It remains one of my most played Bowie albums. He worked so much on “the concept” for albums – but this one really did go all out. I mean, it was meant to have a full-on theatrical stage production after all!
The touring of that was short lived. I think the increasingly cocaine addicted Bowie soon realised how….overly ambitious the whole thing was – and as is any artist’s prerogative, he changed tack and led us all to believe that he wanted to now have a stripped down tour.
I have to listen to it from start to finish…as much as the title track sometimes feels a bit overplayed for me personally, I find it rude to skip. Sometimes I do single out my favourite track on the album to listen to it on its own – Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me. But then I also love We Are The Dead and then I find I might as well play the whole damn thing. Lol
I had a copy of the Rykodisc CD in the ‘90s with the outtakes on it. The alternative versions of Dodo and Candidate became fast favourites. Candidate, in particular, has some great lines – including the one I chose to title this post with.
Although obviously not part of the original album, the song evolved and when parenthesised with Sweet Thing (and with a change of tune and lyrics) became part of the album, albeit in title only.
Happy Anniversary, Diamond Dogs – for your future’s sake listen to the demo of Candidate – and pretend you’re walking home.