Editing Diamond Dogs (section)

==Critical reception==
The album received mixed reviews from music critics on release.{{sfn|Sandford|1997|p=124}} ''[[Disc (magazine)|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 [LP] he'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''".{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=367–372}} [[Martin Kirkup]] of ''[[Sounds (magazine)|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".{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=176–179}} ''Billboard'' saw a "subtler, more aesthetic Bowie" than his previous records on an album "which should reinforce his musical presence in the 70's".<ref>{{cite news |title=Top Album Picks |magazine=Billboard |date=25 May 1974 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1974/Billboard%201974-05-25.pdf |page=65 |via=worldradiohistory.com |access-date=6 December 2020 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806210813/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1974/Billboard%201974-05-25.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Peter Harvey of ''[[Record Mirror]]'' 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.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Harvey |first=Peter |title=Albums: ''Diamond Dogs'' Bowie |magazine=[[Record Mirror]] |date=18 May 1974 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/70s/74/Record-Mirror-1974-05-18.pdf |page=20 |access-date=27 November 2022 |via=worldradiohistory.com }}</ref>

''[[Melody Maker]]''{{'}}s [[Chris Charlesworth]] called the album "really good" and compared it to [[Phil Spector]]'s [[Wall of Sound]] 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.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Charlesworth |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Charlesworth |title=David Bowie: ''Diamond Dogs'' |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/david-bowie-idiamond-dogsi |magazine=[[Melody Maker]] |date=11 May 1974 |access-date=2 March 2021 |via=Rock's Backpages |url-access=subscription |archive-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906131538/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/david-bowie-idiamond-dogsi |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Robert Christgau]] was more critical in ''[[Creem]]'', suggesting that Bowie performs a pale imitation of [[Bryan Ferry]]'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 [[humanoid|peoploids]] – but tonight how about $6.98 for this piece of plastic? Say nay."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/crm7409.php|title=The Christgau Consumer Guide|magazine=[[Creem]]|date=September 1974|access-date=10 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129070638/http://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/crm7409.php|archive-date=29 November 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Ken Emerson of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' 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".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Emerson|first=Ken|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/diamond-dogs-112951/|title=''Diamond Dogs''|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=1 August 1974|access-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812214623/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/diamond-dogs-112951/|archive-date=12 August 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> Despite the album's mixed reception, [[John Rockwell]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' found it inoffensive and "surrealisticnihilistic".<ref>{{cite web |last=Rockwell |first=John |author-link=John Rockwell |title=Pop Music: Bowie Puts on Lavish Show at Garden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/21/archives/pop-music-bowie-puts-on-lavish-show-at-garden-good-moves-pacing-add.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=27 November 2022 |date=21 July 1974 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127192731/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/21/archives/pop-music-bowie-puts-on-lavish-show-at-garden-good-moves-pacing-add.html |archive-date=27 November 2022 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref>