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The Man Who Sold The World was an absolutely pivotal release for David Bowie. It saw the first of many criticalities, including the inclusion of future Spider from Mars, Mick Ronson; a new-found grasp of musical and thematic direction; and a vastly improved vocal and lyrical performance from a maturing poet.
The album is every bit as mind-bending and twisted as the iconic artwork adorning the cover of Bowie’s 3rd LP - an album which would go on to become one of his finest accomplishments, as critical reception warmed over the years. The nine, twisted hard-rock tracks on offer are rife with flirtations with insanity, brought on by the influence of Nietzsche, and Bowie’s family issues, including the visits from his mentally deteriorating half-brother and the recent death of his father.
The musical component (which included producer Tony Visconti on bass) is a tightly coiled, freakish folk/hard-rock cocktail, marked by fuzzy, hissing bass chords, razor sharp, gnarled lead riffs, off-kilter percussion, and even an ancient synthesiser cropping on a couple of tracks. It’s fair to say that The Man Who Sold The World is easily one of the heaviest albums Bowie ever recorded.
The twisted, distorted hard-rock and demented arrangements blend perfectly with Bowie’s intensely personal questioning of purity and darkness; his lyrics reaching an early peak of paranoia and bizarreness. The album finds Bowie battling with the personal demons he labelled the “devils and angels” within him, all wrapped up in a fantastically frightening science fictional blanket, informed by his recent fascination with Nietzsche’s writings.