Today we have David Bowie's third studio album The Man Who Sold the World. Released in 1970, the album was met with mild praise from critics, but it was a commercial failure. Retrospective reviews are generally positive.
Bowie's first musically competent album. Given this, the mild praise it's received, and knowing the superstar he would become, I listened to this seven times before I decided it was exactly what it sounded like upon first listen: merely competent. However, it's clear more than ever before that Bowie's a mad genius on the brink of a breakthrough--"Cygnet Committee" from Space Oddity was purely kitsch both lyrically and instrumentally but "The Width of the Circle" tells a bizarre and cohesive tale worthy of a Dylan admirer with a messy but forgivable instrumental. Additionally, "The Man Who Sold the World" is his first excellent song. If he begins writing tighter-arranged and more memorable songs as well as checks the speedy and overwrought guitar work of Mick Ronson, who only contributes a solo of substance on "Saviour Machine," he'll start putting his eccentricity to good use. B-
