History Music / TheManWhoSoldTheWorld

%%* HeavyMetal: One of the earliest examples, releasing in 19''70''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_man_who_sold_the_world_1_7173.jpg]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_man_who_sold_the_world_1970.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The two Bowie-approved covers: Michael Weller's "cartoon cover" (used for the original 1970 US release and in a modified form for the 2020 remix)...]]

[[caption-width-right:350:...and Keith "Keef" [=MacMillan=]'s "dress cover" (used for the 1971 UK release and generally considered the "canonical" version of the cover art).]]

%%* TheNounWhoVerbed: The album and its TitleTrack.

In November 2020, to commemorate its [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary]], the album was [[https://theseconddisc.com/2020/09/08/oh-no-not-me-tony-visconti-remixes-david-bowies-the-man-who-sold-the-world-for-50th-anniversary-updated-with-order-links/ reissued]] under its WorkingTitle ''Metrobolist''. This release features [[RemixAlbum new mixes]] of almost all the songs by Tony Visconti; the sole exception is "After All", because Visconti feels he can't improve on the original mix. Michael Weller, who drew the original "cartoon cover", created [[https://twitter.com/BowieEdition/status/1321512284322254848 an animation]] based on the image to mark the occasion.

* RemixAlbum: The 2020 reissue ''Metrobolist'' remixed the original album -- except for "After All", which is included in its remastered form from 2015 because Tony Visconti thinks the original mix is "perfect as is".

-->--'''Tony Visconti''', producer and bassist of the album, [[http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/22/spiders-from-mars-to-play-bowies-the-man-who-sold-the-world-live in 2014]]

Oh, and Music/{{Nirvana}} did a CoverVersion of the TitleTrack on ''Music/MTVUnpluggedInNewYork'' (much to Bowie's approval), leading some younger fans to [[CoveredUp falsely assume]] that they were the ones who wrote it (much to Bowie's irritation). Music/KurtCobain also listed ''The Man Who Sold the World'' at no. 45 in his personal list of his 50 favourite music albums.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The narrator of "Running Gun Blues" has no problem referring to the Vietnamese as "gooks."

%%* LastNoteNightmare: "The Supermen". Extra points for being the last song on the album.
%%-->''"So softly a supergod '''''[[LargeHam DIIIIIIIIIES!]]'''''"''

* UsefulNotes/BritishAccents: As usual, Bowie's native accent is frequently evident. However, things really get interesting on "The Supermen", where he babbles about "mountain magic", "powers weird by mystics taught" and "nightmare dreams no mortal mind could hold" in a bizarre Cockney accent that makes the whole affair even stranger.

* {{Doppelganger}}: This is one interpretation of the TitleTrack.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: To the Heavy Metal genre as a whole. Its sound is far tamer than most modern entries in the genre, and most songs on the album seem closer to folk rock or hard rock than actual metal. Perhaps the most recognizably "metal" track on the album (by modern standards anyway) is the opener, "The Width of a Circle", and even then it's pretty light compared to its successors. Still, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny for 1970]] it was heady stuff.
* EffectiveKnockoff: Around 1976, an unknown bootlegger manufactured fake copies of the original US Mercury pressing that were convincing enough to be sold in the cut-out bins at mainstream record retailers. The packaging of these bootlegs replicated the original cover so closely that it qualifies as a NotSoCheapImitation.

* FaceOnTheCover: Three of the album's four covers (see VariantCover and ExecutiveMeddling on the [[Trivia/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld Trivia page]] for more details) feature pictures of Bowie. The "cartoon cover" is one of very few {{aversion}}s in the Bowie catalog, and one of only two instances in Bowie's entire studio catalog where the cover art lacks his likeness at all (the other being ''[[Music/BlackstarAlbum ★]]'', though in ''Man''[='s=] case the impact is diminished by the fact that the 1971 UK cover art, which ''does'' feature Bowie on it, is considered the canonical one).

* HeavyMetal: One of the earliest examples, releasing in 19''70''.

* LastNoteNightmare: "The Supermen". Extra points for being the last song on the album.
-->''"So softly a supergod '''''[[LargeHam DIIIIIIIIIES!]]'''''"''

* NonAppearingTitle: "The Width of a Circle".
* TheNounWhoVerbed: The album and its TitleTrack.

* RemixAlbum: The 2020 reissue ''Metrobolist'' -- except for "After All", which is included in its remastered form from 2015 because Tony Visconti thinks the original mix is "perfect as is".
* SadClown: {{Invoked}} in "After All".

* SomethingBlues: "Running Gun Blues".

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "After All", which you could mistake for a lullaby if you ignored the lyrics.

** So is a track on the second ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' soundtrack CD.
** A variation: In 2007, ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' published a comic strip story called "The Woman Who Sold the World".
** Similar to the above, the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' novel ''The Men Who Sold the World''.
** Another variation: ''The Man Who Sold America'', a 2019 book critiquing UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump by Creator/{{MSNBC}} host Joy Ann Reid.

* {{Ubermensch}}: A theme that shows up "After All" ("Man is an obstacle, [[SadClown sad as the clown]]") and "The Supermen".

* UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar: The then-current setting of "Running Gun Blues", as evidenced by the VillainProtagonist's use of the [[NWordPrivileges racial slur]] "gooks"[[note]]"Gook" originated as an anti-Korean slur specifically during UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar, but was later expanded to disparage all people of east and southeast Asian descent, eventually becoming associated primarily with the Vietnam War by 1970[[/note]].
* VillainSong: "Running Gun Blues".
* UsefulNotes/TheWestMidlands: Alluded to in the title of "Black Country Rock".

* OneWordTitle: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] on the original album, but in effect with the ''Metrobolist'' remix.

[[caption-width-right:350:The two Bowie-approved covers: Michael Weller's "cartoon cover" (used for the original 1970 US release)...]]

** The original 1970 American release featured an illustration of a Creator/JohnWayne {{expy}} standing in front of the Cane Hill Mental Institution, toting a rifle; this cover is featured on the back of the liner notes booklet on all CD reissues from the 1990 Creator/{{Rykodisc}} release onwards. It's also used as the cover of the 2020 remix ''Metrobolist''.

The album was a modest critical and commercial success, though it achieved more sales and acclaim in the US than the UK. While it didn't exactly put Bowie on the map as a star, it did do enough to convince audiences that he was more than just "the man who did the Major Tom song," building the first vestiges of a devoted following that would explode in quantity just two years later. It became a bigger success when Creator/RCARecords reissued it in 1972 to bank off the success of ''Ziggy Stardust'', though was still generally considered a case of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness by most listeners (albeit decent in its own right). In the decades since its release, it's become noticeably VindicatedByHistory, with analysts noting in hindsight its wide-reaching influence on PostPunk, GothRock, and DarkWave, with the dirge-like "All the Madmen" and "After All" being particularly important tracks in the development of the late 70's goth scene. Combining that with the album's aforementioned founding of Bowie's forthcoming glam rock sound, ''The Man Who Sold the World'' is now considered an essential part of the Bowie discography.

* MohsScaleOfLyricalHardness: Considering that most of the songs deal with dark subjects such as supernatural horror, mental illness, and predatory sexuality, they range from 6 to 8 (maybe even 9). However, the light-hearted "Black Country Rock" is only a 2.

** GratuitousPanning: The phrase "Zane, zane, zane" travels from the right speaker to the left. The backing vocals near the end of "The Width of a Circle" ("Turn around, go back!") also use stereo panning.

In November 2020, to commemorate its [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary]], the album will be [[https://theseconddisc.com/2020/09/08/oh-no-not-me-tony-visconti-remixes-david-bowies-the-man-who-sold-the-world-for-50th-anniversary-updated-with-order-links/ reissued]] under its WorkingTitle ''Metrobolist''. This release will feature [[RemixAlbum new mixes]] of almost all the songs by Tony Visconti; the sole exception is "After All", because Visconti feels he can't improve on the original mix. Michael Weller, who drew the original "cartoon cover", created [[https://twitter.com/BowieEdition/status/1321512284322254848 an animation]] based on the image to mark the occasion.

** The original 1970 American release featured an illustration of a Creator/JohnWayne {{expy}} standing in front of the Cane Hill Mental Institution, toting a rifle; this cover is featured on the back of the liner notes booklet on all CD reissues from the 1990 Creator/{{Rykodisc}} release onwards. It will also be used as the cover of the 2020 remix ''Metrobolist''.

** The [[invoked]]WorkingTitle ''Metrobolist'', eventually used for the 2020 remix, is derived from Creator/FritzLang's film ''Film/{{Metropolis}}''. It's also a PunnyTitle based on Bowie's observation that he wrote these bizarre, firghtening songs at "me troubled-est".

** The [[invoked]]WorkingTitle ''Metrobolist'', eventually used for the 2020 remix, is derived from Creator/FritzLang's film ''Film/{{Metropolis}}''.

In November 2020, to commemorate its [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary]], the album will be [[https://theseconddisc.com/2020/09/08/oh-no-not-me-tony-visconti-remixes-david-bowies-the-man-who-sold-the-world-for-50th-anniversary-updated-with-order-links/ reissued]] under its WorkingTitle ''Metrobolist''. This release will feature [[RemixAlbum new mixes]] of almost all the songs by Tony Visconti; the sole exception is "After All", because Visconti feels he can't improve on the original mix.

The album came at a critical time in Bowie's life and career. He'd recently achieved his commercial breakthrough with "Space Oddity", but his failure to follow it up made it look like he'd be a OneHitWonder. But Bowie was as forward-thinking as ever, as he left behind the Music Hall-influenced sound of [[Music/DavidBowie1967 his first album]] and the FolkRock of ''Music/SpaceOddity'' in favour of a HardRock[=/=]HeavyMetal hybrid that recalled Music/{{Cream}}, Music/LedZeppelin and Music/BlackSabbath, building this sound off of the blueprint formed by the harder-tinged and prog-inspired elements of ''Space Oddity'' while also directing it in a distinctly independent direction. Indeed, ''TMWSTW'' introduced the first version of the band that eventually became known as [[Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars The Spiders From Mars]].[[note]]Guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer Mick "Woody" Woodmansey were already on board; the temporary bassist was producer Tony Visconti, who would soon be replaced by Trevor Bolder.[[/note]] Also, Bowie had recently married his first wife Angela, and reportedly spent a lot of time with her during the writing and rehearsal sessions. According to Peter Doggett's ''The Man Who Sold The World: David Bowie And The 1970's'', "...at the last possible moment, Bowie would reluctantly uncurl himself from the sofa on which he was lounging with his wife, and dash off a set of lyrics".

* EffectiveKnockoff: Around 1976, an unknown bootlegger manufactured fake copies of the original US Mercury pressing that were convincing enough to be sold in the cut-out bins at mainstream record retailers.

* SpeechBubble: The cowboy from the cartoon cover has a blank one. According to artist Michael Weller, it originally read "ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR ARMS". US Mercury censored this because they thought it was a drug reference; when the album was released, the dialogue was simply erased. However, it was restored for the 2020 ''Metrobolist'' reissue.

* RemixAlbum: The 2020 reissue ''Metrobolist'' -- except for "After All", which is included in its remastered form from 2015.

In November 2020, to commemmorate its [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary]], the album will be [[https://theseconddisc.com/2020/09/08/oh-no-not-me-tony-visconti-remixes-david-bowies-the-man-who-sold-the-world-for-50th-anniversary-updated-with-order-links/ reissued]] under its WorkingTitle ''Metrobolist''. This release will feature [[RemixAlbum new mixes]] of almost all the songs by Tony Visconti; the sole exception is "After All", because Visconti feels he can't improve on the original mix.

** The original 1970 American release featured an illustration of a Creator/JohnWayne {{expy}} standing in front of the Cane Hill Mental Institution, toting a rifle; this cover is featured on the back of the liner notes booklet on all CD reissues from the 1990 Creator/{{Rykodisc}} release onwards.

* RecordProducer: Tony Visconti produces an entire Bowie album for the first time. He also doubles on bass and occasionally plays piano and recorder.s remaster