The Man Who Sold the World

The Man Who Sold the World is David Bowie's third studio album, released on 4 November 1970. Tony Visconti produced it, and it was recorded in London over April and May that year. After the largely acoustic, folk-leaning sound of his 1969 album, Bowie turned to hard rock with a streak of blues rock, and his lyrics grew darker, dealing with insanity, religion, technology and war. It also marks the first appearance on a Bowie record of Mick Ronson and Mick Woodmansey, both later part of the Spiders from Mars.

Its path was uneven. It was originally titled Metrobolist, but Mercury changed the name at the last minute without consulting Bowie. The US and UK covers differed, one a cartoon cowboy outside an asylum, the other Bowie in a blue dress. It failed commercially at first, yet critics now praise the band's playing and its unsettling atmosphere, and many hear it as the start of his classic period.