David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World [Remastered] (CD 1999)

Sandwiched between the semi-hippy folkiness of "Space Oddity" and the retro-rock proto-glam of "Hunky Dory", we have "The Man Who Sold The World", a much under-rated album. At times the music is almost redolent of early Deep Purple - bluesy, heavy guitar accompaniment and some breakneck often high-pitched vocals. There is also, for good measure, an elongated workout a la Yes or Led Zeppelin in the monumental "Width Of A Circle", with its many changes of pace.

At times, much of this album sounds almost like Tin Machine, Bowie's ill-fated "back to roots" experiment in the early nineties, particularly "Black Country Rock", one of the most metal things Bowie ever laid down. Similarly, "Running Gun Blues" and "Saviour Machine" are blessed with Mick Ronson's heaviest riffs from his time with Bowie. The latter has echoes of the unused outtake for "Ziggy Stardust", "Sweet Head".

"After All" and "All The Madmen" deal with the contemporaneous Bowie theme of madness. The former somewhat spoilt by it's "Bewlay Brothers" fade-out style cockney chanted vocal, The title track is sublime and really should have been cashed in on as a single at the height of Bowie's popularity. Instead, he allowed Lulu to record an appealing, but inferior version which was a big hit in 1974.

Finally, a clue to Bowie's future direction can be found in the album's haunting closer "Supermen" which would not sound out of place on any of the next three albums Bowie was to release. The heavy becomes lighter here and therein we see the future. An interesting album to listen to nonetheless.

Bought this on vinyl 25 years ago and it still is as awesome now as it was when i heard it as a 17 year old. Bowie didn't just start as Ziggy Stardust!

prototype for punk, goth everything rock. Weird, hypnotic lyrics, very dark. Width of a Circle, the first track, remains like a monolithic epitaph. Visconti apparently had to drag the depressed Bowie out of bed for this LP. He produces it brilliantly with a sparse, heavy sound. Bowie had only bits and pieces written but manages to produce a work of consistent genius. The title track The Man who Sold the World has been covered a number of times and remains an enigmatic classic. My first ever album - still emotes,

of all the bowie albums i own , this was played the most and took a lot of damage by far the best in my eyes glad i have the cd..