Which David Bowie album was released in 1974 and features a dystopian cityscape on its cover? The answer is Diamond Dogs. Released on 24 May 1974, it was Bowie's eighth studio album and drew heavily on George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, although the planned stage adaptation was never completed.
The album imagines a fractured future society populated by gangs called the Diamond Dogs. Its cover, painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert, shows Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog figure against a New York-inspired urban backdrop. That grotesque image is the “cityscape” clue, though the artwork is more surreal and theatrical than a literal city photograph.
Diamond Dogs was recorded during a transitional period after the retirement of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust persona. Its best-known tracks include “Rebel Rebel,” “1984,” “Diamond Dogs,” and “Rock 'n' Roll with Me.” A common mix-up is choosing Aladdin Sane or The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, both famous Bowie albums from the same era, but neither matches the 1974 release and cover description.