David Bowie: The Man Who Sold The World 12"

David Bowie's first album of the 1970s, the Tony Visconti-produced The Man Who Sold the World represents the beginning of the landmark artist's classic period. Mick Ronson's guitars occupy hard-rock and psychedelic domains, and Bowie pursues a sound that's simultaneously bizarre, fuzzed-out, and alien. Made more famous by Nirvana's cover of the title track on MTV Unplugged in New York, The Man Who Sold the World goes much deeper than one song. The record points in the unpredictable, innovative directions Bowie would travel throughout the 1970s. In addition, the album's cover, on which Bowie wears a dress, remains a landmark image and indicative of his bold refusal of hard-and-fast sexual identities.