The Man Who Sold the World
The Man Who Sold the Worldmight be the sleepiest of Bowie's sleepers. It's got some great, quiet moments, like "All the Madmen," with its flutes and violins and midsong poetry reading ("Where can the horizon lie when a nation hides its organic minds in the cellar, dark and grim....") and "After All," which is hauntingly beautiful. It's got songs that are several different songs at once (for example, "Width of a Circle"). What it doesn't have is a "Heroes" or a "Rebel Rebel" or a "Jean Genie" or a "Boys Keep Swinging"--no immediately accessible standout stand-up-and-dancers in the face of experimental weirdness. Instead, this CD kind of stands on you. Its dark, sometimes violent lyrics knock you off your feet, and the frantic, heavy bass lines hold you down. "Don't set me free, I'm as heavy as can be ... give me some good old lobotomy." OK!--Dan Leone