The Man Who Sold the World

David Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World, released November 4, 1970 in the US and April 1971 in the UK on Mercury Records, marks his hard rock and heavy metal pivot, a dramatic departure from the acoustic folk of Space Oddity. Produced by Tony Visconti and featuring guitarist Mick Ronson in a defining early collaboration, the album introduced the dense, distorted guitar work that would underpin the Spiders from Mars era. Bowie wrote all nine tracks, including the sinister title song, the asylum-set 'All the Madmen,' and the thundering riff of 'Black Country Rock.' The record was famously later covered by Nirvana for their MTV Unplugged set, introducing 'The Man Who Sold the World' to a new generation and demonstrating the durability of Bowie's songwriting. Bowie's complete authorship here set the template for every album that followed.