''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by the English musician

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, released on 24 May 1974 through

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. Bowie produced the album and recorded it in early 1974 in London and the Netherlands, following the disbanding of his backing band the Spiders from Mars and the departure of the producer Ken Scott. Bowie played lead guitar on the record in the absence of

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

. ''Diamond Dogs'' featured the return of

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

, who had not worked with Bowie for four years; the two would collaborate for the rest of the decade. Musically, it was Bowie's final album in the

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

genre, though some songs were influenced by

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

, which Bowie embraced on his next album, '' Young Americans'' (1975). Conceived during a period of uncertainty over where his career was headed, ''Diamond Dogs'' is the result of multiple projects Bowie envisaged at the time: a scrapped musical based on '' Ziggy Stardust'' (1972); an adaptation of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's novel ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

'' (1949); and an urban apocalyptic scenario based on the writings of William S. Burroughs. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

introduces a new persona named Halloween Jack. The Belgian artist Guy Peellaert painted the controversial cover artwork depicting Bowie as a half-man, half-dog hybrid, based on photos taken by the photographer Terry O'Neill. Preceded by the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

" Rebel Rebel", ''Diamond Dogs'' was a commercial success, peaking at number one in the UK and number five in the US. It has received mixed reviews since its release, many criticising its lack of cohesion; Bowie's biographers consider it one of his best works and, in 2013, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' ranked it one of the greatest albums of all time. Bowie supported the album on the Diamond Dogs Tour, which featured elaborate and expensive set-pieces. Retrospectively, ''Diamond Dogs'' has been cited as an influence on the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

revolution in the years following its release. It has been reissued several times and was remastered in 2016 for the '' Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)'' box set.

Background

released his seventh studio album ''

Pin Ups ''Pin Ups'' (also referred to as ''Pinups'' and ''Pin-Ups'') is the seventh studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 19October 1973 through RCA Records. Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a ...

'' in the summer of 1973. At the time, he was unsure of where to take his career. Not wanting Ziggy Stardust to define him, he disbanded his backing band the Spiders from Mars and parted ways with producer Ken Scott. According to biographer David Buckley, Scott's departure marked an end to Bowie's "classic 'pop' period" and brought him to more experimental territory and "arguably greater musical daring". During the ''Pin Ups'' sessions, he told reporters that he wanted to create a musical, using various titles such as ''Tragic Moments'' and ''Revenge, or The Best Haircut I Ever Had''. His guitarist

recalled: " owiehad all these little projects... ndwasn't quite sure what he wanted to do." As Ronson began work on his solo album '' Slaughter on 10th Avenue'', Bowie and his wife Angie moved out of Beckenham's Haddon Hall because of harassment by fans. They moved initially into an apartment in

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...

, rented to them by the actress

Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 1938 – 10 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Tracy Bond, Teresa di ...

, before moving into a larger house on Oakley Street, Chelsea. According to Buckley, David Bowie's manager Tony Defries prevented this move initially, citing the house as "too extravagant". Despite

estimating Bowie's album and single sales in the UK at over two million copies combined, Defries said that sales did not provide Bowie with enough income to afford the house. In spite of Defries, Bowie bought the house and it was here the Bowies spent time with

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

and

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

of the Faces,

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and his then-wife Bianca, and the American singer and model Ava Cherry, with whom Bowie had an affair during this time. Along with recording ''Pin Ups'', Bowie participated in other musical ventures in 1973. He co-produced and played on

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

's recording of " The Man Who Sold the World", which was released as a single in January 1974, contributed to

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...

's '' Now We Are Six'', and formed a trio called the Astronettes, comprising Cherry, Jason Guess and Geoff MacCormack. The group recorded sessions at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

in London but the project was ultimately shelved in January; a compilation album titled ''People from Bad Homes'' (later ''The Astronettes Sessions'') was released in 1995. Bowie reworked songs from these sessions in subsequent years. Buckley writes that the songs he recorded featured a blend of

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, which proved to be the direction Bowie took in 1974.

Writing

According to the biographer Chris O'Leary, ''Diamond Dogs'' is a combination of numerous projects Bowie envisioned at the time. In November 1973, Bowie conducted an interview with the writer William S. Burroughs for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

''. Published in February 1974, the interview gave insight into Bowie's current ambitions. An admirer of Burroughs's working methods and his 1964 novel '' Nova Express'', Bowie revealed he had begun using Burroughs's "cut-up" technique as a way for inspiration. He spoke of a musical based on ''Ziggy Stardust'', saying: "Forty scenes are in it and it would be nice if the characters and actors learned the scenes and we all shuffled them around in a hat the afternoon of the performance and just performed it as the scenes come out." He also casually mentioned adapting

's 1949 novel ''

'', a Bowie favourite, for television. He had wanted to create a theatrical production of the novel and began writing material after completing sessions for ''Pin Ups''. Neither of these projects came to fruition. The ''Ziggy Stardust'' musical fell through, but Bowie salvaged two songs for ''Diamond Dogs'' he had written for it—" Rebel Rebel" and " Rock 'n' Roll with Me". At the end of 1973, George Orwell's widow, Sonia Orwell, denied Bowie the rights to use the novel. The rejection annoyed Bowie, who lambasted her for it in ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

'' magazine a few years later. She refused to allow any adaptation of her late husband's work for the rest of her life. No adaptations were possible until after her death in 1980. Unable to adapt the novel, Bowie decided to create his own apocalyptic scenario inspired by the works of Burroughs. Songs from this scenario included what would become the album's

and " Future Legend".

Recording

Buckley writes that the album was the first time Bowie used a

recording studio as an instrument In music production, the recording studio is often treated as a musical instrument when it plays a significant role in the music composition, composition of music. Sometimes called "playing the studio", the approach is typically embodied by artis ...

. With Scott's departure, Bowie produced the album himself. Keith Harwood, who had worked previously with

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, and on

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

's '' Houses of the Holy'', handled engineering duties.

Nicholas Pegg Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer. Education Educated at Nottingham High School and graduating with a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Exeter, Pegg subsequently trained at the Guildford School of ...

writes that despite Bowie and Harwood's previous collaborations on Mott the Hoople's '' All the Young Dudes'' and the original version of " John, I'm Only Dancing" (both 1972), ''Diamond Dogs'' was Harwood's first credit on a Bowie album. Bowie described being "in awe" of Harwood because of his work with the Stones. With the departure of the Spiders from Mars, Bowie handled lead guitar duties. He recalled in 1997 that he practised every day knowing "the guitar playing had to be more than okay". This surprised ''

'' critics

Roy Carr Roy Carr (1945 – 1 July 2018) was an English music journalist, covering pop, rock and jazz. He joined the ''New Musical Express (NME)'' in the late 1960s, and edited ''NME'', '' Vox'' and ''Melody Maker'' magazines. Biography Born in Black ...

and

Charles Shaar Murray Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English Music journalism, music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the ''NME, New Musical Express'' (''NME'') and many other magazines and newspapers, and has ...

, producing what they described as a "scratchy, raucous, semi-amateurish sound that gave the album much of its characteristic flavour". The pianist Mike Garson and the drummer Aynsley Dunbar returned from the ''Pin Ups'' sessions, Tony Newman also played drums while Herbie Flowers, who had played previously on '' Space Oddity'' (1969), was recruited to play bass.

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After abo ...

of Blue Mink played guest guitar on "1984" and "augmented" Bowie's riff on "Rebel Rebel", although he was only credited for "1984". Bowie's longtime friend Geoff MacCormack, now known as Warren Peace, sang backing vocals. ''Diamond Dogs'' reunited Bowie with

, who provided string arrangements and helped mix the album at his studio in London. Visconti would go on to co-produce much of Bowie's work for the rest of the decade. Before the ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' project was denied, Bowie worked on "

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

", recording it on 19 January 1973 during the sessions for '' Aladdin Sane''. Initial work on ''Diamond Dogs'' began in late October 1973 at

Trident Studios Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St Anne's Court in London's Soho district between 1968 and 1981. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the 1960s group the Hunters, and his brother Barry ...

in London, where Bowie and Scott recorded "1984" in a medley with "Dodo", titled "1984/Dodo"; once they had mixed the track, this session marked the final time the two worked together. According to O'Leary, this session was also the last time Bowie worked with Ronson and Bolder. The medley had already made its public debut on the American television show '' The 1980 Floor Show'' recorded in London on 18–20 October 1973. A cover of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

's " Growin' Up", with Ronnie Wood on lead guitar, was also recorded during this time. Recording for the album at Olympic officially began at the start of 1974. Bowie had started to work on "Rebel Rebel" during a solo session at Trident following Christmas 1973. On New Year's Day, the group recorded "

Candidate A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group (sociology), group or election to an offic ...

" and "Take It In Right", an early version of "Can You Hear Me" from '' Young Americans'' (1975). Following the final sessions with the Astronettes, recording continued from 14 to 15 January, with the group recording "Rock 'n' Roll with Me", "Candidate", " Big Brother", "Take It In Right" and the title track. The following day, Bowie recorded "We Are the Dead", after which he contacted Visconti for mixing advice. "Rebel Rebel" was finished around this time. Recording was finished at Ludolph Studios in the Netherlands, where the Stones had just finished recording ''

It's Only Rock 'n Roll ''It's Only Rock 'n Roll'' is the twelfth studio album by English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 18 October 1974 by Rolling Stones Records. It was the last album to feature guitarist Mick Taylor; the songwriting and recording of th ...

'' (1974).

Music and lyrics

''Diamond Dogs'' was Bowie's last album in the glam rock genre. Buckley writes: "In the sort of move which would come to define his career, Bowie jumped the glam-rock ship just in time, before it drifted into a blank parody of itself." The album has often been regarded as an "English

proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock genre and movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variet ...

" record, according to the cultural studies academic Jon Stratton, who calls it "post-glam". The pop culture scholar Shelton Waldrep describes it as "wonderfully dark proto-punk", while the music journalist C. M. Crockford says it is "the goofy, abrasive place where punk and art-rock meet, dance a little, and depart". In the opinion of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s Adam Sweeting, while "the music still has one foot in the glam-rock camp", the album marks the point in Bowie's career where he "began exploring a kind of

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

soul music with lavish theatrical packaging", featuring Broadway-style ballads such as "Big Brother" and "Sweet Thing".

describes the album as having "manic alternations between power-charged

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

and sophisticated, synthesiser-heavy apocalyptic ballads". The biographer Christopher Sandford writes that beyond the overall concept, many of the songs delve into R&B. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''s Barry Walters wrote that although the album is still primarily glam rock, it also contains elements of "Blaxploitation funk and soul, rock opera, European art song, and Broadway."

Side one

The opening track, "Future Legend", is a spoken word track that depicts a post-apocalyptic urban landscape. The writings of Burroughs, especially '' The Wild Boys'' (1971) inspire the visions of decay. The author Peter Doggett notes that unlike the opening of '' Ziggy Stardust'', which announces the world will end in five years, the apocalypse of "Future Legend" could happen at any time. Bowie begins the title track by announcing, "This ain't rock'n'roll – this is ''genocide''". The track introduces Bowie's newest persona, Halloween Jack, described as "a real cool cat" who "lives on top of Manhattan Chase" in the urban wasteland depicted in "Future Legend". He rules the "diamond dogs", who O'Leary describes as "packs of feral kids camped on high-rise roofs, tearing around on roller skates, terrorizing the corpse-strewn streets they live above". Although Jack is commonly identified as one of Bowie's "identities" like Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, Doggett notes that Jack occupies "little more than a cameo role". The riff and saxophone are inspired by the Rolling Stones. The biographer

Marc Spitz Marc Spitz (October 2, 1969 – February 4, 2017) was an American music journalist, writer and playwright. Spitz's writings on rock and roll and popular culture appeared in ''Spin (magazine), Spin'' (where he was a Senior Writer) as well as ''Th ...

notes that it is the same "jaded commentator's voice" Bowie had used on ''Aladdin Sane''. Multiple biographers cite the suite of "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" as the album's highlight. Pegg describes Bowie's vocal performance, which he believes to be one of his finest, as a croon. "Sweet Thing" paints pictures of decay, with sex being a "drug-like commodity" while "Candidate" contains references to

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some cult members committed a Manson ...

and

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

, with Bowie being "consumed by the fakery of his own stage creations". "Rebel Rebel", cited by Pegg as Bowie's most covered track, is based around a distinctive guitar riff reminiscent of the Rolling Stones and was his farewell to the glam rock era. According to Pegg, Parker "added the three descending notes at the end of each loop of the riff". The song features a character who predates 1970s punk rock and gender-bending lyrics ("You got your mother in a whirl / She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl"). Some commentators praised the song itself but felt it did not contribute to the overall theme of the album. Doggett, however, writes that the song acts as the "musical continuation" of the "Sweet Thing" suite.

Side two

Bowie and MacCormack co-wrote "Rock 'n' Roll with Me"; it was Bowie's first co-writing credit on one of his own albums. MacCormack said his contribution was minimal—he played the chord sequence on piano. A

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

, the song explores the relationship between the audience and an actor. When asked whether fans considered him a leader, Bowie described "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" as his response, saying: "You're doing it to me, stop it!" Buckley writes the song foreshadowed the soul direction that Bowie would take on ''Young Americans''. The lyrics of "We Are the Dead" reflect the characters of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', Winston and Julia's, love for each other. They establish a world fraught with danger that mirrors the rest of the album. Buckley describes the lyrics as "gothic" and the music as "creepy". Although it quotes ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' directly, O'Leary and James Perone argue the song owes more to the writings of Burroughs. "1984" was the signature number for Bowie's planned adaptation of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. It has been interpreted as representing Winston Smith's imprisonment and interrogation by O'Brien. The lyrics also bear some similarities to Bowie's earlier song " All the Madmen" (1970)—"They'll split your pretty cranium and fill it full of air." AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco wrote: "Bowie's recording of "1984" fully realizes the song's cinematic potential with a dramatic arrangement that utilizes skittering strings and a throbbing wah-wah guitar line that effectively mirrors the song's clipped, militaristic rhythms." Originally recorded during the ''Aladdin Sane'' sessions, the rerecording's wah-wah guitar is reminiscent of

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

's " Theme from ''Shaft''". Guarisco and Pegg felt the song's

and soul nature fully predicted the direction Bowie would take on ''Young Americans''. According to Pegg, the theme of "Big Brother" is "the dangerous charisma of absolute power and the facility with which societies succumb to totalitarianism's final solutions". It was a possible contender to close Bowie's adaptation of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. Featuring synthesisers and saxophones, the track builds to a climax that Buckley considers reminiscent of ''The Man Who Sold the World''. The track segues into "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family", a variation on "Two Minutes Hate" from ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. It is a chant in 5/4 and 6/4 time, with a distorted guitar loop. On the original LP, the word brother repeats in a "stuck-needle effect", similar to the ending of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' ''

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (often referred to simply as ''Sgt. Pepper'') is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept ...

'' (1967).

Artwork and packaging

The cover artwork depicts Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog

grotesque Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

. He sports his Ziggy Stardust haircut and two "freak-show" dogs surround him shown against a backdrop of New York City. The artwork originated from a photo session with the photographer Terry O'Neill. Bowie opted not to use any of his previous cover artwork photographers and instead requested the services of the Belgian artist Guy Peellaert, whose recently published ''Rock Dreams'' catalogue, featuring numerous airbrushed and exploited photographs, was growing in popularity. Bowie invited Peellaert to the photoshoot where he posed as a dog and with a

Great Dane The Great Dane is a German list of dog breeds, breed of large mastiff-sighthound, which descends from hunting dogs of the Middle Ages used to hunt bears, wild boar, and deer. They were also used as guardian dogs of German nobility. It is one o ...

brought to the session. Bowie asked Peellaert if he would like to develop a painting for the artwork, based on a storyboard idea where he appeared as a half-man, half-dog, stylistically similar to Peelleart's artwork for the Rolling Stones' ''It's Only Rock 'n Roll''. Peellaert agreed, basing the backdrop on a book he owned about

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

's Pleasure Park. The two dogs behind Bowie were based on the Island's Cavalcade Variety Show performers Alzoria Lewis (known as "the Turtle Girl") and Johanna Dickens (known as "the Bear Girl"). The artwork was controversial as the full image on the

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for gramophone record, LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½-inch 2.7-centimetresquare). ...

sleeve showed the hybrid's genitalia. RCA had the genitalia

airbrush An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint, but also ink, dye, and make-up. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is considered to employ a type of airbrush. History Up unt ...

ed from the sleeve used for most releases. Some original uncensored copies made their way into circulation at the time of the album's release. According to the record-collector publication '' Goldmine'' price guides, these albums have been among the most expensive record collectibles of all time, selling for thousands of US dollars for a single copy. Other changes to the artwork included the substitution of the freak show badge "Alive" with the word "Bowie"; Bowie was credited simply as "Bowie", continuing the convention established with ''Pin Ups''.

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

/ EMI restored Peelaert's original uncensored artwork for the album's re-release in 1990. Subsequent reissues have included a rejected inner gatefold image featuring Bowie in a sombrero cordobés holding onto a ravenous dog with a copy of Walter Ross's novel ''The Immortal'' at his feet. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the cover the 51st best album cover of all time in 2024.

Release and promotion

In the UK, RCA released the

, "Rebel Rebel", on 15 February 1974, backed by the ''Hunky Dory'' track " Queen Bitch". The same day, Bowie recorded a

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

ed performance of "Rebel Rebel" at Hilversum's Avro Studio 2 for the Dutch television programme ''Top Pop''. Broadcast two days later, it featured Bowie donning what Pegg calls his short-lived "pirate image"—an eyepatch and a spotted neckerchief. Bowie changed this costume after the performance in favour of the "swept-back parting and double-breasted suits" of the Diamond Dogs Tour. For its US release, Bowie recorded a new mix in April 1974. Dubbed the "Latin dub mix" by Doggett, this mix was released in New York in May 1974, with " Lady Grinning Soul" as the B-side. The single was a commercial success, peaking at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart and number 64 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

. It further became a glam anthem, the female equivalent of Bowie's earlier hit for Mott the Hoople, " All the Young Dudes". RCA issued ''Diamond Dogs'' on 24 May 1974 with the catalogue number APLI 0576. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and number five on the US ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart. A $400,000 advertising campaign featuring billboards in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

and

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

, magazine ads, subway posters declaring "The Year of the Diamond Dogs" and a television commercial, one of the first of its kind for a pop album according to Pegg, boosted its sales in the US. In Canada, it repeated its British chart-topping success, hitting number one on the ''

RPM 100 ''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''RP ...

'' national albums chart in July 1974, remaining there for two weeks. RCA released the second single, "Diamond Dogs", on 14 June 1974, with a rerecorded version of Bowie's 1971 single " Holy Holy" as the B-side. It was Bowie's least-successful single in two years, peaking at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart and failing to chart in the US. In July, "1984" was released as the third single in the US and Japan, but failed to chart. Reviewing the single the following month, ''Billboard'' described "1984" as Bowie's "most commercial cut ... in a long time".

Tour

Bowie supported the album on the Diamond Dogs Tour, whose first leg lasted from 14 June to 20 July 1974. Co-designed and constructed by Chris Langhart, it featured elaborate set-pieces and cost $250,000.

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

's ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'' (1927) and

Robert Wiene Robert Wiene (; 27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) was a German film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer, active during the Silent film, silent era. He is widely-known for directing the landmark 1920 film ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ...

's '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920) influenced the tour's design, primarily due to Bowie's interest in

German expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

. The tour's second leg, from 2 September to 1 December 1974, has been nicknamed the Soul Tour, because of the influence of the soul music Bowie had begun recording for ''Young Americans'' in August. The shows were altered heavily, and no longer featured elaborate set-pieces, partly because Bowie had tired of the design and wanted to explore the new sound he was creating. Bowie dropped songs from the previous leg, while he added new ones—some from ''Young Americans''. In early September, director

Alan Yentob Alan Yentob (11 March 1947 – 24 May 2025) was an English television executive and presenter. He held senior roles at the BBC, including head of music and arts, controller of BBC1 and BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadca ...

filmed a documentary that depicts Bowie on the tour in Los Angeles, using a mixture of sequences filmed in limousines, hotels and concert footage, most of which was taken from a show there at

Universal Amphitheatre Universal Amphitheatre (later known as Gibson Amphitheatre) was an indoor amphitheatre located in Los Angeles, California, within Universal City, California, Universal City. It was built as an outdoor venue, opening in the summer of 1972 with a p ...

on 2 September. Broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

in the UK on 26 January 1975, '' Cracked Actor'' is notable as a primary source of footage of the Diamond Dogs Tour, and for showing Bowie's declining mental state during this period because of his growing cocaine addiction. After seeing an advanced screening of the film, the director

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg ( ; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance (film), Performance'' (1970), ''Walkabout (film), Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973) ...

immediately contacted Bowie to discuss a role in '' The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (1976). Bowie played all of the album's songs except "We Are the Dead" on the tour, performances of which have been released on three live albums: '' David Live'' (1974), '' Cracked Actor'' (2017) and '' I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)'' (2020). "Rebel Rebel" featured on almost every later Bowie tour, "Diamond Dogs" was performed for the Isolar,

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a television network * '' ...

and A Reality Tours, and "Big Brother/Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" was resurrected in 1987 for the Glass Spider Tour, which itself was heavily influenced by the Diamond Dogs tour. The Diamond Dogs Tour has had a lasting legacy. Sandford says the tour turned Bowie from a "novelty act" into a "superstar". Spitz writes it was highly influential on future tours with large and elaborate set pieces, including

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...

's Mothership Connection tour,

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

's Vegas period, the 1990s tours of U2 and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, and 'N Sync, the

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

's 2008 Glow in the Dark Tour.

Critical reception

The album received mixed reviews from music critics on release. '' Disc'' magazine compared the album to "the greatly underrated" ''The Man Who Sold the World'', believing it to contain some of Bowie's best-written songs and "without doubt the finest Phe's made so far", while ''Rock Magazine'' found it "a strong and effective album, and certainly the most impressive work Bowie's completed since ''Ziggy Stardust''". Martin Kirkup of '' Sounds'' wrote, "where ''Aladdin Sane'' seemed like a series of Instamatic snapshots taken from weird angles, ''Diamond Dogs'' has the provoking quality of a thought-out painting that draws on all the deeper colors". ''Billboard'' saw a "subtler, more aesthetic Bowie" than his previous records on an album "which should reinforce his musical presence in the 70's". Peter Harvey of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' was disappointed regarding the absence of the Spiders and wished the lyrical themes were more upbeat, but predicted the record would make a good stage production. ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

''s

Chris Charlesworth Chris Charlesworth is a British-based music journalist and author; and, between 1983 and 2016, managing editor of Omnibus Press. He is particularly noted for his work about, and with, The Who, for whom he has worked as an executive producer. Char ...

called the album "really good" and compared it to

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...

method of production and noting the similar level of excitement and praise Bowie's albums were beginning to receive as the Beatles did in the 60s.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

was more critical in ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...

'', suggesting that Bowie performs a pale imitation of

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...

's "theatrical vocalism". He also dismissed the lyrical content as "escapist pessimism concocted from a pleasure dome: eat, snort and bugger little girls, for tomorrow we shall be peoploids – but tonight how about $6.98 for this piece of plastic? Say nay." Ken Emerson of ''

'' gave the album an extremely negative review, calling it, "Bowie's worst album in six years". He criticised Bowie's choice of direction, the absence of Ronson, describing Bowie's guitar playing as "cheesy" adding "the music exerts so little appeal that it's hard to care what it's about". Despite the album's mixed reception,

John Rockwell John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to ''Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ki ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' found it inoffensive and "surrealisticnihilistic".

Influence and legacy

''Diamond Dogs'' raw guitar style and visions of urban chaos, scavenging children and nihilistic lovers ("We'll buy some drugs and watch a band / Then jump in a river holding hands") have been credited with anticipating the

revolution that would take place in the following years. According to the ''Rolling Stone'' writer Mark Kemp, the album's "resigned nihilism inspired interesting gloom and doom from later goth and industrial acts such as

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

and

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

". O'Leary writes that Bowie's appearance in the promotional video for "Rebel Rebel" provided inspiration on future punks' styles and attitudes. He continues that initial British punks were former fans of Bowie and

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

, and "Rebel Rebel" stands as both Bowie's goodbye and tribute to them. Crockford further acknowledges the album's influence on punk, stating: "Bowie's violent, amateruishly scraping guitar playing here would be echoed in the late-70's

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

bands and Diamond Dogs' concept of street gangs roaming London was echoed in the gleeful nihilism of the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

." Considering Bowie's direction afterwards through the punk and

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

eras, ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

''s Derek Miller says, "''Diamond Dogs'' should be remembered not only as one of glam’s last great full-lengths but more importantly as a gap-record that somehow manages to cohesively storyboard Bowie's crude

concept A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, ...

ual

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

while also expanding his sound."

Retrospective appraisal

Retrospective appraisals have been mixed. AllMusic's

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

said that, because Bowie did not completely retire the character of Ziggy Stardust, ''Diamond Dogs'' suffers from him being unsure how to move forward. Although he praised "Rebel Rebel", he further criticised the exclusion of Ronson and ultimately concluded "it is the first record since ''Space Oddity'' where Bowie's reach exceeds his grasp".

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' gave the album a mixed review, calling it "an overproduced concept album inspired by Orwell's ''1984''". Eduardo Rivadavia was also mixed in '' Ultimate Classic Rock'', questioning the presence of Ziggy, whom Bowie supposedly retired the year before. Despite the album's commercial success, Rivadavia concluded: "with decades of hindsight, ''Diamond Dogs'' now seems more like the gateway from the ''Ziggy Stardust'' era to his Thin White Duke blue-eyed soul period, and beyond". The record has attracted positive reviews. ''Pitchfork''s Barry Walters described the album as "a bummer, a bad trip, 'No Fun' – a sustained work of decadence and dread that transforms corrosion into celebration". He also believed it foreshadowed Bowie's Thin White Duke persona. For punknews.org, C. M. Crockford wrote that ''Diamonds Dogs'' is Bowie's "utterly most distinctive work: melodramatic, raw, challenging, and ambitious even when crammed with catchy songs". Crockford ultimately called it one of Bowie's essential releases and argued that he would "never make an album that was so obviously his own again". In a 2013 readers' poll for ''Rolling Stone'', ''Diamond Dogs'' was voted Bowie's fifth-greatest album. In subsequent decades, Bowie biographers have described ''Diamond Dogs'' as one of Bowie's greatest works. Cann writes: "''Diamond Dogs'' is arguably owie'smost significant album, a pivotal work and the most 'solo' album he has ever made." Although Spitz calls it "no fun", he states it was Bowie's "best-sounding, most complex record to date, and it still pulls you into its romantic and doomed world three and a half decades on". Trynka calls it "a beautiful mess", while Buckley says the album proved that Bowie could still produce work of "real quality" without Scott or the Spiders. Doggett writes it anticipated the "sonic audacity" of '' Low'' and '' "Heroes"'', while it simultaneously "capsized the vessel of classic rock". Perone argues that "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" predated

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

' exploration of African rhythms and experimentation in the late 1970s. Pegg writes that with tracks like "We Are the Dead", "Big Brother" and the "Sweet Thing" suite, the album contains "some of the most sublime and remarkable sounds in the annals of rock music". He further states that Bowie's new voice on the record, a "''basso profundo''", particularly evident on "Sweet Thing" and "Big Brother", was a major influence on

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

bands in the 1980s. It ranked number 447 in ''NME''s list of the

500 Greatest Albums of All Time 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

and number 14 in ''Rolling Stone''s list of the 74 Best Albums of 1974.

Reissues

''Diamond Dogs'' has been reissued several times. Although the original 1974 vinyl releases featured a gatefold cover, some later LP versions such as RCA's 1980 US reissue presented the album in a standard non-gatefold sleeve. The album was first released on CD in the mid-1980s by RCA, with censored cover art. The German (for the European market) and Japanese (for the US market) masters, sourced from different tapes, are not identical. Dr. Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital, in

Southborough, Massachusetts Southborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It incorporates the villages of Cordaville, Fayville, and Southville. Its name is often informally shortened to Southboro, a usage seen on many area signs and maps. At th ...

, remastered ''Diamond Dogs'' from the original master tapes for Rykodisc in 1990, released with two bonus tracks and the original, uncensored, artwork. It was again remastered in 1999 by Peter Mew at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

for EMI and

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

, and once more released with no bonus tracks. In 2004, a 2-disc version was released by EMI/Virgin. The third in a series of ''30th Anniversary 2CD Editions'' (along with ''Ziggy Stardust'' and ''Aladdin Sane''), this release included a remastered version of the album on the first disc. The second disc contains eight tracks, five of which had been released previously with the '' Sound + Vision'' box set in 1989 or as bonus tracks on the 1990–92 Rykodisc/EMI reissues. In 2016, the album was remastered for the '' Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)''

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

. It was released on CD and vinyl, and in digital formats, both as part of this compilation and separately.

Track listing

All tracks written by

, except "Rock 'n' Roll with Me", lyrics by Bowie; music by Bowie and Geoff MacCormack.

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Diamond Dogs'' liner notes and biographer Nicholas Pegg. *

– lead and background vocals, guitar,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

Moog synthesiser The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer a ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

* Mike Garson – keyboards * Herbie Flowers – bass guitar * Tony Newman – drums * Aynsley Dunbar – drums *

– guitar ("1984"), additional guitar ("Rebel Rebel") Technical *David Bowie – producer; mixing *

– strings on "1984"; mixing * Keith Harwood –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

; mixing *Leee Black Childers – photography * Guy Peellaert – cover painting

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond Dogs David Bowie albums 1974 albums Science fiction concept albums Dystopian music EMI Records albums Albums produced by David Bowie Music based on Nineteen Eighty-Four RCA Records albums Virgin Records albums Funk albums by English artists Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios Protopunk albums