David Bowie Diamond Dogs CD

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Composer: David Bowie.
Personnel: David Bowie (vocals, guitar, saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer); David Bowie; Tony Newman (drums); Alan Parker (guitar); Tony Visconti (strings); Mike Garson (piano, keyboards); Aynsley Dunbar (drums).
Audio Mixers: David Bowie; Keith Harwood; Tony Visconti.
Audio Remasterers: Nigel Reeve; Peter Mew.
Audio Remixers: Dr. Toby Mountain; Jonathan Wyner.
Recording information: Island Studios, London, England; Olympic Studio, London, England; Studio L Ludolf Machineweg, Hilversum, The Netherlands.
Photographers: Ken Regan; Lee Black Childers.
Arrangers: David Bowie; Tony Visconti.
David Bowie fired the Spiders From Mars shortly after the release of Pin Ups, but he didn't completely leave the Ziggy Stardust persona behind. Diamond Dogs suffers precisely because of this -- he doesn't know how to move forward. Originally conceived as a concept album based on George Orwell's 1984, Diamond Dogs evolved into another one of Bowie's paranoid future nightmares. Throughout the album, there are hints that he's tired with the Ziggy formula, particularly in the disco underpinning of "Candidate" and his cut-and-paste lyrics. However, it's not enough to make Diamond Dogs a step forward, and without Mick Ronson to lead the band, the rockers are too stiff to make an impact. Ironically, the one exception is one of Bowie's very best songs -- the tight, sexy "Rebel Rebel." The song doesn't have much to do with the theme, and the ones he does throw in to further the story usually fall flat. Diamond Dogs isn't a total waste, with "1984," "Candidate," and "Diamond Dogs" all offering some sort of pleasure, but it is the first record since Space Oddity where Bowie's reach exceeds his grasp. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
After George Orwell's widow refused Bowie the right to use 1984 as the title of his forthcoming album, he instead used the novel as a conceptual blueprint for what became DIAMOND DOGS. Accompanied only by keyboardist Mike Garson, bassist Herbie Flowers, and drummers Aynsley Dunbar and Tony Newman, Bowie played guitar, sax, Moog, and Mellotron, in addition to his contributions as vocalist, composer, arranger, and producer of the album. With the Orwellian themes as a loose backdrop, DIAMOND DOGS has much of the apocalyptic sense of future shock that informed ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS.
While the album doesn't have the musical punch or the songwriting strengths of ZIGGY, its gems make it more than worthwhile. The lush strings and dominant wah-wah guitar of "1984" seem like a nod to Isaac Hayes, while Bowie's howls and snarling sax on the title track make it instantly memorable. The glam rock classic "Rebel Rebel," with its edgy guitar riff and strutting 4/4 beat, is the disc's highlight, and one of Bowie's all-time great songs. Amidst the imagery of a gray, totalitarian future, Bowie injected some optimism by including the nostalgic "Rock 'N' Roll With Me," a good time, rootsy number that presaged his next transformation into the blue-eyed soul singer of YOUNG AMERICANS.Q (11/99, pp.140-1) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...all apocalyptic doom and nightmare vision...fueled by cocaine psychosis, Watergate and the three-day week. This slice of literary concept rock has improved with age..."
Uncut (p.118) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[Y]ou could still argue that DOGS was the first bling bling album; a brutally urban, hardcore artefact."
Mojo (Publisher) (2/02, p.84) - "...A melange of rock'n'roll pastiche, Stateside superfunk and outbursts of avant-garde noise...compares well with its more successful, accessible predecessors, ZIGGY and ALADDIN SANE."