title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Upon its release, "Hitman" received positive reviews; critics praised the game's episodic release format, locations, level design, and its replayability but criticised the always-online requirement and excessive handholding. The game under-performed commercially and caused publisher Square Enix to divest from IO Interactive in May 2017. Following a management buyout, IO retained the rights to the series and partnered with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to produce a sequel titled "Hitman 2", which was released in November 2018. The "World of Assassination" trilogy was concluded with "Hitman 3" in January 2021.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: "Hitman" is an action-adventure stealth video game in which players control a genetically enhanced assassin called Agent 47 from a third-person perspective as he carries out assassinations of various targets across the globe. As in other games in the "Hitman" series, players have a large amount of freedom in their approach to their assassinations. Players may use weapons including explosives, pistols, assault rifles, and long-range sniper rifles; they may also assassinate the target at close range using bladed weapons or throwable items.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Agent 47 is vulnerable in a firefight; thus, eliminating targets silently is preferred. He can use his specially equipped garrote wire to strangle his victims or disguise his killings as accidental deaths, such as poisoning the target's food or drowning them in a toilet. The game also includes scripted opportunities that require the completion of multiple tasks. Players can eavesdrop on conversations from non-playable characters (NPCs) to obtain clues about the location and routine of targets, and uncover opportunities for creative infiltration and elimination. For example, Agent 47 can tamper with a chandelier, causing it to fall and kill a target. 47 can collect items to use as improvised weapons, access previously restricted areas, knock out NPCs, or create distractions. Completion of mission challenges, such as killing targets in unconventional ways, discovering unique items, and gaining access to new areas, enables players to progress through the mastery levels for each location, with rewards such as advanced weapons and gadgets, agency pick-up locations for stashing gear, and new starting locations for that level.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Each episode in the game features a sandbox-type environment the player can freely explore. Players can incapacitate specific NPCs and wear their clothes as disguises, which allow Agent 47 to access restricted areas, initiate conversations with targets or other NPCs, and perform actions that would otherwise be highly suspicious. Some NPCs, referred to as "Enforcers", will see through 47's disguises. Agent 47 can try to blend in to prevent this from happening. Levels can accommodate about 300 NPCs, each of which reacts to the player's actions differently and has their own unique routines. Acting strangely, such as crouching or taking cover in a crowd, will raise suspicions. If 47 tries to enter a restricted area, he may have to be frisked by guards, requiring him to discard weapons or illegal items before being searched. The artificial intelligence (AI) of NPCs has several alert phases. Guards will escort Agent 47 from a restricted area if he is found trespassing and his disguise may be compromised if a NPC sees him perform an illegal action. An alert guard will first try to arrest 47, but if he resists or tries to run, they will open fire on him. Guards can be distracted and Agent 47 can hide the bodies of incapacitated individuals and other evidence to avoid alerting other NPCs. Agent 47 can also enter Instinct Mode, which highlights the locations of the targets, as well as useful items, guards, and other important information. After eliminating his target(s), Agent 47 needs to locate an exit to complete a mission. A player's mission performance review is rated with a five-star rating system and is influenced by factors such as time elapsed, the number of non-target NPCs killed, sightings of 47 performing illegal activities, appearances on CCTV cameras, and discoveries of victims' bodies.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: IO Interactive introduced a "live component" to "Hitman"; new content, which was regularly delivered in downloadable form, includes time-limited missions called "Elusive Targets". If a player fails to kill an elusive target before the mission expires, or alerts targets and allows them to escape, the targets will not return. Players are rewarded for successful killings with cosmetic rewards. Unlike the main game, players cannot save their games when they are completing the Elusive Target missions. "Escalation Contracts", which are contracts created by the developers, include stages that require players to complete tasks such as assassinating a target using a specific weapon or disguise. By completing a stage, players progress through the escalation and the level of difficulty will increase with new challenges to comply with or changes to the level. "Hitman: Absolution"s Online Contracts mode also returns in "Hitman", allowing players to assign up to five NPCs as assassination targets, set requirements for their killings, and share their contracts with and compete with other players.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: In 1999, an unnamed man is initiated into the International Contract Agency (ICA) and demonstrates exceptional aptitude as an assassin. The ICA is unable to verify his background or uncover any information about him, which disturbs Erich Soders, the ICA's training director. With the help of his handler, Diana Burnwood, the initiate passes a final test that Soders had rigged against him. The director reluctantly approves the initiate for field duty and washes his hands of the matter. The man tells Diana to call him "47" and leaves to await further instructions; this prologue leads into the events of "", the first game in the series.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Twenty years later, 47 completes a series of contracts provided by Diana, who has risen to a senior position in the ICA. At first, the contracts appear to be unrelated, but Diana gradually uncovers information that an unknown individual referred to as the "Shadow Client" has covertly coordinated these contracts to attack a secretive organization called "Providence", whose existence and total control over world affairs were thought to be a myth. The Shadow Client uses the ICA and 47 to kill Providence agents, making the ICA appear culpable and hiding his own involvement. The game ends with Diana being approached by a representative of Providence, who requests that the ICA deal with the Shadow Client.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The Shadow Client performs an assassination for Viktor Novikov, a fashion mogul and head of the international spy ring IAGO, and receives a copy of all of IAGO's files as payment. Using the files to identify Providence's secret operations, the Client sends an anonymous warning to MI6 of an impending IAGO auction of a stolen non-official cover (NOC) list that will take place at a Paris fashion show by Novikov's label, Sanguine. MI6 hires 47 to prevent the sale; he assassinates Novikov and his business partner and IAGO's true leader, Dalia Margolis, at the fashion show.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The Client sets two more ICA contracts in motion to disrupt Providence's activities without exposing himself. He first discloses a secret project to develop a deadly weaponized virus to a disgruntled shareholder in the Ether Biotech Corporation, knowing that the shareholder will then hire 47 to assassinate Silvio Caruso and Francesca De Santis, the scientists in charge of the project, and destroy the virus prototype housed at Caruso's private lab in the fictitious Italian town of Sapienza. Providence dispatches an agent to investigate the incident; the Client ambushes and kills him, and takes a key in his possession.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The second contract involves the Client disclosing an impending military coup in Morocco to Hamilton-Lowe, an international contractor with lucrative Moroccan government contracts. The company hires 47 to eliminate General Reza Zaydan, the mastermind of the coup, and fugitive bank CEO Claus Hugo Strandberg—both of whom are undercover Providence operatives—in Marrakesh. As 47 is completing the contract, the Client breaches a Providence vault in New York City and steals valuable information on Providence's assets and operatives. The leaders of Providence realize that a coordinated attack has been launched against them.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The Client puts a third ICA contract in motion to reveal another Providence member, the reclusive media tycoon Thomas Cross. Cross had ordered a coverup that exonerated his son, famed indie rock singer Jordan Cross, for the murder of his girlfriend Hannah Highmoore; the Client reveals the truth to her family. The Highmoores hire 47 to kill Jordan Cross and Ken Morgan, the Cross family lawyer who oversaw the coverup, while both are staying at a private resort in Bangkok. Deploying forces from a private militia under his control, the Client kidnaps Thomas Cross from Jordan's funeral and kills him, then steals billions of dollars from his offshore bank accounts. The ICA, realizing an unknown party has benefited from the Cross contract, re-examines 47's previous contracts and discovers the Client's role in setting them up.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The ICA learns of the existence of a training camp for the Client's militia, based in an old industrial farm in rural Colorado. Seeking to eliminate the Client for his manipulation, the agency orders a premature operation due to the intervention of Soders, a member of ICA's executive board. 47 is sent to the camp to eliminate the militia's leader, eco-terrorist Sean Rose, and three other key militia members. 47 discovers a secret room filled with the Client's research, revealing both the connections of the previous contracts to Providence and the Client's obsession with 47 himself. Diana also discovers that Soders is a mole for Providence and has been manipulating the agency on their behalf. The Client, who has been secretly tracking 47, uses this opportunity to go into hiding.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: 47 assassinates Soders and his Providence liaison, yakuza associate and fixer Yuki Yamazaki, at a hospital in Hokkaido, where Soders is set to receive needed medical treatment in exchange for a list of all active ICA operatives. Subsequently, Providence uncovers the Client's role in the attacks. An unnamed Providence member approaches Diana on a train, seeking to hire the ICA to target the Client. Diana refuses but starts to reconsider when the Providence member offers to reveal information about 47's past.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: In this alternative storyline, 47 receives contracts to assassinate the six former members of SIGMA, a deniable operations paramilitary unit of the private military contractor CICADA, who committed war crimes during the siege of Sarajevo but evaded prosecution by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 47 tracks each SIGMA member—starting with the group's former commander and working his way down—to all six of the Season 1 mission settings, with the events and characters of each location serving as backdrops. As the missions progress, security increases and the targets become more paranoid and cautious, increasing the difficulty.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: For the final contract, 47 is sent to the GAMA hospital in Hokkaido to both eliminate the final group member, Taheiji Koyama, and retrieve files documenting SIGMA's operations from the hospital's records. If 47 chooses to approach the target, Koyama will reveal that he financed the contracts, wanting to get justice for SIGMA's victims. Now that he is dying from a terminal illness, Koyama instructs 47 to publicize the SIGMA files after killing him. 47 honors Koyama's request, but both he and Diana agree that public indifference will likely relegate SIGMA's atrocities to obscurity.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: A doomsday cult, "Liberation", that masquerades as a self-help group is using an upcoming exhibition at a luxury resort in Bangkok to provide cover for a bio-weapon attack. 47 receives a contract from a mysterious billionaire using the alias "Locksley" to eliminate the cult's leader Oybek Nabazov and his second-in-command, Sister Yulduz. As 47 makes his escape, Diana notices a series of digital messages being transmitted from the resort's network, which are revealed to be signals meant to activate the cult's sleeper agents worldwide as a contingency once Nabazov's death is confirmed.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: ICA identifies two sleeper agents, Brother Akram and celebrity author Craig Black, meeting at a private event in Sapienza to exchange a weapon identical to the one in Bangkok, which 47 retrieves after eliminating the targets. ICA intel then confirms the origin of another signal, this one based in the United States, which leads to a mercenary camp in Colorado where Dr. Bradley Paine, a CDC specialist and secret cult member, has already begun infecting personnel. Forced to maintain his distance to prevent infection, 47 assassinates Paine with a sniper rifle, along with four victims of the Nabazov virus.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Diana's analysts intercept a memo indicating Japanese authorities have recently detained a man on a flight to Australia who showed signs of infection and have ordered him to be quarantined in the GAMA medical facility. 47 infiltrates the hospital to eliminate the man, who is identified as Owen Cage, a radical virus researcher who helped design the Nabazov virus and infected himself with the intention of becoming Patient Zero. An additional target is Klaus Liebleid, an Ether scientist overseeing the quarantine effort while secretly trying to extract as much information about the virus as he can so that Ether can reverse engineer Cage's work and profit from it. Despite Cage being kept in isolation, the virus can spread to other people and 47 must kill all infected individuals to eliminate the virus. After 47 completes the contract the virus is destroyed.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Danish company IO Interactive developed all of the mainline "Hitman" games. Prior to the launch of "" (2012), publisher and IO's owner Square Enix announced it had established a new studio named Square Enix Montréal to work on future "Hitman" games. Due to cutbacks and layoffs at IO Interactive, other projects were stopped and the company started working on a new "Hitman" game, and Square Enix Montréal focused on developing smartphone and tablet versions of "Hitman" and other games. Most of the members of the development team at IO Interactive only worked on "Absolution" but not older games of the series, such as "" (2006).


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: "Absolution" was controversial for removing many of the franchise's traditional gameplay elements and being linear rather than the large, open sandbox levels of the older games, despite being more accessible. When the team brainstormed ideas for the next entry in the franchise, they strove to integrate the gameplay of "Absolution" and the open levels of "Blood Money". According to Christian Elverdem, this goal was "daunting" during the early stage of the game's development because they needed to upgrade their in-house Glacier game engine to accommodate these larger maps and most of the team did not have experience building sandboxes. According to Michael Vogt, the game's lead writer, the title was designed to be a "soft reboot" and a "reimagining" for the franchise.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The major story beats and the destinations were decided by a small group of development leads, after which a team would be responsible for each level's design, rules, targets, and other details to create a self-contained game world. The first level the team created, Paris, was the vertical slice for the game; it set the gameplay rules, general level design, and the number of non-playable characters for future episodes. According to Elverdem, every level is "fully simulated" and the player is free to explore and observe the behaviours of the AIs. If the player eliminates a certain NPC, the simulation adjusts itself and continues to function, though it will also react to players' actions. The team listened to feedback from playtesters and adjusted the game accordingly. For instance, after some playtesters complained about the level being too punitive, the team introduced the concept of escorting, in which NPCs escort Agent 47 back to a public space if he is found trespassing, whereas in the early version the guards would attack Agent 47.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The team perceived "Hitman" as a puzzle game with action and stealth elements; they had several major design concepts. The first concept was named "Swiss cheese"; according to the team, the term means players would be presented with an ample options, and there were multiple ways to move in and out of a level. There are two types of levels in this game; "fortress" refers to an area the player must infiltrate and a "snailhouse" is a level that has a circular design in which players are encouraged to explore the peripheral areas to find ways to access the area in the middle of the map. The level Sapienza was developed alongside Paris, and was designed as the "opposite" of it, both in level design layout and aesthetic. Inspired by Italy's Amalfi coast and the town of Vernazza, the maps feature a snailhouse design. Elverdem described this level as the "pinnacle" of the Swiss cheese design because the map has a lot of verticality and the pathways are interconnected, ensuring players will not find a dead end. According to designer Jesper Hylling, the team mainly did their location research remotely using Google Images, YouTube and Google Street View.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The team incorporated a concept known as "social stealth", in which players are expected to conform to social norms and abide by the rules in a particular setting or context to blend in. Each area in a map is considered to be a microbiome that informs players the way they should act. In each level, the team balanced the proportion of public and private spaces. Players are able to freely walk around in public spaces without restrictions, which enables them to understand the "feel" of the level and discover mission opportunities. There are two types of private spaces; professional spaces that often requires a disguise and personal spaces in which the target can be alone. The AI of targets displays two types of behaviour; some will roam around the map and others will station themselves in a private space that is off-limits to the player. This helped diversify the gameplay loop by encouraging different playstyles. According to the team, the first type of target encourages players to follow them and observe their behaviour and patterns while the latter type prompts players to find ways to infiltrate a setting or gain access to previously restricted areas.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: After receiving complaints about the level being lifeless and boring from playtesters, the team introduced narrative subplots into the game with mission stories and opportunities. These elements position the players on a "rail" that will guide them to their target; this added additional challenges to the game's simulation because opportunities will disrupt the target's usual loop and players can complicate the loop by abandoning an ongoing opportunity in favour of another rail. Despite this complication, the team believed these subplots allow players to discover creative ways that change the AI loop in a meaningful and organic manner. For instance, if the Ether virus is destroyed in Sapienza, one of the targets, scientist Francesca DeSantis, will deviate from her core loop to visit the laboratory. Players can easily use this feature to manipulate the targets. Despite putting players on a rail, the team stopped giving players further instructions after they have gathered all of the information needed to carry out the hit. The team felt it encourages players to decide how to approach the targets and communicates to the player there is never a "wrong" way of killing a target.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Another result of the playtesting complaints was IO Interactive heavily expanding upon the tutorial missions set at the ICA Facility. The tutorial was designed to teach players the fundamentals of "Hitman," how to operate the game and how set their own goals. The levels also act as a prologue to give insight to the recruitment and training of Agent 47, with the concept being the ICA would set up mock-up re-enactments of former ICA assassinations to train their recruits. The first iteration was a series of individual test chambers where the player would be taught a single mechanic or feature at a time. However even though this taught players how to operate the game, it was not representative of the nature of the game as an open sandbox and developers found players weren't actually really any better at the game. The redesigned tutorial consisted of a short 'Arrival' opening that teaches basic movement and camera controls, a 'Guided training' mission set on a sandbox yacht level and then an unguided 'Final Test' sandbox level. The guided training walks the player through a mission while teaching the basic mechanics of the game such as the use of different disguises. The most important features for the player to understand, such as enforcers who will see through the player’s disguise, are deliberately reinforced multiple times in this walkthrough. The Final Test set on a military air base then acts as a sandbox that introduces the ‘mission story’ system and concludes the storyline of the prologue.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: However despite teaching the controls and the fundamentals of "Hitman", developers still felt they had to teach player how to set their own goals so this led to the idea of the 'Freeform training' mission. In this mission players are asked to replay the yacht level from the 'Guided training' again but this time without any of the guidance and with more items such as remote explosives available to play with. This mission acted as a place to introduce the challenge system of the game to encourage players to seek out other areas and assassinations in the level. Playtesters were given a list of challenges on paper that were deliberately designed to be simple and to work well together. For example one of the challenges is to find the rat poison on the yacht, which then leads into the challenge to kill the target via drowning. This resulted in players setting their own goals and becoming creative in trying to complete all the different challenges. The level also acted as a safe setting for players to experiment with different ideas and understand how NPCs would react.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Vogt and Elverdam placed more emphasis on the game's narrative because they observed the market wanted "quality drama" following the success of "The Last of Us" (2013). Vogt noted there was a genre change for the franchise with "Hitman" (2016); unlike the previous games in the series, which are crime thrillers, the 2016 game is an "agent thriller" that was inspired by James Bond movies such as "Casino Royale" and has a more "adventurous and aspirational" tone than the older games, which are "cold and cynical". The team elevated the stature of Agent 47 and his targets; 47 is now travelling to luxurious and exotic locations, and assassinating targets who are social elites and powerful criminals. Elverdem said with the genre change, Agent 47 became "the guy you called for the most impossible hits under the most impossible circumstances". To make the game aspirational, it has a "stronger moral compass" than earlier games in the series so the assassinations committed by Agent 47 are more morally justifiable and make more sense in the context of the in-game universe.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Vogt described Agent 47 as a "quintessential blank slate character" and Elverdam said "since he is not anyone himself, it's easy for him to be everyone else". Agent 47's only goal is to complete his assignments. Given the nature of the character, the team cannot forcefully apply typical character arcs like hero's journey for him; the team felt this would cause ludonarrative dissonance. The team introduced other characters to accompany Agent 47 through the post-2016 "Hitman" games. 47's handler Diana Burnwood becomes his conscience and the Shadow Client—who is revealed as Lucas Grey in "Hitman 2"—serves as his emotions. These characters have genuine emotions and desires, and their actions and attitudes would slowly influence Agent 47 and facilitate his own character arc. David Bateson returned to voice Agent 47.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Vogt was initially concerned by the game's episodic format; he felt the episode would feel like "a slice of an unfinished game" if one episode features too many narrative elements. The team thus decided to include subplots within each level while the main story would slowly unfold throughout the games. This unfolding makes the game similar to a television series in which some episodes are entirely about a subplot that has no relation to the overarching narrative. Vogt said Season 1 only serves to introduce the game's characters and that the game's story would become increasingly important in later seasons. The first half of Season 1 has very little story content because the team wanted to ensure players can relate themselves to Agent 47, a merciless assassin who travels around the world to kill targets assigned to him. Because Agent 47 is a blank state character, the team strove to create a "living, breathing" world. Rather than a protagonist, Agent 47 is an intruder who observes and occasionally interrupts other people's lives. To achieve this, the team relied heavily on environmental storytelling. Art director Jonathan Rowe said the art team spent a lot of time "set dressing" every room and item to ensure each item has a reason to be there and has a tale to tell. For instance, some rooms in the Bangkok hotel are messy, communicating the story of the previous inhabitants of these rooms.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: "Hitman" is always online due to the inclusion of Elusive Targets who can only be killed once. The making of Elusive Targets did not impact the game's level design; the team used a different design philosophy compared with the main game. Players are not allowed to replay Elusive Targets because the team felt this would create a tense experience and prevent players from noticing imperfections that would make the experience less enjoyable. Elusive Targets were designed to be memorable; they do not always have connections to the main story, which gave the team more freedom to create characters that fit the setting and theme of each map. The team avoided releasing Elusive Targets in a newly released map; they wanted to give sufficient time for players to master and explore the level. The development team observed the ways players completed Elusive Targets, their play pattern and feedback, and made adjustments to make future targets more challenging. Hannes Seifert, the head of IO Interactive, described Elusive Targets as "the pulse" of the experience that has "energised" the community and boosted the game's sales. This mode was intended to provide bursts of content to the player during intervals between episodes. In July 2016, a companion app that allows players to keep track of online content released for the game was released.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: In March 2016, advertising company Omelet announced they had collaborated with Square Enix for a new campaign called "Choose Your Hit". Players could vote online and through Twitter to "kill" either Gary Cole or Gary Busey; the actor who received the most votes would lend his voice and likeness to the target in an upcoming mission. A month later, it was announced Busey had won and would appear as the target in a mission that would be released in mid 2016. On 18 July 2016, Busey was announced as the seventh elusive target in the game; his mission, in which Cole also appears, would be available for seven days starting on 21 July 2016.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: A mode called Contracts mode, which first appeared in "Absolution", was added to "Hitman". The team believed the larger maps with more NPCs in each make the experience more varied and created identifiable NPCs to make these custom targets more interesting. When "Absolution" launched in 2012, the online servers were unstable due to a large quantity of players accessing the online Contracts mode; to avoid a repeat of this incident and to ensure "Hitman" had a stable launch, IO Interactive improved the game's online infrastructure.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: "Hitman" was originally set to be released on 8 December 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, but its release was postponed to 11 March 2016 to allow time for IO Interactive to include more content in the base game. The PlayStation 4 version of the game includes six exclusive missions known as "The Sarajevo Six". Players who pre-ordered the game gained access to its beta, which was released for PlayStation 4 on 12 February and for Microsoft Windows on 19 February 2016. No season pass was available at launch; the company considered the addition of paid content a "wrong approach". Players who pre-ordered the game also received a costume pack based on a mission from "Blood Money" and two in-game weapons. A beta was released prior to the game's official launch. Feral Interactive released the "Definitive Edition" on Linux and macOS on 16 February and 20 June 2017 respectively.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: While there was no post-launch support for "Absolution", the team realised players regularly re-visited the game's Contracts mode, in which players set custom targets and share them online with other players. This mode's longevity encouraged IO Interactive to re-evaluate the release model of "Hitman", which they envisioned as a "digital platform" that is similar to a Netflix series. This platform, which was marketed as the "World of Assassination", allowed IO Interactive to regularly release content without rebuilding the technology. The team believed launching the game at a lower price point with fewer levels would encourage more players to purchase it, creating positive word of mouth that would expand the game's player base. As the team released more episodes, the expected new players would convert their existing version to the full version. The team initially estimated about 80% of the purchasers would buy the episodes separately while the other 20% of them, whom they believed to be long-time fans of the series, would purchase the full-priced versions.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Originally, the game was to be released in an "intro pack" that would include all of the base content and locations, six story missions, three sandboxes, forty "signature kills", a contracts mode with 800 targets, and access to regular events held by the developer. New missions and locations set in Thailand, the US, and Japan were to be released after the game's launch, and a full-priced version was to be released following the release of this post-release content. No downloadable content (DLC) was to be released for the game and no microtransactions were to be offered; new missions, locations, and targets were to be regularly added to the game as free post-release updates.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: On 14 January 2016, it was announced "Hitman" would be released in an episodic manner; at its launch, the game would consist of the prologue and Paris missions. New content would be released monthly; this would include the remaining two cities of the main game (Sapienza and Marrakesh) in April and May 2016 respectively, which would be followed by the previously planned Thailand, US, and Japan expansions in late 2016. Weekly events would be held and additional content would be released between the monthly updates. These expansions would be available at no extra cost to purchasers of a full-priced, downloaded copy of the game but purchasers of the "Intro Pack" would buy this extra content separately. According to Seifert, the move was designed to allow the team time to develop the game's levels and to "create a living game that will expand and evolve over time and establish a foundation for the future—this is the first game in a storyline which will continue and expand with future "Hitman" games".


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The episodic release enabled IO Interactive to receive feedback for earlier levels and fix some of the design flaws during the production of later episodes. The positive reaction to Sapienza boosted the team's confidence and encouraged them to continue experimenting with level design by modifying the design principles in later maps, which add new challenges and change players' expectations. The team also believed by periodically releasing episodes, players would be encouraged to replay and master each level, and share their experience with other players while awaiting the next episode.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: In addition to the ICA Facility level, which serves as the prologue and a tutorial to the game, "Hitman" features six locations, including Paris, France; the fictional town of Sapienza, Italy; Marrakesh, Morocco; Bangkok, Thailand; Colorado, United States; and Hokkaido, Japan.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: After the release of Marrakesh, IO Interactive announced a "Summer Bonus Episode" that was released on 19 July 2016 and features a remake of the Sapienza and Marrakesh levels, new targets, challenges and opportunities. Additionally, there are several additional "bonus" episodes for 47 to complete.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: IO Interactive's parent company Square Enix published every episode, and the downloadable and retail releases of "Hitman: The Complete First Season", which bundles all of the game's episodes. "The Complete First Season" was released on 31 January 2017. Because of the game's poorer-than-expected financial performance and Square Enix prioritisation of other properties, Square Enix announced it would divest from IO Interactive and allow the studio's management to buy it out, after which it became independent.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Following the buyout, IO Interactive retained the rights to the "Hitman" franchise and began self-publishing the game digitally. It released "ICA Facility", the game's prologue, as a free-to-play game in June 2017. IO Interactive then released "Hitman: Game of the Year Edition" on 7 November 2017 for download; the re-release includes the base game and a separate campaign named "Patient Zero", a remix of the Bangkok, Sapienza, Colorado, and Hokkaido episodes. It also includes a new costume inspired by "Blood Money", and new music composed by Niels Bye Nielsen. The studio then partnered with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to release the "Game of the Year Edition" for retail on 15 May 2018. The edition, which is titled "Hitman: Definitive Edition", includes the campaign and the bonus episodes, as well as the "IO Interactive's 20th Anniversary Outfit Bundle", which includes outfits inspired by IO's other franchises such as "Freedom Fighters", "Mini Ninjas", and "Kane & Lynch".


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: "Hitman - Game of the Year Edition" was added to the GOG store, which only sells DRM-free games, on 22 September 2021. This resulted in significant backlash and large amounts of negative user reviews on the game's store page due to the always-online requirements of the game. GOG responded in a forum post stating that users were free to refund the game but warned against "review bombing". They later clarified that they would only remove reviews that go against their review guidelines after pushback from forum users about the suggestion their complaints were "review bombing". The game was pulled from the store on 9 October, with GOG writing in a statement "we shouldn't have released it ["Hitman"] in its current form".


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: "Hitman" received generally positive reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. Many reviewers regarded the game as a "return to form" for the series after the controversial release of "Absolution" in 2012.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Many reviewers expressed skepticism at the game's release schedule. When the Paris episode was launched, Arthur Gies of "Polygon" said the game was more unfinished than episodic. Phil Savage from "PC Gamer" said, ""Hitman" feels unrefined and unfinished in lots of small but important ways". As more episodes were released, critics' impressions of the release format improved significantly. Mike Williams from USgamer said the episodic release format helped increase the replayability of "Hitman" because it gave sufficient time for the players to fully explore a level and experiment with different approaches before a new episode was released. Reviewers from "Rock, Paper, Shotgun" said the episodic release model meant the game would not be overwhelming for players, that it "[set] an excellent precedent for having impeccable chunks once a month", and that other games should be inspired by this release structure. According to the developers, the format would encourage players to regularly return to and replay each level.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The locations received praise from critics. Williams liked the vast and lively levels, which he described as "playgrounds" players can freely explore and observe. Savage also said the levels are "intricate" and "dense", meaning players would have plenty to do in each level, encouraging them to replay the game. He also liked the variety of the levels presented, especially later levels, which he said add new challenges to the game. "GameSpot"s Brett Todd also admired the complex design of each level and commented, "the levels are so big and so packed with details that they take on lives of their own, much like separate movies in a franchise". Writing for "Game Informer", Jeff Marchiafava said the levels are too big and that players could not stumble upon meaningful opportunities in an organic and spontaneous manner. He also said a lot of trial and error was needed for later episodes because the rules had changed, resulting in a lot of frustration. "Eurogamer"s Edwin Evans-Thirlwell was disappointed the AI did not react sufficiently to the players' actions. Critics generally agreed Paris was a promising start to the series, though Sapienza was often named as the game's high point due to the map's complex layout, location variety, and creative assassinations. Marrakesh and Hokkaido released to a generally positive reception but Bangkok and Colorado were considered to be weaker levels because the assassinations are less creative and the art style is less striking. The Colorado level was often considered to be controversial among players due to its complete lack of public spaces and verticality. Critics liked the idea of a global-trotting adventure; Williams and Todd drew similarities between "Hitman" and the James Bond films. Some reviewers expressed disappointment that the game reuses voice actors in different locations.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: The gameplay received critical praise. Williams said players are able to experiment with different ways to assassinate their targets. As the player progresses, they unlock new tools, which allows them to discover new assassination opportunities, further boosting the game's replay value. Andy Kelly from "PC Gamer" said, "if you have an absurd idea, the game will almost always accommodate and react to it". Savage said the opportunities are "entertaining" because they often result in very creative assassinations. Todd said the assassinations feel like "more of a funhouse ride than a grim series of contract killings" due to the game's over-the-top nature. Jeffrey Matulef from "Eurogamer" also commented on AI behaviour, which generate many unscripted moments for players. Some reviewers said the opportunities are too overbearing because the game offers players too much guidance and hand-holding. Reviewers praised IO Interactive for allowing players to play with minimal hints by modifying the game's settings. Many reviewers said the game feels like a puzzle game because of the way the player deciphers AI patterns and approaches their objectives. Savage said the game has the "most elegant implementation" of the disguise system because it introduces a specific type of NPC that will recognise 47's disguise rather than "arbitrary suspicion meter", though several reviewers said the pattern remained difficult to discern. Several critics also disliked the game's always-online requirement and its long load times.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: Contrary to the developers' expectations, "Hitman" episodic format did not succeed commercially. Most of the players purchased the full-priced versions and the sales volume was significantly lower than the traditional boxed release. Due to market confusion over the game's episodic format, even when the game's development was completed, the retail version did not meet publisher Square Enix's expectations, causing it to divest from the studio. "Hitman: The Complete First Season" was the fourth-best-selling video game at retail in the UK during its week of release, behind "" (2017), "Grand Theft Auto V" (2013), and "FIFA 17" (2016). Despite the slow start, IO Interactive announced the game had attracted seven million players as of November 2017 and more than 13 million players had played the game by May 2018.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: "Hitman" was nominated for Best Action/Adventure Game at The Game Awards 2016 and Evolving Game at the 13th British Academy Games Awards. Video game publication Giant Bomb named "Hitman" their Game of the Year in 2016; the staff said, "2016 was filled with huge debuts, finales, and resurrections, but the surprise success of "Hitman" had us talking, sweating, cursing, and laughing more than any other game this year".


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: IO Interactive partnered with Dynamite Entertainment to create a comic book series called "Agent 47: Birth of the Hitman", which explores the origin of Agent 47 and expands the game's overarching story. The first issue was released on 1 November 2017. In November 2017, Hulu and Fox 21 Television Studios announced it would produce a television series based on the game. The pilot episode would be written by Derek Kolstad. Kolstad, Adrian Askarieh and Chuck Gordon would also serve as its executive producers.


title: Hitman (2016 video game)

text: A sequel titled "Hitman 2" was released by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in November 2018 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. "Hitman: Legacy Pack" was released on 9 November 2018 as DLC for "Hitman 2"; all of the missions from the first season of the game were made available in the new game with the improved game mechanics used in "Hitman 2". Players can import levels from "Hitman" into "Hitman 3", the concluding game in the "World of Assassination" trilogy that was released in January 2021.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: "The Masque of the Red Death" (originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy") is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball in seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose "costume" proves to contain nothing tangible inside it; the guests also die in turn.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: Poe's story follows many traditions of Gothic fiction and is often analyzed as an allegory about the inevitability of death, though some critics advise against an allegorical reading. Many different interpretations have been presented, as well as attempts to identify the true nature of the eponymous disease. The story was first published in May 1842 in "Graham's Magazine" and has since been adapted in many different forms, including a 1964 film starring Vincent Price. Poe's short story has also been alluded to by other works in many types of media.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: The story takes place at the castellated abbey of the "happy and dauntless and sagacious" Prince Prospero. Prospero and 1,000 other nobles have taken refuge in this walled abbey to escape the Red Death, a terrible plague with gruesome symptoms that has swept over the land. Victims are overcome by "sharp pains", "sudden dizziness", and "profuse bleeding at the pores", and die within half an hour. Prospero and his court are indifferent to the sufferings of the population at large; they intend to await the end of the plague in luxury and safety behind the walls of their secure refuge, having welded the doors shut.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: Prospero holds a masquerade ball one night to entertain his guests in seven colored rooms of the abbey. Each of the first six rooms is decorated and illuminated in a specific color: blue, purple, green, orange, white, and violet. The last room is decorated in black and is illuminated by a scarlet light, "a deep blood color" cast from its stained glass windows. Because of this chilling pairing of colors, very few guests are brave enough to venture into the seventh room. A large ebony clock stands in this room and ominously chimes each hour, upon which everyone stops talking or dancing and the orchestra stops playing. Once the chiming stops, everyone immediately resumes the masquerade.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: At the chiming of midnight, the revelers and Prospero notice a figure in a dark, blood-splattered robe resembling a funeral shroud. The figure's mask resembles the rigid face of a corpse and exhibits the traits of the Red Death. Gravely insulted, Prospero demands to know the identity of the mysterious guest so they can hang him. The guests, too afraid to approach the figure, instead let him pass through the six chambers. The Prince pursues him with a drawn dagger and corners the guest in the seventh room. When the figure turns to face him, the Prince lets out a sharp cry and falls dead. The enraged and terrified revelers surge into the black room and forcibly remove the mask and robe, only to find to their horror that there is nothing underneath. Only then do they realize the costume was empty and all of the guests contract and succumb to the disease. The final line of the story sums up, "And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held dominion over all."


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: Directly influenced by the first Gothic novel, Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto", in "The Masque of the Red Death" Poe adopts many conventions of traditional Gothic fiction, including the castle setting. The multiple single-toned rooms may be representative of the human mind, showing different personality types. The imagery of blood and time throughout also indicates corporeality. The plague may, in fact, represent typical attributes of human life and mortality, which would imply the entire story is an allegory about man's futile attempts to stave off death (a commonly accepted interpretation). However, there is much dispute over how to interpret "The Masque of the Red Death"; some suggest it is not allegorical, especially due to Poe's admission of a distaste for didacticism in literature. If the story really does have a moral, Poe does not explicitly state that moral in the text.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: Blood, emphasized throughout the tale, along with the color red, serves as a dual symbol, representing both death and life. This is emphasized by the masked figure – never explicitly stated to be the Red Death, but only a reveler in a costume of the Red Death – making his initial appearance in the easternmost room, which is colored blue, a color most often associated with birth.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: Although Prospero's castle is meant to keep the sickness out, it is ultimately an oppressive structure. Its maze-like design and tall and narrow windows become almost burlesque in the final black room, so oppressive that "there were few of the company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all". Additionally, the castle is meant to be an enclosed space, yet the stranger is able to sneak inside, suggesting that control is an illusion.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: Like many of Poe's tales, "The Masque of the Red Death" has been interpreted autobiographically, by some. In this point of view, Prince Prospero is Poe as a wealthy young man, part of a distinguished family much like Poe's foster parents, the Allans. Under this interpretation, Poe is seeking refuge from the dangers of the outside world, and his portrayal of himself as the only person willing to confront the stranger is emblematic of Poe's rush towards inescapable dangers in his own life. Prospero is also the name of a central character in William Shakespeare's "The Tempest".


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: The disease called the Red Death is fictitious. Poe describes it as causing "sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores" leading to death within half an hour.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: The disease may have been inspired by tuberculosis (or consumption, as it was known then), since Poe's wife Virginia was suffering from the disease at the time the story was written. Like the character Prince Prospero, Poe tried to ignore the terminal nature of the disease. Poe's mother Eliza, brother William, and foster mother Frances had also died of tuberculosis. Alternatively, the Red Death may refer to cholera; Poe witnessed an epidemic of cholera in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1831. Others have suggested the pandemic is actually bubonic plague, emphasized by the climax of the story featuring the Red Death in the black room. One writer likens the description to that of a viral hemorrhagic fever or necrotizing fasciitis. It has also been suggested that the Red Death is not a disease or sickness at all but a weakness (like original sin) that is shared by all of humankind inherently.


title: The Masque of the Red Death

text: Poe first published the story in the May 1842 edition of "Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine" as "The Mask of the Red Death", with the tagline "A Fantasy". This first publication earned him $12. A revised version was published in the July 19, 1845 edition of the "Broadway Journal" under the now-standard title "The Masque of the Red Death". The original title emphasized the figure at the end of the story; the new title puts emphasis on the masquerade ball.


title: David Gates

text: David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940) is a retired American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the top of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.


title: David Gates

text: Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gates was surrounded by music from infancy, as the son of Clarence Gates, a band director, and Wanda Rollins, a piano teacher. He became proficient in piano, violin, bass and guitar by the time he enrolled in Tulsa's Will Rogers High School. Gates formed his first band, The Accents, with other high school musicians which included a piano player, Claude Russell Bridges, who later in life changed his name to Leon Russell. During a concert in 1957, the Accents backed Chuck Berry. In 1957, David Gates and the Accents released the 45 "Jo-Baby" / "Lovin' at Night" on Robbins record label. The A-side was written for his sweetheart, Jo Rita, whom he married in 1959 while enrolled at the University of Oklahoma studying law and pre-med. At Oklahoma he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.


title: David Gates

text: In 1961, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, where Gates continued writing songs, and he worked as a music copyist, as a studio musician, and as a producer for many artists – including Pat Boone. Success soon followed. His composition "Popsicles and Icicles" hit No. 3 on the US Hot 100 for The Murmaids in January 1964. The Monkees recorded another of his songs, "Saturday's Child". By the end of the 1960s, he had worked with many leading artists, including Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, Merle Haggard, Duane Eddy and Brian Wilson. In 1965, Gates arranged the Glenn Yarbrough hit, "Baby the Rain Must Fall". In 1966, he produced two singles on A&M Records for Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band.


title: David Gates

text: In the meantime, Gates had been releasing singles of his own on several labels in the early 1960s. On Mala Records, he released "There's a Heaven" / "She Don't Cry", "You'll Be My Baby" / "What's This I Hear", "The Happiest Man Alive" / "A Road That Leads to Love", and "Jo Baby" / "Teardrops in My Heart". On Planetary, he released "Little Miss Stuck Up" / "The Brighter Side", and "Let You Go" / "Once upon a Time" under the pseudonym of "Del Ashley" in 1965. On Del-Fi, he released "No One Really Loves a Clown" / "You Had It Comin' to Ya". He also released a single under the name of "The Manchesters" in 1965 on the Vee-Jay label.


title: David Gates

text: In 1967, Gates produced and arranged the debut album of a band called The Pleasure Fair, of which Robb Royer was a member. A little over a year later, Gates and Royer got together with Jimmy Griffin to form Bread. The group was signed by the Elektra record company, where it would remain for the eight years of its existence. Elektra released Bread's first album, "Bread", in 1969, which peaked at No. 127 on the "Billboard" 200. The first single, "Dismal Day", written by Gates, was released in June 1969 but did not sell well.


title: David Gates

text: Bread's second album, "On the Waters" (a play on Ecclesiastes 11:1), with a new drummer, Mike Botts, was released in 1970, and became a breakout success. It contained the No. 1 single "Make It with You" and was the first of seven consecutive Bread albums to go gold in the US. Bread's next three albums, "Manna" (1971), "Baby I'm-a Want You" (1972) (featuring Larry Knechtel as a new member of the band, replacing Royer) and "Guitar Man" (1972) were also successful, with more chart singles and gold records. From 1970 to 1973, Bread charted 11 singles on the "Billboard" Hot 100, all of which were written and sung by Gates. That caused some antagonism between Gates and Griffin, who was also a significant contributor to Bread's albums as a singer and songwriter. Bread disbanded in 1973. Their last concert was performed at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 19, 1973.


title: David Gates

text: Gates recorded and produced his solo album "First" in 1973. The single "Clouds", an edited version of the album track "Suite Clouds and Rain", peaked at No. 47 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart, and No. 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The full album version was played extensively by Radio Caroline presenter Samantha Dubois at the end of her early morning radio programme, and became her closing theme. A second single, "Sail Around the World", reached No. 50 on the singles chart and No. 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album reached No. 107 on the "Billboard" 200 albums chart. In 1975, Gates released the album "Never Let Her Go". The title track was released as a single, and reached No. 29 on the Hot 100 chart and No. 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album itself reached No. 102 on the "Billboard" 200.


title: David Gates

text: Bread reunited in 1976 for one album, "Lost Without Your Love", released late that year. The title track—again written and sung by Gates—reached No. 9 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. At the end of 1977, Gates released what would be his most successful single as a solo artist, "Goodbye Girl", from the 1977 film of the same name. It peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. To capitalize on that success, Gates put an album together in June 1978 that featured material from his first two solo albums mixed with some new material. It yielded another hit single, "Took the Last Train", which reached No. 30 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 but the album itself made it only to No. 165 on the "Billboard" 200. In 1978, Gates and Bread guest starred on an episode of "The Hardy Boys Mysteries".


title: David Gates

text: Botts and Knechtel from Bread, along with Warren Ham, brother Bill Ham and bassist David Miner, continued to record and tour with Gates. In late 1978, they toured billing themselves as "David Gates & Bread", which brought a lawsuit from Griffin, who was still co-owner of the Bread trademark, and an injunction against the use of the name Bread. By the end of 1978, the "Bread" moniker had been dropped and they continued on as "David Gates and His Band". The dispute was not resolved until 1984.


title: David Gates

text: Gates released the albums "Falling in Love Again" (featuring "Where Does the Loving Go"), which peaked at No. 46 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1979, and "Take Me Now", which peaked at No. 62, in 1981. He recorded a duet with Melissa Manchester, "Wish We Were Heroes", included in her 1982 album "Hey Ricky". Gates was less active in music during the remainder of the 1980s. He concentrated on operating a cattle ranch in the Fall River Valley of Northern California, located on land he purchased in the 1970s. He returned to music in 1994, when he released "Love Is Always Seventeen", his first new album in thirteen years.


title: David Gates

text: Gates and Griffin put aside their differences, and reunited for a final Bread tour in 1996–97 with Botts and Knechtel. With the deaths of three of the other principal members of Bread, Gates is the sole surviving band member from their heyday, although Royer still successfully works in Nashville.


title: David Gates

text: "The David Gates Songbook", containing earlier hit singles and new material, was released in 2002. Engelbert Humperdinck included "Baby I'm-a Want You" on his 1972 album "In Time" and "If" on his 2003 album "Definition of Love". Frank Sinatra covered "If" in a live performance at Madison Square Garden on October 12, 1974, which was recorded by Rhino Records. Gates's songs have been recorded by many artists, including Telly Savalas, who had a UK No. 1 hit with "If" in 1975; Vesta Williams, who made a rendition of "Make It with You" in 1988; the band CAKE, which covered "The Guitar Man" in 2004; Ray Parker Jr., who also recorded "The Guitar Man" in 2006; and Boy George, who took "Everything I Own" to No. 1 on the UK chart, when he covered the Ken Boothe reggae version of Gates's song, which itself had been a UK No. 1 in 1974. Jack Jones recorded a Bread tribute album, "Bread Winners" (1972) including the Gates' standard, "If", which has long been a staple of Jones' live performances.


title: David Gates

text: According to a 1996 article in "People", Gates has remained married to high school sweetheart Jo Rita since 1959. Together they raised four children: three lawyers and a cardiothoracic surgeon. Gates, who studied the cattle ranching business while touring with Bread, purchased a cattle ranch financed by royalties he earned during his time with the band. According to Malcolm C. Searles’ Facebook page, he lives happily with his wife in Mount Vernon, Washington, enjoying his retirement.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The Year 1812, Solemn Overture, Op. 49, popularly known as the 1812 Overture, is a concert overture in E major written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to commemorate the successful Russian defense against Napoleon I's invading Grande Armée in 1812.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The overture debuted in Moscow on , conducted by Ippolit Al'tani under a tent near the then-almost-finished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which also memorialised the 1812 defense of Russia.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The fifteen-minute overture is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire, ringing chimes, and a brass fanfare finale. It has also become a common accompaniment to fireworks displays on the United States' Independence Day. The "1812 Overture" went on to become one of Tchaikovsky's most popular works, along with his ballet scores to "The Nutcracker", "The Sleeping Beauty", and "Swan Lake".


title: 1812 Overture

text: The carillon is sometimes replaced with tubular bells or recordings of carillons, or even church bells. In the sections that contain cannon shots, actual cannons are sometimes replaced by howitzers, tanks, or recorded cannons or played on a piece of staging, usually with a large wooden mallet or sledgehammer as in the Mahler 6th. The bass drum, and gong/tam-tam are also regularly used as cannon substitutes or adjuncts in indoor performances.


title: 1812 Overture

text: In his 1966 Deutsche Grammophon recording, Herbert von Karajan scored the first 02'43" (or 36 bars) for voices instead of strings at the start and the subsequent dialogue between strings and woodwind, adding the Russian Orthodox plainchant "God Preserve Thy People" text to the melody and slightly rearranging the texture to suit voices "a capella" rather than instruments. Two years later, the American conductor Igor Buketoff, son of a Russian Orthodox priest, went a stage further on his RCA Victrola recording with the New Philharmonia Orchestra. Not only did he deploy voices for the opening chant but he also had a children's chorus sing the folk tune "By the Gates" and brought the choir back to bolster the chant and the Russian Imperial national anthem "God Save the Tsar!".


title: 1812 Overture

text: On 7 September 1812, at Borodino, west of Moscow, Napoleon I's forces met those of General Mikhail Kutuzov in a concerted stand made by Russia against the seemingly invincible French Army. The Battle of Borodino saw casualties estimated as high as 100,000 and the French were masters of the field. It was, however, ultimately a pyrrhic victory for the French invasion.


title: 1812 Overture

text: With resources depleted and supply lines overextended, Napoleon I's weakened forces moved into Moscow, which they occupied with no delegation to receive the conquerors. Expecting a capitulation from Tsar Alexander I, the French instead found themselves in a barren and desolate city. To make things worse, 48 hours after Napoleon I's entry to the Russian city on 14 September 1812, three quarters of Moscow was burned to the ground.


title: 1812 Overture

text: Deprived of winter stores, Napoleon I had to retreat. Beginning on 19 October and lasting well into December, the French Army faced several overwhelming obstacles on its long retreat: famine, typhus, freezing temperatures, harassing cossacks, and Russian forces barring the way out of the country. Abandoned by Napoleon I in November, the Grande Armée was reduced to one-tenth of its original size by the time it reached Poland and relative safety.


title: 1812 Overture

text: In 1869, the full edition of "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy was published. The novel reported a very accurate description of the Napoleonic invasion of 1812, reviving memories of the Russian resistance. This led to the commissioning of new monuments, paintings and also of new musical compositions, including Tchaikovsky's.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, commissioned in 1812 by Tsar Alexander I to commemorate the Russian victory, was nearing completion in Moscow in 1880; the 25th anniversary of the coronation of Alexander II would be at hand in 1881; and the 1882 All-Russia Arts and Industry Exhibition at Moscow was in the planning stage. Tchaikovsky's friend and mentor Nikolai Rubinstein suggested that he write a grand commemorative piece for use in related festivities. Tchaikovsky began work on the project on 12 October 1880, finishing it six weeks later.


title: 1812 Overture

text: Organizers planned to have the overture performed in the square before the cathedral, with a brass band to reinforce the orchestra, the bells of the cathedral, and all the others in downtown Moscow playing "zvons" (pealing bells) on cueand cannons, fired from an electric switch panel to achieve the precision the musical score required. However, this performance did not take place, possibly due in part to the over-ambitious plan. Regardless, the assassination of Alexander II that March deflated much of the impetus for the project. In 1882, during the All-Russia Arts and Industry Exhibition, the Overture was performed in a tent next to the unfinished cathedral. The cathedral was completed on 26 May 1883.


title: 1812 Overture

text: Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky complained to his patron Nadezhda von Meck that he was "... not a conductor of festival pieces," and that the "Overture" would be "... very loud and noisy, but [without] artistic merit, because I wrote it without warmth and without love." He put it together in six weeks. It is this work that would make the Tchaikovsky estate exceptionally wealthy, as it is one of the most performed and recorded works from his catalog.


title: 1812 Overture

text: In Russia, during the Soviet era, the imperial anthem was replaced with the chorus "Glory, Glory to you, holy Rus'!" ("Славься, славься, святая Русь!"), which came from the finale of Mikhail Glinka's opéra "Ivan Susanin", a historical drama about a patriotic commoner of the same name. The original version of the song, written by Vasily Zhukovsky and Egor Fyodorovich Rozen, praised the Tsar and the Russian Tsardom, while the latter version by Sergey Gorodetsky was one of a patriotic form and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial anthem of Russia in the 20th century and even today. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, the original score returned.


title: 1812 Overture

text: As a rousing patriotic hymn, the Overture has subsequently been adapted into and associated with other contexts than that of the Russian resistance to Napoleon I's invasion. The "1812 Overture" is popularly known in the United States as a symbol of the United States Independence Day, a tradition that dates back to a 1974 choice made by Arthur Fiedler for a performance at the Boston Pops July 4th concert.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The piece was parodied by composer Malcolm Arnold in "A Grand, Grand Overture" which features 4 rifles, three Hoover vacuum cleaners (two uprights in B♭ and one horizontal with detachable sucker in C), and an electric floor polisher in E♭; it is dedicated to President Hoover.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The piece begins with the simple, plaintive Russian melody of the Eastern Orthodox "Troparion of the Holy Cross" (also known as "O Lord, Save Thy People") played by four cellos and two violas. This represents the Russian people praying for a swift conclusion to the invasion. Then, the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise", is heard, representing the invading French army. Then, the melody of "La Marseillaise" is heard competing against Russian folk music, representing the two armies fighting each other as the French approached Moscow. At this point, five cannon shots are heard, representing the Battle of Borodino. This is where "La Marseillaise" is most prominent, and seems to be winning. After this, a long descending run represents the French army retreating out of Moscow as the freezing winter winds rage on. At the end of this run the opening motif is repeated, which can be interpreted as prayers being answered. The grand finale culminates with eleven more cannon shots and the melody of "God Save the Tsar!".


title: 1812 Overture

text: Although "La Marseillaise" was chosen as the French national anthem in 1795, it was banned by Napoleon I in 1805 and would certainly not have been played during the Russian campaign. It was only reinstated as the French anthem in 1879the year before the commission of the overturewhich can explain its use by Tchaikovsky in the overture. "Chant du départ", nicknamed "the brother of the Marseillaise" by French Republican soldiers, served as the official anthem of Napoleon I's regime. However, it had been largely forgotten by 1882, while educated Russians of the time were likely to be familiar with the tune of "La Marseillaise" and recognize its significance.


title: 1812 Overture

text: Although "God Save the Tsar!" was the Russian national anthem during Tchaikovsky's lifetime, it did not exist in 1812. There was no official Russian anthem until 1815, from which time until 1833 the anthem was "Molitva russkikh", "The Prayer of the Russians," sung to the tune of "God Save the King". The two songs both start with the same words, God Save the Tsar!, but diverge after that.


title: 1812 Overture

text: <es' as'>-.(_\markup{\italic{cresc.}} <es' as'>-. <es' as'>-. <es' as'>-.\!) <es' as'>-.( <es' as'>-.


title: 1812 Overture

text: "O Lord, Save thy People" represents the praying for deliverance from the invading army. A part of this hymn translates to "Grant victory to all Orthodox Christians over their enemies." By including this hymn in the piece, Tchaikovsky is suggesting that God granted the Orthodox Russians victory over the French imperial troops. Later in the piece when "La Marseillaise" is played, it seems as though the Russians will lose the battle. Then "O Lord, Save thy People", along with "God Save the Tsar!", is played powerfully in the brass section with a strong display of chimes in the background. The ringing chimes are written to represent the bells of Moscow. The Bells of Moscow hold significance, because in the Russian Orthodox religion, the bells symbolize the voice of God.


title: 1812 Overture

text: In a live performance, the logistics of safety and precision in placement of the shots require either well-drilled military crews using modern cannons, or the use of sixteen pieces of muzzle-loading artillery, since any reloading schemes, to attain the sixteen shots, or even a semblance of them, in the two-minute time span involved, makes safety and precision impossible with 1800s artillery. Time lag alone precludes implementation of cues for the shots for fewer than sixteen 1812-era field pieces.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The earliest traceable orchestral recording, which does not include the shots and features no percussion apart from bells, was by the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra conducted by Landon Ronald, and issued by His Master's Voice on three 12-inch 78-rpm sides in 1916. A Royal Opera Orchestra recording of about the same time similarly contains no shots at all.


title: 1812 Overture

text: Antal Doráti's 1954 Mercury Records recording with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, partially recorded at West Point, and using the Yale Memorial Carillon in New Haven, Connecticut, uses a Napoleonic French single muzzleloading cannon shot dubbed in 16 times as written. On the first edition of the recording, one side played the "Overture" and the other side played a narrative by Deems Taylor about how the cannon and bell effects were accomplished. (Later editions placed the commentary after the performance on side 1 and the "Capriccio Italien" on side 2.) A stereophonic version was recorded on 5 April 1958, using the bells of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon, at Riverside Church. On this Mercury Living Presence Stereo recording, the spoken commentary was also given by Deems Taylor and the 1812 was coupled with Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien". Later editions coupled the "1812 Overture" with Dorati's recording of Beethoven's "Wellington's Victory", which featured the London Symphony Orchestra and real cannon.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The Black Dyke Band has recorded a brass band arrangement of the piece. This recording on their album "Symphonic Brass" includes the cannon shots as originally written.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert Von Karajan, and the Don Cossacks Choir recorded the piece in 1967 for Deutsche Grammophon.


title: 1812 Overture

text: In 1971, CBS released a recording with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, also featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Valley Forge Military Academy band and real artillery shots. British rock drummer Cozy Powell sampled the overture at the end of the track "Over The Top" in his eponymous 1979 studio album.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The first digital recording occurred in 1979 by Telarc with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra headlining under the leadership of Erich Kunzel. The Kiev Symphony Chorus was secured and brought stateside for the express purpose of this recording, while the Children's Choir of Greater Cincinnati (presently doing business as the Cincinnati Youth Choir), a regular Symphony and Pops collaborator to this day, supplied the children's voices.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The recording features the tones of the Emery Memorial Carillon (in adjacent Mariemont, Ohio) to a uniquely magnificent effect alongside high-definition cannon shots using full-sized 19th century military cannons, also specially recorded locally. In addition to becoming Telarc's best-selling record and helping to establish them as a company, the record soon became a popular and well-known method for testing hifi record-playing equipment and related setups. Only the best and most fine-tuned allowed the cannon shots to be played properly (an accompanying warning for users not to destroy their audio equipment was included with the record). In


title: 1812 Overture

text: 1989, the Swingle Singers recorded an a cappella version of the overture as part of an album whose title is "1812".


title: 1812 Overture

text: In 1990, during a worldwide celebration of the 150th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's birth, the "Overture" was recorded in the city of his youth by the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra using 16 muzzleloading cannons fired live as written in the 1880 score. That recording was done within earshot of the composer's grave. The festival was televised for the first time in the United States on 9 March 1991.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The Texan band "The Invincible Czars" released a rock version of "1812 Overture" for the bicentennial of the Battle of Borodino in September 2012. The band had already debuted their arrangement of the piece at the 20th annual OK Mozart classical music festival at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, with professional orchestra musicians, in June 2009, complete with fireworks at the finale.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The piece is featured prominently in both the opening and ending scenes of the film "V for Vendetta".


title: 1812 Overture

text: The melody of Dan Fogelberg's top ten hit "Same Old Lang Syne" is drawn from the distinctive leitmotif that represents the Russian forces in the piece.


title: 1812 Overture

text: Canadian progressive rock band Rush adopted the famous brass theme of "1812 Overture" in their suite "2112", from their album of the same name. Significantly, other than being included in a similarly titled piece of music, Tchaikovsky's theme is featured in the first section of the song, which is itself titled "Overture". Also, cannon shots are heard at the end of Rush's "Overture".


title: 1812 Overture

text: In the third episode of season 1 of the sitcom "Frasier", entitled "Dinner At Eight", the two Crane brothers reference the piece:Niles: Dad's so set in his ways.


title: 1812 Overture

text: Frasier: Well, we all are, at some point in our lives. Remember when you used to think the "1812 Overture" was a great piece of classical music?


title: 1812 Overture

text: Niles: Was I ever that young?In "The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim" (Episode 5, Series 2, of the British drama series, "Agatha Christie's Poirot"), the title character plays a record of the "1812 Overture" so that the cannon fire will mask the sound of him breaking into his own safe.


title: 1812 Overture

text: A shortened version of the piece is featured as a sea shanty in the Xbox One game "Sea of Thieves". It is playable by characters using any one of the game's four playable instruments.


title: 1812 Overture

text: English slapstick comedian Charlie Drake performed part of the overture in a short film for television, with himself playing the conductor and all the musicians. In 1967 it won the Golden Rose at the Montreux Festival.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The University of Notre Dame Band of the Fighting Irish plays a version of the piece during the intermission between the third and fourth quarters of every Notre Dame Fighting Irish football home game.


title: 1812 Overture

text: The iconic melody featured at the end of the composition was adapted for the entrance theme of AEW professional wrestler Claudio Castagnoli.


title: 1812 Overture

text: On 7 July 2022, the San Diego Symphony announced that it would be removing its usual season-ending performance of the piece in support of Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming made similar announcements. Other bands throughout the United States changed or omitted sections of text to remove references to Russia. Boston Pops' conductor Keith Lockhart, instead, decided to keep the overture in their 2022 repertoire arguing that "In that fight, the Russians were the Ukrainians of 2022; It's not just as simplistic as 'Russia, bad.' It is the attempt of authoritarian powers to dominate other powers that is bad." Some American orchestras have also performed the Ukrainian National Anthem to display solidarity.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: The Man Who Sold the World is the third studio album by English musician David Bowie. It was originally released through Mercury Records in the United States on 4November 1970 and in the United Kingdom on 10April 1971. The album was produced by Tony Visconti and recorded at Trident and Advision Studios in London during April and May 1970. It features the first appearances of guitarist Mick Ronson and drummer Mick Woodmansey on a Bowie record, who would later become famous as members of the Spiders from Mars.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: Following the largely acoustic and folk rock sound of Bowie's previous 1969 self-titled album, "The Man Who Sold the World" marked a shift toward hard rock, with elements of blues rock. The lyrics are also darker than his previous releases, exploring themes of insanity, religion, technology and war. None of the songs from the album were released as official singles, although some tracks appeared as B-sides of singles between 1970 and 1973. Originally titled "Metrobolist", a play on Fritz Lang's 1927 film "Metropolis", the title was changed at the last minute by Mercury without Bowie's consultation.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: The album was released with different cover artwork in the US and the UK. For the US release, the artwork was a cartoon-like drawing of a cowboy in front of an asylum. It was drawn by Michael J. Weller and based on an image of actor John Wayne. Bowie was unenthusiastic about the cover, so he enlisted Keith MacMillan to shoot an alternate cover. The final image, featuring Bowie wearing a blue dress designed by fashion designer Michael Fish, was used as the cover for the UK release. "The Man Who Sold the World" was reissued by RCA Records in 1972, featuring a black-and-white picture of Bowie's then-current character Ziggy Stardust on the sleeve, but reissues since 1990 have revived the original UK artwork.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: "The Man Who Sold the World" was originally better received by music critics in the US than in the UK. Nevertheless, it was a commercial failure in both countries; however, the 1972 reissue managed to chart in both the US and the UK. Retrospectively, the album has been praised by critics for the band's performance and the unsettling nature of its music and lyrics, being considered by many to be the start of Bowie's "classic period". It has since been reissued multiple times and was remixed in 2020, under its original title "Metrobolist", for its 50th anniversary.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: David Bowie's breakthrough single "Space Oddity" was released in July 1969, bringing him commercial success and attention. However, its parent album, "David Bowie (Space Oddity)", released later that year, was not as successful, partly due to the failure of Philips Records to promote the album efficiently. By 1970, the attention Bowie had garnered from "Space Oddity" had dissipated and his follow-up single, "The Prettiest Star", failed to chart. Realising that his potential as a solo artist was dwindling, Bowie decided to form a band with bassist Tony Visconti, who previously worked with Bowie on "Space Oddity", and drummer John Cambridge. Calling themselves Hype, the group still needed a guitarist.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: On 2February 1970, Bowie met guitarist Mick Ronson following a performance at the Marquee Club in London. The two connected immediately and agreed to work together. Following their meeting, Ronson joined Hype. For the group's performances, the members wore flamboyant superhero-like costumes, made by Bowie's first wife Angela Burnett, whom he married on 20March, and Visconti's then-girlfriend Liz Hartley. Bowie was Rainbowman (wearing a rainbow-coloured outfit), Ronson was Gangsterman (wearing a "sharp double-breasted suit"), Visconti was Hypeman (sporting a Superman-like outfit with a giant 'H' on the chest), and Cambridge was Cowboyman (wearing a "frilly" shirt and overlarge hat). Hype continued performing in the outlandish costumes for many months; after one performance on 11March, Visconti's clothes were stolen and he had to return home wearing his Hypeman costume. Bowie halted Hype performances at the end of March so he could focus on recording and songwriting, as well as resolve managing disputes with his manager Kenneth Pitt. The new single version of the "Space Oddity" track "Memory of a Free Festival" and an early attempt at "The Supermen" were recorded during this time.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: Cambridge was dismissed from Hype at the end of March, with a new drummer, Mick "Woody" Woodmansey, joining the group at the suggestion of Ronson. According to biographer Kevin Cann, Cambridge was dismissed by Bowie, but according to biographer Nicholas Pegg, Visconti recalled that the dismissal was Ronson's request. On his first impression of Bowie, Woodmansey said in 2015: "This guy was living and breathing being a rock & roll star." By April 1970, the four members of Hype were living in Haddon Hall, Beckenham, an Edwardian mansion converted to a block of flats that was described by one visitor as having an ambiance "like Dracula's living room". Ronson and Visconti built a makeshift studio under the grand staircase at Haddon Hall; Bowie recorded many of his early 1970s demos there.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: Recording for "The Man Who Sold the World" began on 17April 1970 at Advision Studios in London, with the group beginning work on "All the Madmen". The next day, Ralph Mace was hired to play the Moog synthesiser, borrowed from George Harrison, following his work on the single version of "Memory of a Free Festival". At the time, Mace was a 40-year-old concert pianist who was also head of the classical music department at Mercury Records. During this time, Bowie terminated his contract with Pitt and met his future manager Tony Defries, who assisted Bowie in the termination. Recording moved to Trident Studios in London on 21April and continued there for the rest of April until mid-May. On 4May, the band recorded "Running Gun Blues" and "Saviour Machine", the latter of which was originally the working title for the title track, before Bowie reworked the song into a different melody to form the final version of "Saviour Machine". Recording and mixing was moved back to Advision on 12May and completed ten days later. Bowie recorded his vocal for the title track on the final day.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: As Bowie was preoccupied with his new wife Angie at the time, as well as his managerial issues, the music was largely arranged by Ronson and Visconti. Ronson used the sessions to learn about many production and arrangement techniques from Visconti. Although Bowie is officially credited as the composer of all music on "The Man Who Sold the World", author Peter Doggett quoted Visconti as saying that "the songs were written by all four of us. We'd jam in a basement, and Bowie would just say whether he liked them or not." In Doggett's narrative, "The band (sometimes with Bowie contributing guitar, sometimes not) would record an instrumental track, which might or might not be based upon an original Bowie idea. Then, at the last possible moment, Bowie would reluctantly uncurl himself from the sofa on which he was lounging with his wife, and dash off a set of lyrics." Conversely, Bowie was quoted in a 1998 interview as saying, "I really did object to the impression that I did not write the songs on "The Man Who Sold the World". You only have to check out the chord changes. No-one writes chord changes like that." "The Width of a Circle" and "The Supermen", for example, were already in existence before the sessions began.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: "The Man Who Sold the World" was a departure from the largely acoustic and folk rock sound of "Space Oddity". According to music critic Greg Kot, it marked Bowie's change of direction into hard rock. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the album as "almost all hard blues rock or psychedelic folk rock", while Doggett writes that it is "filled with propulsive hard rock". Much of the material has a distinct heavy metal edge that distinguishes it from Bowie's other releases, and has been compared to contemporary acts such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. According to Marc Spitz, Ronson was intent to make a heavy blues album "worthy of Cream."


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: Like the music, the lyrics are significantly darker than its predecessor. According to Doggett, they contain numerous themes that Bowie would continue to explore throughout the rest of the 1970s decade, including "madness, alienation, violence, confusion of identity, power, darkness and sexual possession". The lyrics have also been seen as reflecting the influence of such figures as Aleister Crowley, Franz Kafka and Friedrich Nietzsche. Since Bowie wrote most of the lyrics at the last minute, O'Leary writes that "The Man Who Sold the World" is a more "coherent" concept album than his fifth and eighth albums, "Ziggy Stardust" (1972) and "Diamond Dogs" (1974), respectively. He continues, saying that the songs "mirror and answer each other", sharing similar themes and imagery.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: The opening track, "The Width of a Circle", is an eight-minute epic that delves into progressive rock. Originally debuted in February 1970 at a BBC session, the song is led by Ronson's widely lauded guitar work, using feedback and improvisation throughout. The lyrics reference the Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran and in the song's second half, the narrator has a sexual encounter with God in the devil's lair. Pegg describes the song's sound as reminiscent of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. The lyrics of "All the Madmen" were inspired by Bowie's half-brother Terry Burns and reflect the theme of institutionalised madness. The song contains a recorder part that creates an atmosphere, which Buckley describes as "childlike dementia". Doggett describes the Moog synthesiser as an integral part of the recording, noting that it gives the track a "stunning conclusion". Spitz calls the track "terrifying".


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: For "Black Country Rock", Bowie had a small portion of the melody and four quickly-written lines that he gave to Ronson and Visconti, who expanded upon them to create the song. A blues rock and hard rock song, Bowie impersonates Marc Bolan in his vocal performance. "After All" is musically different than the rest of "The Man Who Sold the World", being more akin to folk rock than hard rock. Featuring an "oh, by jingo" chant that is reminiscent of music hall numbers, the lyrics follow a group of innocent children who have not experienced the corruptions of adulthood. Similar to "The Supermen", the song references the works of Nietzsche and has been described by Buckley and Pegg as an underrated gem.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: The lyrics of "Running Gun Blues" discuss gun-toting assassins and Vietnam War commentary, specifically the Mỹ Lai massacre of 1968. Although the lyrics reflect the themes of "Space Oddity", the music reflects the predominant hard rock style of "The Man Who Sold the World " and points to Bowie's future musical direction. Similar to the previous track, "Saviour Machine" is rooted in blues rock and hard rock. The lyrics explore the concept of computers overtaking the human race; Bowie's metallic-like vocal performance enhances the scenario. Like the majority of the tracks, "She Shook Me Cold" was mostly created by Ronson, Visconti and Woodmansey without Bowie's input. Spitz compares the song's blues style to Led Zeppelin, while O'Leary and Pegg write that Ronson was attempting to emulate Cream's Jack Bruce. The lyrics explores a sexual conquest that is similar to "You Shook Me" (then-recently covered by Jeff Beck) and Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain".


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: The album's title track has been described by multiple reviewers as "haunting". Musically, it is based around a "circular" guitar riff from Ronson. The lyrics are cryptic and evocative, being inspired by numerous poems, including "Antigonish" (1899) by William Hughes Mearns. The narrator has an encounter with a kind of doppelgänger, as suggested in the second chorus where "I never lost control" is replaced with "We never lost control". Bowie's vocals are heavily "phased" throughout and contain none of the, in Doggett's words, "metallic theatrics" that are found on the rest of the album. The song also features güiro percussion, which Pegg describes as "sinister". "The Supermen" prominently reflects the themes of Nietzsche, particularly his theory of "Übermensch", or "Supermen". Like other tracks on the album, the song is predominantly hard rock. It was described by Bowie in 1973 as a "period piece", and later "pre-fascist".


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: The original 1970 US release of "The Man Who Sold the World" employed a cartoon-like cover drawing by Bowie's friend Michael J. Weller, featuring a cowboy in front of Cane Hill asylum. Weller, whose friend was a patient there, suggested the idea after Bowie had asked him to create a design that would capture the music's foreboding tone. Drawing on pop art styles, he depicted a dreary main entrance block to the hospital with a damaged clock tower. For the design's foreground, Weller used a photograph of actor John Wayne to draw a cowboy figure wearing a ten-gallon hat and holding a rifle, which was meant to be an allusion to the song "Running Gun Blues". Bowie suggested Weller incorporate the "exploding head" signature on the cowboy's hat, a feature he had previously used on his posters while a part of the Arts Lab. He also added an empty speech balloon for the cowboy figure, which was intended to include the line "roll up your sleeves and show us your arms"—a pun on record players, guns, and drug use—but Mercury found the idea too risqué and the balloon was left blank. According to Pegg, "at this point, [Bowie's] intention was to call the album "Metrobolist", a play on Fritz Lang's 1927 film "Metropolis"; the title remained on the tape boxes even after Mercury had released the LP in America as "The Man Who Sold the World"".


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: Bowie was enthusiastic about the finished design, but soon reconsidered the idea and had the art department at Philips Records, a subsidiary of Mercury, enlist photographer Keith MacMillan to shoot an alternate cover. The shoot took place in a "domestic environment" of the Haddon Hall living room, where Bowie reclined on a chaise longue in a cream and blue satin "man's dress", an early indication of his interest in exploiting his androgynous appearance. The dress was designed by British fashion designer Michael Fish. It has been said that Bowie's "bleached blond locks, falling below shoulder level" in the photo were inspired by a Pre-Raphaelite painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. In the United States, Mercury rejected MacMillan's photo and released the album with Weller's design as its cover, much to the displeasure of Bowie, although he successfully lobbied the record label to use the photo for the release in the United Kingdom. In 1972, he said Weller's design was "horrible" but reappraised it in 1999, saying he "actually thought the cartoon cover was really cool".


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: While promoting "The Man Who Sold the World" in the US, Bowie wore the Fish dress in February 1971 on his first promotional tour and during interviews, despite the fact that the Americans had no knowledge of the then-unreleased UK cover. The 1971 German release's artwork presented a winged hybrid creature with Bowie's head and a hand for a body, preparing to flick the Earth away. The 1972 worldwide reissue by RCA Records used a black-and-white picture of Ziggy Stardust on the sleeve. The image remained the cover art on reissues until 1990 when the Rykodisc release reinstated the UK "dress" cover. The "dress" cover has appeared on subsequent reissues of the album.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: In 2011, when the Victoria and Albert Museum in London was putting together the list of Bowie artifacts for the "David Bowie Is" show, the curators asked for the dress to display, but found that the dress had gone missing from Bowie's collection.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: "The Man Who Sold the World" was released in the US through Mercury on 4November 1970, with the catalogue number SR-61325. It was subsequently released in the UK on 10April 1971 by Mercury, with the catalogue number 6338 041. Bowie was initially aggravated that Mercury had retitled the album from his preferred title of "Metrobolist" without his consultation, but following its release in the US, Bowie attempted to persuade the label to retitle the album "Holy Holy" after his newly released single of the same name. Following the commercial flop of "Holy Holy", the title remained "The Man Who Sold the World" for the UK release. According to Cann, the album was disliked by Mercury executives. However, it was played on US radio stations frequently and the "heavy rock content" increased interest in Bowie. Cann also writes that "The Man Who Sold the World" developed an underground following and laid "solid foundations" for "Ziggy Stardust".


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: None of the songs from the album were released as singles at the time, although a promo version of "All the Madmen" was issued in the US in 1970. Mercury released "All the Madmen" as a single, with "Space Oddity" "Janine" on the B-side, but withdrew it. The same song appeared in Eastern Europe during 1973, as did "The Width of a Circle". "Black Country Rock" was released as the B-side of "Holy Holy" in the UK in January 1971, shortly before the release of "The Man Who Sold the World". The title track appeared as the B-side of both the US single release of "Space Oddity" in 1972 and the UK release of "Life on Mars?" in 1973.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: "The Man Who Sold the World" was initially a commercial failure. Pegg 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.


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: 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".


title: The Man Who Sold the World (album)

text: 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 "David Bowie" 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.