Fifty after its release,
Diamond Dogs
is getting a makeover.
David Bowie's 8th
studio
album, released in 1974 by RCA Records, will be entitled to its reissue.
On May 24, the exact day of its golden jubilee,
Diamond Dogs
will be available in two vinyl editions, both limited.
This reissue follows those of
Hunky Dory
(1971),
Ziggy Stardust
(1972) and
Aladdin Sane
(1973).
With
Rebel Rebel
, the first single from the album, Bowie bid farewell to glam-rock, announcing the start of the gothic punk movement, which officially appeared at the end of the 1970s. The title met with great success in the United Kingdom where it has sold more than 600,000 copies.
A few months later,
Diamond Dogs
was just as well received.
The album topped the charts in the United Kingdom and entered the top five of the Billboard 200 in the United States.
Since their release in 1974, the songs on the album have been covered by many renowned artists.
Among them, Beck, Tina Turner, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, Joan As Police Woman, Dead Or Alive, The Struts.
The end of Ziggy
For Bowie,
Diamond Dogs
is synonymous with renewal.
It marks the end of Ziggy Stardust, his iconic androgynous and alien character sent to Earth before an imminent apocalypse.
The opportunity for the singer to create a new stage avatar.
Thus, the album cover, created by the Belgian artist Guy Peellaert, features David Bowie as a hybrid creature, half-man, half-dog.
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The tracks on the album are like the cover, developing the universe of Hunger City, a postapocalyptic city haunted by a gang of teenagers.
To write and imagine this dystopia, David Bowie was inspired by the
Wild Boys
by the writer William S. Burroughs.
The two men even spoke for
Rolling Stone
magazine in February 1974. The album
Diamond Dogs
also comes from the singer's desire to adapt
1984
, George Orwell's novel, into a musical.
Unable to obtain the copyright, Bowie was forced to reduce the project to a few songs.
Among them,
We are the dead
,
Big Brother
and above all,
1984
.
Between drugs, violence and fascination with power... This 8th album is today considered one of the artist's darkest.
Both vinyls are already available for pre-order on David Bowie's official website.
Prices range from 40 euros, for the “half-speed master” version, to 48.50 euros for the “picture-disc” version.