David Bowie - Diamond Dogs

“This isn’t rock and roll, this is genocide!” Diamond Dogs is in its own way both a follow up and response to the increasingly mythic personae of Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. Most of the material was written for a projected theatrical adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984. What I like the most about this album is the darker, even creepier tone that runs through the record.

To me one of the defining points of a great album is that the singles are not necessarily the strongest part of the album, unless we’re talking about something like Thriller where the album only has singles. Here most of the singles kind of detract from the feel of the record. 1984 is pretty dated, and as great as Rebel Rebel is I would swap it in a second for another track like We Are the Dead or Sweet Thing/Candidate in a heatbeat.

The production is a lot cleaner than it is on Ziggy and apart from 1984 effectively launching the soul sound of Young Americans I really like the overall darker sound of the record, and the straight rock is better fleshed out by this stage in his career. Rebel Rebel is a better Jean Genie and I’m pretty sure Rock and Roll With Me is kind of what Drive in Saturday was supposed to be from the beginning anyway.

Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrfc8c6VkTA
Rock and Roll With Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL7yAwfZRH4
We Are The Dead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUflIrTSwK8