipcase with sleeves for the discs. The previous two (Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane) were in really nice books. This one just looks shoddy and cheap - yet they're charging the same amount for it. I'd love to know what the reason was for changing to this crappy packaging, if it's other than money (which I doubt) - they ruined the the theme going on there with the first two books. That alone made it slip from a must-have to a "will buy when I have some extra cash and nothing else to buy."