David Bowie

Even though it contained no hits, ‘The Man Who Sold the World’, for most intents & purposes, is the beginning of David Bowie's classic period.

Working with guitarist Mick Ronson & producer Tony Visconti for the first time, Bowie developed a tight, twisted heavy guitar rock that appears simple on the surface but sounds more gnarled upon each listen. The mix is off-centre, with the fuzz-bass dominating the compressed, razor-thin guitars & Bowie's strangled, affected voice. The sound of ‘he Man Who Sold the World’ is odd, but the music is bizarre itself, with Bowie's bizarre, paranoid futuristic tales melded to Ronson's riffing and the band's relentless attack. Musically, 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.