The Man Who Sold The World (Picture Disc 12")

12" picture disc for the 50th anniversary of the original U.K. release of David Bowie's landmark entry into the 1970s. Features the 2015 remastered audio of the original album.

Even though it contained no hits, The Man Who Sold the World, for most intents and purposes, was the beginning of David Bowie's classic period. Working with guitarist Mick Ronson and producer Tony Visconti for the second time Bowie developed a tight, twisted heavy guitar rock that appears simple on the surface but sounds more gnarled upon each listen. The mix is off-center, with the fuzz-bass dominating the compressed, razor-thin guitars and Bowie's strangled, affected voice.

The sound of The Man Who Sold the World is odd, but the music itself is bizarre, with Bowie's weird, paranoid futuristic tales melded to Ronson's riffing and the band's relentless attack. Musically, there isn't much innovation on The Man Who Sold the World -- it is almost all hard blues-rock or psychedelic folk-rock -- but there's an unsettling edge to the band's performance, which makes the record one of Bowie's best albums.
All Music Guide