5 November 2019
Late great genius DAVID BOWIE released his third LP ‘THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’, produced with Tony Visconti and his first critically praised one, strangely enough, first in the United States on 4 November 1970, 49 years ago, and only 6 months later, in April 1971 in his home country. On top of it, the artwork for the record – featuring a cowboy in front of a mental asylum – designed by a Bowie friend, underground comics artist called Michael J. Weller wasn’t really a Bowie-style image. At first Bowie called it an ‘horrible’ idea but later in 1999 he stated that he “actually thought the cartoon cover was really cool”.
Six months later the UK front cover artwork featured the iconic image we all know with Bowie on a chaise longue in a cream and blue satin ‘man’s dress‘, an early indication of his interest in exploiting his androgynous appearance.
AllMusic wrote: “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… 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.” Full review here. Score 4.5/5
Album in full (2015 remastered version)…
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DAVID BOWIE: Facebook – All Albums
