Weakest Link: David Bowie "Man Who Sold the World"

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Oatsdad, Feb 20, 2020.

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  1. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever Thread Starter

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    We've already done most of Bowie's albums, but 1970's "Man Who Sold the World" remains un-Weakest Linked!

    We'll handle the album - let's drop two songs here, so pick the two weakest links!

    Discussion: when did you first hear "World" and what did you think of it at the time?
     
    palisantrancho likes this.
  2. LandHorses

    LandHorses I contain multitudes

    Location:
    New Joisey
    I probably first heard it in the late 90s............didn't really buy many individual Bowie albums until the Ryko CDs. I liked it first listen.
     
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  3. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    I'm not sure I could pick 2 to cut from this album, so I'll refrain from voting.

    First picked up the Ryko reissue CD sometime in the mid to late 90's. Only Bowie I heard before that was the Ryko Ziggy, I think.

    MWSTW blew me away, honestly. It was a great gateway into further Bowie listening.
     
  4. Etienne Hanratty

    Etienne Hanratty Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    I think of this as my least favourite “good” Bowie album but I’m still struggling to find tracks I’d wilfully eliminate. In the end, I’ve gone with After All because I find the vocal stylings a mite affected and She Shook Me Cold because I can’t remember what it sounds like.
     
  5. Marvin

    Marvin Senior Member

    After All & Supermen

    I first heard this, along with several other early Bowie albums, in the early '80s. I thought this was one of the better ones.
     
  6. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever Thread Starter

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Discussion: not sure!

    I know I bought the RCA CD in September 1989. I remember that I'd come up from Charlottesville to see the Stones that weekend, and I stopped at CD Cellar in Falls Church on the way.

    They had the J-for-US RCA CD, which was the only RCA I didn't yet own at that point. Combine that achievement with my 1st ever Stones show and that's why the date stuck in my head! :)

    The question: did I own the vinyl previously? I wanna say yes, but I'm really not sure.

    If I did, I didn't know the album well when I saw Bowie in CA summer 1987. He did "All the Madmen" and I didn't recognize it - I had to browse the racks at Tower Anaheim after the show to figure out what song that was.

    So I heard "MWSTW" no later than 9/89, and maybe earlier.

    I wasn't wild about it back in the 80s. Seemed dense and inaccessible!
     
  7. Grootna

    Grootna Senior Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Running Gun and Supermen....tough to give e'm the old heave ho. The whole record fits as is.

    Found a copy (Mercury Cartoon) in the cut out bins of Musicland in a mall on the Texas/Oklahoma border in 1972 or '73. Played it to death on my old Dual table. Loved it at first listen....killer bass on Width just about blew out my woofers. Surprisingly it was not a boot....but the real deal with stamped matrix numbers. Best 1.99 I've ever spent. Still have it too. Since then have found a WLP also a UK Original. Would play it for friends who would come over to listen to records, play chess and drink beer. They would comment on what the heck was this when the record started...told 'em this was the dude from The UK who had a hit with Space Oddity...and they would say "cool"....this is even better and rocks out too. Never heard any songs from this on the radio at the time...that was when I realized that radio is lame.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2020
  8. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Not an easy one to narrow down. Went with After All and Supermen, but I wasn't convinced with my choices.

    DQ: I had heard it and was familiar with a lot of the tracks, but the first time I acquired the album was in '99. Loved it right away.
     
  9. Freek999

    Freek999 Forum Resident

    someone picked All The Madmen ?!?!?!
     
  10. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    It's a full, dynamic album, remarkably different than the '69 album (aka Space Oddity) and Hunky Dory '71.

    I think I first heard it around '76-'78 when I bought the kick vinyl RCA orange label, with lyrics inner sleeve and poster. That black and white artwork combined with the subject matter and heavy sound gave the album a dark, even macabre feel (Diamond Dogs and "Heroes" had that cold, dark feel to a lesser degree).
    Great album with solid compositions. I won't vote.
     
  11. DME1061

    DME1061 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Trenton, NJ
    After All & Supermen.

    First heard it in 74. Me and my best friend would try to buy a different album each time we had enough allowance so we could borrow each others. Both of us wanted to pick up Bowie's back catalog...... he bought Ziggy Stardust and I chose Man Who Sold The World. Loved it, but my friend got the better end of the Bowie albums that day. :laugh: I had the RCA version:

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2020
  12. Grootna

    Grootna Senior Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Even worse....Width of a Circle got two votes.......smh
     
    Efus, Hermes, TonyCzar and 4 others like this.
  13. Dandelion1967

    Dandelion1967 My Favourite Parks Are Car Parks

    "Saviour Machine" and "She Shook me cold".
    TMWSTW is one of my least favourite Bowie albums; I like "Space Oddity" and the 1st 1967 album even more.
     
  14. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Voting for the two generic bluuz-rock songs, "She Shook Me Cold" and "Black Country Rock".
     
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  15. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    I can't believe all the people voting for "Supermen." :wtf: :eek:

    I always thought it was one of his classic early tracks that everyone cherished.

    That song is unbelievable with some of the greatest vocals ever.
     
  16. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    I don't think there's a weak link on this album at all--it's perfectly-balanced musically.

    I brought it on a long car ride with my friend where we dosed some gel tab acid--the persona Bowie adopts on "All The Madmen" really got to me on that trip.
     
  17. Ludger

    Ludger ISthisALLreal, ISthisALLnecessary, ORisTHISaJOKE?

    Location:
    Dortmund, Germany
    Hard one that. Went for 'She Shook me Cold' and 'Saviour Machine'. Our local record store had a copy of the American cartoon cover LP which I bought (in the early 80s probably), and is has remained one of my favourite Bowie albums to this day.


    Wait ... can I have those two songs back please? There is no weak link on TMWSTW. And I will certainly not participate in any further eliminations!
     
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  18. MicSmith

    MicSmith Forum Resident

    I first heard it when I bought the Ryko reissue. It’s an album that has grown on me steadily over the years. Used to think it had maybe four decent songs on it - now there’s only She Shook Me Cold that leaves me cold.
     
  19. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    Forgot to Discuss: I bought an import version with the black kicking cover when I was in high school or college in the early 80s. Never loved it like the rest of Bowie's 70s material, eventually warmed up to it more. I think in retrospect, the copy I had was poorly mastered (it may have been counterfeit) and the sound wasn't great, which probably didn't help. The whole album is fascinating as you can hear Bowie and Ronno working out the sound they're going to use in the future, but it's all sort of of tentative and a large number of songs still sound fairly formulaic to me.
     
  20. jimjim

    jimjim Forum Resident

    After All...that's it...the rest - I can't choose!

    Got my Ryko "Analogue" copy in 1990-1 and still have it. It's easily one of my Top 5 Bowie albums. The Spiders are on fire here...
     
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  21. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    I would nominate adding a song to it, with the second version of "Holy Holy" re-recorded when Ronson had come aboard (and after the original single version flopped).
     
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  22. egebamyasi

    egebamyasi Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    After All She Left Me Cold

    Whenever the Ryko came out. I liked it but not something I played a lot.
     
  23. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I need to give this album a good listen. I did enjoy it when I first heard it but I haven't given it enough spins. I came to it a lot later. So I can't vote.
    I first heard a song of this when I saw the Ziggy Stardust Concert at the movies .... in the Late eighties? ... early nineties? ... anyway Width Of A Circle blew me away, and it still took me another fifteen years to get around to buying the album.
     
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  24. Dave Thompson

    Dave Thompson Forum Resident

    The only one I'd drop is "She Shook Me Cold" - I've been listening to this album since its 1972 rerelease and the rest of it is perfect. But I never warmed to that one.
     
  25. sekaer

    sekaer Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Wut? “After All” rules. I went with “Savior Machine” and “Running Gun Blues”
     
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