10 Failed Albums That Became Cult Classics
3. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
Few artists in music history can claim to have covered such a diverse range of genres as David Bowie. Throughout his decorated career, Bowie released 27 studio albums in a recording career spanning for almost 50 years. In that time, Bowie made some famously groundbreaking records that had an instant impact on music and pop culture as a whole.
However, one of these instant classic, mainstream radio dominating records was not 1970's 'The Man Who Sold the World'. As Bowie's third studio record, this was his final release before he was launched to super stardom by 1971's 'Hunky Dory'. Upon it's initial release, 'TMWSTW' failed to chart anywhere and received mixed critical reception, especially in the UK.
As Bowie's hidden treasure at the time, this album had to wait a further two years before it started to gain traction, making it to #24 in the UK albums chart upon its 1972 re-release. However, success in the US had to wait further still as the same re-release only managed to reach #105 in the US Billboard chart.
However, the modern music scene views this album as iconic and is seen by some as the first of Bowie's 'classic' albums. It has also been credited as a huge influence on artists such as Gary Numan, The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees. On top of this, it is widely considered as one of the earliest inspirations over the eventual rise of the dark wave genre.