THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD

Bowie's third solo album, The Man Who Sold The World, was actually the first to feature later Spiders From Mars guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer Mick Woodmansey. 1) Woodmansey?! What a name... and 2) Two Micks?! haha. Whatever. I recall feeling strongly about this album back whenever I first listened, but I frankly never go back to it. Maybe this listen will change that...?

And right off the bat, in for a wild ride with the now-mini-epic, the 8-minute "The Width of a Circle"! This song shows the colors of the album it kicks off: heavier and bluesier than what came before. But undeniably, this is classic early Bowie, with beefy guitar, grooving rhythms and softly jangling acoustic guitar. This track is just... awesome. Just having listened to Black Sabbath's Vol. 4 (released two years later in 1972), I can't help but think this song, in its hard-edged Blues Rock style is also representative of early Heavy Metal. Certainly then, being 1970, they were not referencing Sabbath here; perhaps Deep Purple, then. With glints of something other just prior, around minute 4, all is stripped away to a spacy, ethereal soundscape featuring acoustic guitar, laxed drums and sweet lead guitar melodies. This is quintessential early Prog/Proto-Prog. It ends as it starts: Excellent.

"All the Madmen" is an eerie song that is more reminiscent of what came before for Bowie, but also feels as though it were some queer homage to King Crimson, I'm surprised (though delighted) to say... Damn... I'm just soooo taken aback by its awesome. And the very of-the-time bass playing is so delicious. Wow. Around 2:30, all falls away to the madness. Creepy voices surround David's otherwise solitary vocals and then we return, now met with lovely Baroque reeds work. Epic! Prog-lovers welcomed, assuredly!

Next, we have the comparably short "Black Country Rock", a swelling Hard Rock number with plenty of earworm/ear candy goodness. I'll say it now, as though I wasn't already experiencing it: I'm swimming in frisson and euphoria. Not a feeling I get, let alone expect, from this subgenre. Good-ness. Couldn't be a starker juxtaposition than "Black Country Rock" to "After All", the latter an acoustic number with some interesting instrumentation and very interesting backing vocals. Cartoonish, even. Also, sax! And then it's a... circus-like waltz? The lead guitar melody line at the end is very nice. I don't feel a lot toward the whole of the song, though.

A different sort of quirk continues on "Running Gun Blues". But when it gets in it, it is booming. Helluva song, eh? Homicidal Bowie haha!? "G**ks"?!?!?! What the actual f*ck is this, David?... I hope this is just 'Nam commentary... Oh, yeah. That's literally how it's considered haha. Still not sure that justifies the use of a very outmoded slur... Next, "Saviour Machine"! This is a very classic early-70s Bowie tune, through and through, featuring some tension amidst forward-driving rhythm. Overall, it's pretty good. On "She Shook Me Cold", this feels a bit more confident and even more of the time. I think the Led Zeppelin comparison that's been made here is apt. But also evident is their supposed emulation of Jack Bruce. It's a booming song.

Finally culminating to this moment, next is the title track, "The Man Who Sold the World", made somehow more famous by Nirvana, thanks to their covers-heavy MTV Unplugged performance in 1993. I think it's iconic and though it's, to me, an excellent song, there are many other Bowie songs [especially from this era] that I would deem more "classic" and more essential. Regardless, it is classic for many a reason. Finally finally, our closer is "The Supermen". This is a great track. The vast and apparently numerous, even thunderous, backing vocals are wonderful. Another classic in the Proto-Prog Pantheon.

Love it. Helluvan album. Sorry I neglected it for so long, especially given the extraordinary strength of the first three songs.