David Bowie: "The Man Who Sold the World" Album (1971)

David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World was released as an LP album in the UK by Mercury Records (catalog number 6338 041) on April 8, 1971.

Initially named Metrobolist, as a nod to the 1927 film Metropolis, the title was altered at the last moment by Mercury without consulting Bowie.

The album was launched with distinct cover designs in the US and the UK. In the US (November 4, 1970), the cover featured a cartoon-style illustration by Michael J. Weller depicting a cowboy in front of an asylum. The UK version, designed by Keith MacMillan, showed Bowie in a blue dress by Michael Fish. A 1972 reissue by RCA Records displayed a black-and-white image of Bowie's character Ziggy Stardust from that period; since 1990, reissues have reinstated the original UK cover art.

None of the songs from the album were initially released as singles, although a promotional version of "All the Madmen" was issued in the US in 1970. Mercury released "All the Madmen" as a single, with "Janine" from Space Oddity on the B-side, but it was withdrawn. The same track was released in Eastern Europe in 1973, along with "The Width of a Circle." "Black Country Rock" was the B-side of "Holy Holy" in the UK in January 1971, just before the release of The Man Who Sold the World. The title track was the B-side for both the US single release of "Space Oddity" in 1972 and the UK release of "Life on Mars?" in 1973.