History Music / TheManWhoSoldTheWorld

* VariantCover: Four different covers officially exist for the album:
** The original 1970 American release featured [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_man_who_sold_the_world_1970.jpg 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. [[https://img.discogs.com/zBgy9S3vnWmx4D6oI9er_kRkP1c=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-16171507-1604673494-5920.jpeg.jpg A modified version]] would later be used for ''Metrobolist'', the 2020 remix, replacing the logo, adding the text "NINE SONGS BY DAVID BOWIE" at the bottom, and un-censoring the cowboy's speech bubble.
** The 1971 British release featured a photograph of Bowie lounging in a satin dress, surrounded by playing cards scattered on the floor. The original plan was for the American cover to be the one used on all releases, as part of a gatefold that would include the dress photo as the inner illustration, but conflicts with Mercury Records execs forced a change of plans; the British cover would eventually be reinstated as the "canonical" one once Bowie regained the rights to his back-catalog in 1988.
** The 1972 German release used an elaborate round paper cover featuring an illustration of Bowie as a winged hand beast flicking away the Earth; this cover folded over the record's inner sleeve.
** The 1972 international reissue by Creator/RCARecords used a [[TrendCovers trend cover]], featuring a black-and-white photo of Bowie as [[Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars Ziggy Stardust]] on both the front and back. This cover would be reused on all RCA issues of the album, as was also the case with ''Music/SpaceOddity''.

* LongestSongGoesLast: An InvertedTrope, as this album ''starts'' with its longest song.

* HeavyMetal: Much of the material has a distinct heavy metal edge that distinguishes it from Bowie's other releases, and has been compared to contemporary acts such as Music/LedZeppelin and Music/BlackSabbath. It may be light compared with what followed, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny but by 1970 standards it was heady stuff]].

* HeavyMetal: Much of the material has a distinct heavy metal edge that distinguishes it from Bowie's other releases, and has been compared to contemporary acts such as Music/LedZeppelin and Music/BlackSabbath.

* FaceOnTheCover: Three of the album's four covers 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).

* GratuitousPanning: On the original album, during the end of "All the Madmen" the phrase "Zane, zane, zane" travels from the right speaker to the left. (The ''Metrobolist'' remix eliminates this effect.) The backing vocals near the end of "The Width of a Circle" ("Turn around, go back!") also use stereo panning in both mixes.

** Going the other way, the title track plays in the opening of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', and the lyrics [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadow]] many of the events in the game.

%%* SomethingBlues: "Running Gun Blues".

* TitledAfterTheSong:
** A ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''[=/=]Franchise/DCUniverse [[Fanfic/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld crossover fanfic]] is named after this album.
** In 2007, ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' published a comic strip story called "The Woman Who Sold the World".
** A ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' novel is titled ''The Men Who Sold the World''.
** ''The Man Who Sold America'', a 2019 book critiquing UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump by Creator/{{MSNBC}} host Joy Ann Reid.
%%** So is a track on the second ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' soundtrack CD.

** LyricalDissonance: The music accompanying all this is downright happy!

* CrapsackWorld: Most of these songs deal with dark subjects such as supernatural horror, mental illness and predatory sexuality. However, "Black Country Rock" is much more light-hearted than the rest of the album.

* 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 (though "Running Gun Blues" is a 9). However, the light-hearted "Black Country Rock" is only a 2.

The album disposes of 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 while the band worked on the music without him. 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".

* DarkerAndEdgier: Than most of Bowie's previous work. Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray noted that "The vision Bowie presents here is one of unrelieved chaos and terror (the only respite is hanging out in Black Country Rock)".

-->''"Don't let me stay, don't let me stay\\

You can't stake your lives on a Saviour Machine"''

-->''"It seems the peacefuls stopped the war\\

And I'll plug a few civilians"''

* 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 softly a supergod '''''DIIIIIIIIIES!'''''"''

-->''"'Cause I'd rather stay here\\

For I'm quite content they're all as sane as me"''

--->''"Yesterday, upon the stair\\

Oh, how I wish he'd go away"''

-->''"We passed upon the stair\\

He said I was his friend"''

-->''"Then I ran across a monster who was sleeping by a tree\\
And I looked and frowned and the monster was me"''

-->Assassins, madmen, occultists, deranged computers, dormant elder gods, children possessed of secrets beyond their parents' imaginings and a plunge into a new poly-sexual imagery compounded the blow struck by the album's startling cover... the new Bowie was dealing in strange and disturbing commodities.

* FranchiseCodifier: Following brief forays into art hall and folk rock, ''The Man Who Sold the World'' was, as producer Tony Visconti put it, the point where the David Bowie story truly began. The theatrical vocals and lyrics, eclectic mix of genres, themes of madness and social dysfunction, and androgynous visual presentation all became hallmarks of Bowie's work going forward.

-->''Man is an obstacle, sad as the clown\\
So hold on to nothing and he won't let you down''

* TheCasanova: The protagonist of "She Shook Me Cold" is one of these. He's also the sexual equivalent of a SpiritedCompetitor, and he's overjoyed when he finds a woman who can keep up with him.

* AxCrazy: The narrator of the [[BlackComedy darkly humorous]] "Running Gun Blues" is a SociopathicSoldier who won't let a cease fire get in the way of a perfectly good killing spree.

If this is true, then Bowie's mind must have been an even more interesting and unpredictable place than usual when he was writing these songs, because his wedded bliss certainly didn't show in the lyrics. As Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray describe the subject matter in ''Bowie: An Illustrated Record'': "Assassins, madmen, occultists, deranged computers, dormant elder gods, children possessed of secrets beyond their parents' imaginings and a plunge into a new poly-sexual imagery compounded the blow struck by the album's startling cover... the new Bowie was dealing in strange and disturbing commodities."

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 while the band worked on the music without him. 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".

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. As of 2020, ''WebSite/AcclaimedMusic'' lists the record at No. 1875 on its [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list]] of the 3000 most critically praised albums.

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. Midge Ure also covered the song, with said cover being famously used in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''.

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. As of 2020, ''WebSite/AcclaimedMusic'' lists the record at No. 1875 on its [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums dynamic list]] of the 3000 most critically praised albums.

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. Midge Ure also covered the song, with said cover being famously used in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''.

''The Man Who Sold the World'' was supported in the US by one single: a truncated edit of "All the Madmen", which failed to make a real dent in the charts thanks to Mercury US's poor distribution of it. Unlike its predecessors, the album was notably '''not''' supported by a single at first in the UK due to Mercury not being able to find a song they considered suitable enough. In lieu of this, Bowie recorded and released the non-album single "Holy Holy" as a substitute (though the album track "Black Country Rock" would be featured as the single's BSide). Creator/RCARecords would eventually end up issuing the album's TitleTrack as a single in 1973, riding off the success of ''Ziggy Stardust'' and the label's concurrent reissue of ''The Man Who Sold the World''.

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 [[TheNotRemix 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.

It wouldn't be the last time. While Bowie's next release, ''Music/HunkyDory'', was LighterAndSofter musically (if not lyrically), the combination of apocalyptic themes and intense sounds on this album pointed the way forward to the GlamRock albums that established Bowie as a celebrity (''[[Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars Ziggy Stardust]]'', ''Music/AladdinSane'' and ''Music/DiamondDogs''). To quote Carr & Murray again: "This is where the story ''really'' starts."

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. Midge Ure also covered the song, with said cover being famously used in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''.

Beginning in 2014, Tony Visconti and Mick "Woody" Woodmansey began Holy Holy, [[http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/22/spiders-from-mars-to-play-bowies-the-man-who-sold-the-world-live a sporadic tour]] in which they play the album in its entirety, along with other Bowie songs. (Bowie never toured to promote the album when it was originally released.) Guests include Heaven 17 vocalist Glenn Gregory and Music/SpandauBallet saxophonist Steve Norman. Bowie gave the tour his blessing.

** 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. [[https://img.discogs.com/zBgy9S3vnWmx4D6oI9er_kRkP1c=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-16171507-1604673494-5920.jpeg.jpg A modified version]] would later be used for ''Metrobolist'', the 2020 remix, replacing the logo, adding the text "NINE SONGS BY DAVID BOWIE" at the bottom, and un-censoring the cowboy's speech bubble.

So hold on to nothing and he won't let you down"''

%%* SadClown: {{Invoked}} in "After All".

%%* VillainSong: "Running Gun Blues".