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The Man Who Sold the World

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

The Man Who Sold the World is David Bowie's third studio album. It was released on 4 November 1970 in the United States and on 8 April 1971 in the United Kingdom. Tony Visconti produced the record, which was recorded in London in April and May 1970. The guitarist Mick Ronson and the drummer Mick Woodmansey play here for the first time, later members of the Spiders from Mars. After the acoustic previous album he opted for hard rock with blues rock and much darker lyrics about madness, religion, technology and war.

Ronson and Visconti arranged most of it, because the singer was busy with his new marriage and with management matters. No singles were released. The American cover shows a cowboy in front of an asylum, the British one a man in a blue dress. Commercially it was a failure, but later it was praised for the band's playing and its unsettling atmosphere. Many see it as the start of his classic period.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to The Width of a Circle and notice how hard and heavy the band sounds here, very different from the acoustic album before it.

Track list

  1. 1The Width of a Circle (2015 Remaster)8:11Apple Music ↗
  2. 2All the Madmen (2015 Remaster)5:43Apple Music ↗
  3. 3Black Country Rock (2015 Remaster)3:37Apple Music ↗
  4. 4After All (2015 Remaster)4:00Apple Music ↗
  5. 5Running Gun Blues (2015 Remaster)3:15Apple Music ↗
  6. 6Saviour Machine (2015 Remaster)4:30Apple Music ↗
  7. 7She Shook Me Cold (2015 Remaster)4:17Apple Music ↗
  8. 8The Man Who Sold the World (2015 Remaster)4:01Apple Music ↗
  9. 9The Supermen (2015 Remaster)3:41Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

Categories: Albums and songs