writes that by the end of June 1971, the album had sold only 1,395 copies in the US. The same year, Bowie stated: "[it] sold like hotcakes in Beckenham, and nowhere else". However, following a 1972 reissue by RCA after the commercial breakthrough of Ziggy Stardust, The Man Who Sold the World peaked at number 24 on the UK Albums Chart, where it remained for 30 weeks, and number 105 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, spending 23 weeks on the chart. The album's 1990 reissue charted again on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 66. Critical reception Upon release, The Man Who Sold the World was generally more well-received critically in the US than in the UK. Music publications Melody Maker and NME originally found The Man Who Sold the World "surprisingly excellent" and "rather hysterical", respectively. Reviewing for Rolling Stone in February 1971, John Mendelsohn called the album "uniformly excellent" and commented that Visconti's "use of echo, phasing, and other techniques on Bowie's voice ... serves to reinforce the jaggedness of Bowie's words and music", which he interpreted as "oblique and fragmented images that are almost impenetrable separately but which convey with effectiveness an ironic and bitter sense of the world when considered together". Colman Andrews of Phonograph Record felt that record was a mixed bag, finding the lyrics both good and bad and Bowie's voice to be undistinguishable from other British artists, but enjoyed his vocal performance. Overall, Andrews stated, "[The Man Who Sold the World] TRIES to define some new province of modern music, even if it's not completely successful. For that alone it deserves some attention." The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau considered the album and its predecessor to be "overwrought excursions". Mike Saunders from Who Put the Bomp magazine included The Man Who Sold the World in his ballot of 1971's top 10 albums for the first annual Pazz & Jop poll of American critics, published in The Village Voice in February 1972. Subsequent events After the completion of The Man Who Sold the World, Bowie became less active in both the studio and on stage. His contract with music publisher Essex had expired and Defries, his new manager, was facing prior contractual challenges. In August 1970, Visconti parted ways with Bowie owing to his dislike of Defries and his frustration with Bowie's lack of enthusiasm during the making of