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. Working with guitarist
Mick Ronson and producer
Tony Visconti for the second 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-center, with the fuzz-bass dominating the compressed, razor-thin guitars and
Bowie's strangled, affected voice. The sound of
The Man Who Sold the World is odd, but the music itself is bizarre, with
Bowie's weird, paranoid futuristic tales melded to
Ronson's riffing and the band's relentless attack. 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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine