David Bowie
Diamond Dogs - RCA 1974
Tracks: 1. Future Legend / 2. Diamond Dogs / 3. Sweet Thing / 4. Candidate / 5. Sweet Thing (Reprise) / 6. Rebel Rebel / 7. Rock 'N' Roll With Me / 8. We Are The Dead / 9. 1984 / 10. Big Brother / 11. Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family
Comments:
Diamond Dogs was the last great album of Bowie’s first golden era of what is often referred to as glamrock. This term may give rise to negative associations, which would be deeply unfair in Bowie's case. 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.
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