History Music / DiamondDogs

''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in 1974 through Creator/RCARecords. The last album of his that can be classified as GlamRock, it is a ConceptAlbum born from the ashes of proposed musical adaptations of ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'' and ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''; Bowie could not get the rights to the latter. The album is set in a post-apocalyptic environment called "Hunger City", based on the works of Creator/WilliamSBurroughs, where the remnants of humanity scrounge their way into as much decadence that can be enjoyed in the dying days of mankind. Keeping in line with its starting point, the album makes frequent references to Creator/GeorgeOrwell's novel, orienting its themes and plot points around [[TheApunkalypse Apunkalypse]] settings and characters. Fitting this darker direction, the album reunited Bowie with collaborator Tony Visconti, who he had last worked with on the similarly gothic ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' four years prior; Visconti provided string arrangements and mixing work here. Barring the Harry Maslin-produced ''Music/StationToStation'', Bowie and Visconti would continue to collaborate until 1982, when they fell out again over Bowie's decision to have ''Music/LetsDance'' produced by Nile Rodgers without informing Visconti.

''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in 1974. The last album of his that can be classified as GlamRock, it is a ConceptAlbum born from the ashes of proposed musical adaptations of ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'' and ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''; Bowie could not get the rights to the latter. The album is set in a post-apocalyptic environment called "Hunger City", based on the works of Creator/WilliamSBurroughs, where the remnants of humanity scrounge their way into as much decadence that can be enjoyed in the dying days of mankind. Keeping in line with its starting point, the album makes frequent references to Creator/GeorgeOrwell's novel, orienting its themes and plot points around [[TheApunkalypse Apunkalypse]] settings and characters. Fitting this darker direction, the album reunited Bowie with collaborator Tony Visconti, who he had last worked with on the similarly gothic ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' four years prior; Visconti provided string arrangements and mixing work here. Barring the Harry Maslin-produced ''Music/StationToStation'', Bowie and Visconti would continue to collaborate until 1982, when they fell out again over Bowie's decision to have ''Music/LetsDance'' produced by Nile Rodgers without informing Visconti.

* LongTitle: The title of "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" is seven words long, resulting in it having the longest title on the album.

** Cassette releases alter the running order to even out the lengths of the two sides. On the UK release, "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (Reprise)" and "Rebel Rebel" are moved to the end of side two, with the tracks after them accordingly being pushed up. The US release, meanwhile, simply swaps "Rebel Rebel" and "1984".

* {{Homage}}: The album was inspired by Creator/GeorgeOrwell's ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. Three tracks, "We Are the Dead", "1984", and "Big Brother", refer to it directly. Indeed, Bowie originally intended them and other songs for a musical based on the novel, but Orwell's estate wouldn't give him the rights.

** 8-track releases of the album change the running order to conform to a four-program format. On the UK release, the running order is changed to "Future Legend", "Diamond Dogs", "We Are the Dead", "Rock 'n' Roll With Me", "Big Brother"/"Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family", "1984", "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (Reprise)", and "Rebel Rebel". "We Are the Dead", "Big Brother", and "Candidate" are also split into two parts each thanks to them overlapping with the changeover between programs. The US release's changes are less radical -- "Rebel Rebel" swaps places with "Big Brother"/"Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family" and "1984" is moved to before "Rock 'n' Roll With Me". Likewise, "Sweet Thing" and "Big Brother" are split into two parts.
** Cassette releases alter the running order to even out the lengths of the two sides. On the UK release, "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (Reprise)" and "Rebel Rebel" are moved to side two, with the tracks after them accordingly being pushed up. The US release, meanwhile, simply swaps "Rebel Rebel" and "1984".

* ShoutOut

** The "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (reprise)" trifecta are often considered a single 8:50 song, and were usually performed that way live. The 2008 compilation album ''[=iSelect=]'' even sequenced the three as one track.

* RearrangeTheSong: In 2003, a re-recording of "Rebel Rebel" was mashed up with "Never Get Old" from ''Music/{{Reality}}'', with the result being released as a single as "Rebel Never Gets Old".

* SexyPackaging: The album cover shows a painting depicting a Bowie and two women, all of whom are depicted as dog/man hybrids. One provocative detail on the cover was a set of visible genitals on the dog half of Bowie, which was airbrushed out on some of the copies.

** Halfway through "Future Legend", [[Music/RodgersAndHammerstein Rodgers & Hart]]'s "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" can be heard.

* SiameseTwinSongs: "Sweet Thing", "Candidate", and "Sweet Thing (Reprise)" all flow into each other and were performed live as a single suite; the 2008 compilation ''[=iSelect=]'' further hammers in the unity of the three by sequencing them as one 8:47 track. "1984" and "Big Brother" are thematically related and follow right after one another on the track-list.

--> ''We'll buy some drugs and watch old bands''\\

** "Candidate" namedrops UsefulNotes/CharlesManson and UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli, the latter under his former name, Cassius Clay.

* PrecisionFStrike: "We Are the Dead" has a subtle one:
--> "Locator for the virgin King, but I love you in your fuck-me pumps"

* GlamRock: ''Diamond Dogs'' was Bowie's last album in the genre, returning to the harder sound of ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'' while incorporating {{soul}} and {{funk}} influences. Bowie would ditch glam rock altogether following this album's supporting tour, barring a one-off collaboration with Music/{{Queen}} on [[Music/HotSpace "Under Pressure"]].

''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in 1974. The last album of his that can be classified as GlamRock and a ConceptAlbum born from the ashes of a proposed musical adaptation of ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' (Bowie could not get the rights to the novel), it is set in a post-apocalyptic environment called "Hunger City", where the remnants of humanity scrounge their way into as much decadence that can be enjoyed in the dying days of mankind. Keeping in line with its starting point, the album makes frequent references to Creator/GeorgeOrwell's novel, orienting its themes and plot points around [[TheApunkalypse Apunkalypse]] settings and characters. Fitting this darker direction, the album reunited Bowie with collaborator Tony Visconti, who he had last worked with on the similarly gothic ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' four years prior; Visconti provided string arrangements and mixing work here. Barring the Harry Maslin-produced ''Music/StationToStation'', Bowie and Visconti would continue to collaborate until 1982, when they fell out again over Bowie's decision to have ''Music/LetsDance'' produced by Nile Rodgers without informing Visconti.

* ConceptAlbum: The album tells the story of a dystopian future.

** The "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing (reprise)" trifecta are often considered a single 8:50 song, and were usually performed that way live.

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: The "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing" (reprise) sequence (which actually hard-cuts into "Rebel Rebel" as well), plus "Future Legend" into "Diamond Dogs" and "Big Brother" into "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family".

-->''Brother''
-->''Ooh-ooh''
-->''Shake it up, shake it up''
-->''Move it up, move it up''

%%* PostApocalypticDog: This is what you would call the Diamond Dogs.

* RearrangeTheSong: In 2003, "Rebel Rebel" was remixed with "Never Get Old" from ''Music/{{Reality}}'' and released as a single as "Rebel Never Gets Old"

''Her face is sans feature, but she wears a Dali brooch''

* SiameseTwinSongs: "Sweet Thing", which has a reprise later on the album. "1984" and "Big Brother" are thematically related and follow right after one another on the track-list.

''"[[TheStinger Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-Bruh-...]]"''

And red mutant eyes gaze down on hunger city\\

Sound-wise, the album continues the theatrical glam rock style of Bowie's prior records, but incorporates a greater amount of {{funk}} and RhythmAndBlues elements, influenced by a longtime affinity for black musical styles that extended to Bowie's childhood. As such, this album was the prelude to Bowie's abandonment of glam rock and the beginning of his "plastic soul" period, which would galvanize on his [[Music/YoungAmericans next]] [[Music/StationToStation two]] albums and have a lasting impact on the remainder of his career. Though that's not to say Bowie completely left his bombastic and theatrical glam era to rot in the gutter; he would still maintain an air of theatricality in live performances, and would use the ''Diamond Dogs'' tour as the basis for his similarly elaborate ''[[Music/NeverLetMeDown Glass Spider]]'' tour in 1987.

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: The "Sweet Thing"/"Candidate"/"Sweet Thing" (reprise) sequence (which actually fades into "Rebel Rebel" as well), plus "Future Legend" into "Diamond Dogs" and "Big Brother" into "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family".

* StylisticSuck: The vocal part on the TitleTrack is intentionally manipulated to sound discomforting warbly, replicating the effect of a very flutter-heavy tape machine.

The album cover was created by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert, who also did the album art for Music/TheRollingStones' ''Music/ItsOnlyRockNRoll'' the same year and would later design the film poster for ''Film/TaxiDriver''.

* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The [[AlbumCoverDesigners album cover was designed by]] Belgian painter Guy Peellaert, who also did the cover of ''Music/ItsOnlyRockNRoll'' by Music/TheRollingStones around the same time.

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Bowie is drawn as a half-dog, half-human on the album cover.