Diamond Dogs
Slap Bang Blue Rendezvous

Diamond Dogs has been around for quite a while now, they have disbanded and reformed and this Slap Bang Blue Rendezvous is their fourteenth album. We have written some words about them before, both positive and negative words. This new one looks pretty cool with a nice cover, and it gives you plenty of music so in terms of minutes for the money it is good value. But plenty of music is not always a great thing as it often comes with diminishing returns in how much attention is paid to the album and similar things. So, does the dogs keep you entertained all the way through? I would say kind of.

There is no slap bang surprises in terms of style from Sulo and his ensemble, boogie rock, classic rock ‘n’ roll, and glam rock are still the fitting descriptions best used to describe this latest effort. The eyes firmly in the rear-view mirror at the seventies, it could have been something by one of those bands but with a fresher sound. The variation is probably not quite enough to sell the entire playing time, but it is a suitable album when you want something for a lengthy task like a long drive or something like that.

With accessible songs that are very easy to like they will appeal to a wide audience, not only those that are already fans. There are some real diamonds amongst the tracks, some of the finest they have done. But as a critic I always look at more aspects than accessibility and catchiness, and the playing time is one backside as there is no way around the fact that the album is too long. It is mostly enjoyable for the entire time but the excellent songs drown and loose some of the shine amongst the merely good ones, that is one thing. And I don’t think the album is that memorable, like the best ones are – a great album is either of outstanding quality or giving us something fresh and exciting, this one gives us some outstanding material but not enough to stand out.

Diamond Dogs will surely appeal to their flock and those who are of a nostalgic disposition, personally I may not adore this album but I will keep it as I find it to be good enough to be worth a spin sometimes, like when driving or working. As I pointed out, there are some really fine diamonds on this album, there may also be a few dogs, but the overall impression is positive.

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