Customer Reviews

Man Who Sold the World

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In the carear of David Bowie he has created many of the worlds greatest albums, songs and styles of music. No one Bowie album is like another and this, The Man Who Sold The World is one that manages to somehow stand out more then almost any other album the man has ever created. The Man Who Sold The World rock's harder then any other album Bowie ever made, and it's the most straight forward rock album the man ever made and is probabley David Bowie's most accesable album as well. Featuring The Spiders From Mars this album is sure to please. Mick Ronson's guitar playing is the best on here, this album is easily one of the greatest guitar albums ever, this show why Ronson was one of the best. David's vocals as always thrill and his songwriting is more rock and roll then anything else and its great.

The album opens up with what is David Bowie's all time best song, 'The Width Of A Circle' this eight minute plus song is the hardest rocker Bowie ever made and is just such a cool song that must be heard to appreciate. Mick Ronson play's his all time best guitar solo ever on this track as well. The perfect opener! 'All The Madman' is another heavy rocker, not as hard but really heavy. Great lyrics and Bowie's amazing voacals and Viscotti's bass playing make this a truly great song. The next song, 'Black Country Rock' is one of the better songs on the album with a killer riff and solo by Ronson and Bowie's nice vocals this song comes across almost as something that should have been on Led Zeppelin I. 'After All' is a slower, darker song with errie vocals from David. The lyrics are really good, but the "Oh By Jingo" thing is kinda weird but that doesnt mean its bad, just weird. 'Running Gun Blues' is a great song about a serial killer felling guilty and sorry. Not one of the best songs on the album but still a good track. 'Saviour Machine' is a cool song about "The Church" and how people devote their whole lives to something they really have no prove about. Nice lyrics and pretty catchy as well. The next song is another one that really shows off Mick Ronson's amazing guitar playng ability. The heavyly distorted wah-wah pedal and slide guitar add a really nice touch to this already killer song. 'She Shook Me Cold' is another song that could have been on Led Zeppelin I, but then again this song is too good for Led Zeppelin I so never mind. Next is the legendary title track, "The Man Who Sold The World' which was covered by Nirvana on their unplugged album which they did decent but dont truly do justice as Bowie's original is just amazing. The lyrics are some of the best ever written by anyone, and the delivery is just flat out fantastic. Truly one of Bowie's brighter moments. The album closes with the right song, 'The Supermen' is just the song to end The Man Who Sold The World, because its hard and it rocks and it leaves you wanting more and not being able to wait untill you buy your next David Bowie album. Everyone really come together on this track, the lyrics are good as well as Bowie vocals the bass and drums flow perfectly and Mick's guitar is not to be challenged.

But This version of the album features 'Lightining Frighting' 'Holy Holy' 'Moonage Daydream' and 'Hang On To Yourslef' all of which are Bowie Classics and make this version of the album even better then the original!

The Man Who Sold The World is easily one of David Bowie's all time best albums, as there is no filler and all the songs rock. this album is a true gem in a collection of albums full of gems. Do yourself a favor and get this largly overlooked classic!

The Man Who Sold The World (1970.), David Bowie's third studio album

With a solo career spanning nearly 40 years, David Bowie is one of the most successful artists of all time. In the very early part of his career, David Bowie did not have the great fame and following which would come to him with the release of his all time classic in 1972, `The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'. However, the simple fact was that Bowie had already released four albums before this, of which the previous two were awesome, classy efforts. The first one of these was `The Man Who Sold The World', David Bowie's third studio album, released in 1971 and over time, with Bowie's increased popularity came to be seen as one of his finest and most respected efforts.

Every one of David Bowie's albums, to me and many other fans have a refreshing uniqueness to them, due mostly to the fact that Bowie has tried out so many styles (i.e. folk, glam rock, electronic sounds) during his career. `The Man Who Sold The World' is no exception and this is essentially, Bowie's hard rock, predominantly guitar-based album. This shift in sound, which was far heavier than his early work was due more than anything to the arrival of guitar genius Mick Ronson who, just to note hails from my home town of Kingston Upon Hull in England! Teaming up with the rest of Bowie's backing band, Mick Woodmansey (drums), Tony Visconti (bass) and Ralph Mace (synthesizer), Ronson's commanding guitar play was what added the harder rocking element to Bowie's music. `The Man Who Sold The World' is Bowie's first great album and marked the start of a run of top notch music that he would sustain right into the mid-70's and this is in part due to having a guitarist as good as Ronson in his band. This album also marked the start of a number of controversial (at the time!) acts that Bowie was to make during his career. The original album cover (which is the one you get now) depicting Bowie in drag was frowned upon by many at the time and was withdrawn shortly after release and replaced with a black and white cover showing Bowie playing guitar. If you own an original LP with the withdrawn cover, count yourself lucky (especially if you live in England) as they are rare and would fetch a tidy sum if sold, not that you'd want to sell off your Bowie albums of course!

In the past ten or fifteen or so years, the David Bowie album series has undergone a number of remasters. The first of these was the 1990 remaster series which features the original 9 track album and bonus tracks including songs `Moonage Daydream' and the glam styled `Hang On To Yourself'. Since then, an enhanced series of Bowie albums has become available and this is the version you're most likely to find on the CD shop shelf. These new versions have awesome sound quality for the original albums and come with well constructed booklets of lyrics however the enhanced CD's have no bonus tracks featuring like the earlier version. This is a shame because the remasters are excellent and it seems strange that they miss off extras that feature on an earlier version!

`The Man Who Sold The World' is hard rocking in nature but has an essentially dark and troubling undercurrent to it with themes of madness being woven into Bowie's songwriting. The album kicks off with Bowie's timeless epic, `Width of a Circle'. This is one of the picks of the album with some timeless guitar playing from Ronson and a great overall atmosphere to the song, it's a perfect track to begin an album. `All the Madmen' follows this, a particularly dark song where Bowie sings about people who are afflicted by madness and depression. The exit to the track is interesting where Bowie sings in French over a great guitar tune. Next up is `Black Country Rock', another hard rocking song which also has Bowie singing in a Marc Bolan imitative style. `After All' finishes the first half of the album in a very haunting and suspicious style; everything slows down for this one. Opening the second half of the album is `Running Gun Blues'. It is one of the weaker tracks on the album but is still excellent. It has a great, spacey sounding style with Bowie singing in a jovial but haunting style and it builds into a heavy guitar rocker which is a little repetitive in parts. Following from this is `Saviour Machine', a track which some are not to keen on for some reason. I personally think it is excellent; a little experimental with some whirling keyboard usage but it gives the song a great uniqueness. However, things take a little downturn with `She Shook Me Cold'. I have very much a love-hate relationship with this song. The start is just too mingled and over-produced with no real theme however the track is saved by an excellent closing effort on the guitar from Mick Ronson. Next up is the famous song from the album, the title track. The riff is timeless in itself and the droning end to the track is something unique. However, for me, Bowie saved the best till last with this album. `The Supermen' is remarkable, a four minute masterpiece. The wailing singing over some killer bass and guitar work is chilling to say the least and Bowie's vocals are excellent to say the least on this song, as is Ronson's guitar solo mid-way through.

`The Man Who Sold The World' is David Bowie's first classic album in my opinion, even if it is a little flawed on a couple of tracks. Bowie's fusion of hard rock, dark themes and atmospherics is a result to behold and this is deservedly hailed as one of his finest efforts. This is definitely an album to add to your collection, Bowie himself would, after this album move onto other styles, such as glam rock, and so `The Man Who Sold The World' stands as his brilliant one time effort at hard rock music.

If you're a fan of heavy duty rock guitar, then look no further than Mick Ronson's crunchy guitar on this album. The guitar is mixed loud and upfront. The songs often start and stall, but for me the slow parts just provide anticipation for Ronson's raging guitar to reappear. This album is often criticized for having a non-stellar performance by Bowie, but I think that it's fine. It's sort of like a medieval version of A Clockwork Orange. The album just doesn't have the poppy, catchy sound that so many Bowie fans are attracted to. A must for all rock guitar players. Suliman Lindh turned me on to this disc back at the Madrassha, and Osama and I spun it relentlessly when we were hunkered down in Tora Bora during the bombing campaign. Check out the soaring guitar at the end of "All The Madmen."

This album by David Bowie was released in 1970. The album suffers from a murky overall sound (even on CD), but guitarist Mick Ronson's power-chord sting connects with Bowie's emerging persona(s) on the title track, "Black Country Rock" and the perverse epic "Width of a Circle". The rest of the songs on the album are less successful.

This version of the CD adds four bonus tracks. "Lightning Frightening" is a previously unreleased track from 1970. "Holy Holy" was a non-hit single from 1970. "Moonage Daydream" and "Hang Onto Yourself" were released as a single under the name Arnold Corns in 1971, although they were actually sung by David Bowie. Both these songs were later re-recorded for Bowie's classic Ziggy Stardust album.

This CD is hard rocking! Mick Ronson's guitar work is truly tantamount to early Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck. The heavy riffs were supposedly laid down on tape long before Bowie even got around to writing the lyrics, which explains the album's weakest feature--Bowie's vocals. They are paperthin next to the sledgehammer rock that rules every song, and while Bowie was still developing his own quirky vocal idiosyncrasies during these early years of his career, it's a shame that he didn't rise to the occasion and adopt a huskier style to suit the music. All in all, this album is a triumph for Mick Ronson, but just a polite nod for Bowie. It's still worth a good listen.

The Man Who Sold The World from 1970 is Bowie's heavy metal album with Mick Ronson and Tony Visconti. It is a dark work with some outstanding songs like the title track, All The Madmen, Black Country Rock, Width Of A Circle and The Supermen. There are nightmarish imagery and some of the aforementioned songs have their sublime moments, but overall the album lacks memorable tunes and hooks. It is thus an atypical work that would appeal only to devoted fans and those into late 1960s/early 1970s hard rock.

In the carear of David Bowie he has created many of the worlds greatest albums, songs and styles of music. No one Bowie album is like another and this, The Man Who Sold The World is one that manages to somehow stand out more then almost any other album the man has ever created. The Man Who Sold The World rock's harder then any other album Bowie ever made, and it's the most straight forward rock album the man ever made and is probabley David Bowie's most accesable album as well. Featuring The Spiders From Mars this album is sure to please. Mick Ronson's guitar playing is the best on here, this album is easily one of the greatest guitar albums ever, this show why Ronson was one of the best. David's vocals as always thrill and his songwriting is more rock and roll then anything else and its great.

The album opens up with what is David Bowie's all time best song, 'The Width Of A Circle' this eight minute plus song is the hardest rocker Bowie ever made and is just such a cool song that must be heard to appreciate. Mick Ronson play's his all time best guitar solo ever on this track as well. The perfect opener! 'All The Madman' is another heavy rocker, not as hard but really heavy. Great lyrics and Bowie's amazing voacals and Viscotti's bass playing make this a truly great song. The next song, 'Black Country Rock' is one of the better songs on the album with a killer riff and solo by Ronson and Bowie's nice vocals this song comes across almost as something that should have been on Led Zeppelin I. 'After All' is a slower, darker song with errie vocals from David. The lyrics are really good, but the "Oh By Jingo" thing is kinda weird but that doesnt mean its bad, just weird. 'Running Gun Blues' is a great song about a serial killer felling guilty and sorry. Not one of the best songs on the album but still a good track. 'Saviour Machine' is a cool song about "The Church" and how people devote their whole lives to something they really have no prove about. Nice lyrics and pretty catchy as well. The next song is another one that really shows off Mick Ronson's amazing guitar playng ability. The heavyly distorted wah-wah pedal and slide guitar add a really nice touch to this already killer song. 'She Shook Me Cold' is another song that could have been on Led Zeppelin I, but then again this song is too good for Led Zeppelin I so never mind. Next is the legendary title track, "The Man Who Sold The World' which was covered by Nirvana on their unplugged album which they did decent but dont truly do justice as Bowie's original is just amazing. The lyrics are some of the best ever written by anyone, and the delivery is just flat out fantastic. Truly one of Bowie's brighter moments. The album closes with the right song, 'The Supermen' is just the song to end The Man Who Sold The World, because its hard and it rocks and it leaves you wanting more and not being able to wait untill you buy your next David Bowie album. Everyone really come together on this track, the lyrics are good as well as Bowie vocals the bass and drums flow perfectly and Mick's guitar is not to be challenged.

The Man Who Sold The World is easily one of David Bowie's all time best albums, as there is no filler and all the songs rock. this album is a true gem in a collection of albums full of gems. Do yourself a favor and get this largly overlooked classic!

Post Space Oddity, pre-Ziggy, this undervalued album sits between those two classics of the Bowie canon. But its a startlingly good, consistent record. Fans of the late Mick Ronson will be pleased to find that he never let it rip on the guitar on any Bowie studio album more than this one. And Bowie's songs and characters are particurarly demented. A must-have for fans of the early, 'hummable' David Bowie...

David Bowie / The Man Who Sold The World (RYKO - four bonus tracks): There are some great tracks on this album but overall it's not one of his best. That is not to say that it's not worth having, in fact, there are tracks on here that are essential Bowie, it's just that the `other' tracks drag it down. I prefer the RYKO disc with its four bonus tracks. Along with adding "Lightning Frightening" and "Holy Holy", the RYKO CD adds the two sides of a single which consisted of "Moonage Daydream" and "Hang Onto Yourself". The odd thing about that single was that it was released under the name of `Arnold Corns' in 1971 (rest assured, this IS a David Bowie single).

this is a cd reissue of the 1970 album originly mercury and rca banned this cover in the united states mercury usd an aful cartoon cover of a cowboy oh h boy is rigt at least rca was more tastfull they showed bowie as ziggy kicking his leg in the air this is a very good album