Just happened upon this because of a discussion

[detlef]

Nothing new, really. Just a list of the top selling albums of all time. Without getting into a discussion about this or that is crap and just looking at the dynamics and random stand-outs. It's worth a look.

 

For instance, Thriller's worldwide sales are reported anywhere between 65 and 110 million. Um, that's a big freaking spread. The 45 million spread between those two reports is almost as much as the 2nd highest selling album (50 million).

 

Another. In 96 Celene Dion sold 32 million copies of Falling Into You. She followed that up the very next year by selling 31 million copies of Let's Talk About Love as well as being on the Titanic soundtrack which also raked 30 million copies. Two freaking years, 93 million albums sold.

 

U2, easily on the short list of most popular bands of the last 30 years has exactly as many albums (1) on the list as such notable acts as Likin Park. This despite spending 20 years making music in the sweet spot of album sales. Backstreet Boys, by comparison, have 3, two of which outsold Joshua Tree and the 3rd sold just less (25 million vs 24 million).

 

Not surprisingly, there are only 5 albums recorded after 2000 and all 5 barely make the list with 20 million sold. Only one since 2004. Obviously it's not about album sales anymore.

 

None the less, worth a look.

[matt770]

I'd rather listen to a cat being violated by a fireplace poker than f'n Linkin Park. Can't even believe they're in the discussion of highest selling albums.

[detlef]

I'd rather listen to a cat being violated by a fireplace poker than f'n Linkin Park. Can't even believe they're in the discussion of highest selling albums.

 

To be honest, I have no idea what they sound like. I'm sure I've heard them at some point but didn't know it was them.

 

Another on the list that stuck out was Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell in the top 5 all time. I always thought he just had a very loyal following for a fringe artist. Like, say, Elvis Costello or something. Certainly legit and with staying power, but just never a guy who broke through in a huge way to the masses. But dude had one album that sold 45 million? More than all but a handful of albums made by anyone in history? I found that to be amazing. Honestly, way more amazing than the Backstreet Boys putting up their numbers given the sheer number of pre-teen girls who were likely clamoring for those albums for Xmas.

[matt770]

To be honest, I have no idea what they sound like. I'm sure I've heard them at some point but didn't know it was them.

 

Another on the list that stuck out was Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell in the top 5 all time. I always thought he just had a very loyal following for a fringe artist. Like, say, Elvis Costello or something. Certainly legit and with staying power, but just never a guy who broke through in a huge way to the masses. But dude had one album that sold 45 million? More than all but a handful of albums made by anyone in history? I found that to be amazing. Honestly, way more amazing than the Backstreet Boys putting up their numbers given the sheer number of pre-teen girls who were likely clamoring for those albums for Xmas.

 

That Meatloaf record was iconic though, even if he wasn't a huge artist compared to some of these others. Everyone owned a copy of Bat out of Hell.

 

Linkin Park helped start the whole nu metal/rap rock crap that killed rock radio in the early 2000s. One guy sings/raps and another guy screams in the background with electronic effects added. Actually they may have helped pioneer all the fake, heavily-processed music that is on the radio today. Anyone with zero talent can go in the studio and "sing", then all the special effects are layered on, the marketing people do their thing, bam, hit record. They should be stoned to death.

[Square]

I'd rather listen to a cat being violated by a fireplace poker than f'n Linkin Park. Can't even believe they're in the discussion of highest selling albums.

I never had any of their albums myself, but for just stuff that came on the radio I thought they were ok when I was in college. Being saturated in Busch Light can do strange things to you though.

[Ursa Majoris]

That Meatloaf record was iconic though, even if he wasn't a huge artist compared to some of these others. Everyone owned a copy of Bat out of Hell.

 

 

The first time I saw a video of Bat Out Of Hell it completely blew me away. It was astounding. I then saw Meatloaf live a few months later and, again, was totally blown away. When a 300 pound fat man comes flying across the stage and executes a mid-air somersault and lands on his feet while exiting stage left, it sticks in the memory.

 

That album was indeed iconic.

[stevegrab]

The first time I saw a video of Bat Out Of Hell it completely blew me away. It was astounding. I then saw Meatloaf live a few months later and, again, was totally blown away. When a 300 pound fat man comes flying across the stage and executes a mid-air somersault and lands on his feet while exiting stage left, it sticks in the memory.

 

That album was indeed iconic.

 

 

Paradise by the Dashboard Lights - that song was huge, and played on every dance floor and party for years (into the 90s). Don't own it myself, but do have quite a few others.

 

On surprising thing to me is the Beatles 1 album, being their second highest selling, and only slightly behind the only other one on the list (Sgt Pepper at 32, 1 at 31). A very good album, and a pretty comprehensive collection of Beatles songs. I remember ripping the CD and then trying to burn an audio CD with all the songs, I couldn't get them to fit without squishing the track gap to almost nothing or removing a song.

[detlef]

The first time I saw a video of Bat Out Of Hell it completely blew me away. It was astounding. I then saw Meatloaf live a few months later and, again, was totally blown away. When a 300 pound fat man comes flying across the stage and executes a mid-air somersault and lands on his feet while exiting stage left, it sticks in the memory.

 

That album was indeed iconic.

 

Don't confuse my astonishment that it sold as much as it did as anything intended to disparage Meatloaf. It just seems a bit out of nowhere. Certainly less so than seeing Likin Park or Alanis Morisette on there. Then again, neither of them are in the top 5 all time. Honestly, I have an easier time believing Backstreet Boys have 3 on there. Not because I have any respect for them musically, but rather that I can understand why they'd sell a ton of LPs.

 

Again, I always saw Meatloaf as a guy like maybe the Dead. Someone whom fans of would die for, and that says plenty. However, not someone who would ever manage to crush it mainstream to the extent that he'd sell enough copies of one album to rank that high.

 

Sure, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights, I get it. But I could name dozens of songs that were "played on every dance floor party for years" that come from albums not on that list. And, further, back to U2, who by the way I've never even been a huge fan of so much as basically liking their stuff and respecting their staying power in music. But, when I was 18-20, Joshua Tree was freaking it. It was as huge as huge gets. Didn't matter what you were into, you knew Joshua Tree. There were certain albums that essentially everyone had, and that was one of them. And Bat Out Of Hell outsold it by almost double. Despite being made by a guy who was sort of an outlier. Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Stones and several others were certainly above him on the Rock pecking order and, oh by the way, Disco was starting to take a big chunk of the pie when that album came out.

 

I guess it's like this. If you'd never seen that list, would you guess that album was a top 5 all-time selling album?

[Hugh B Tool]

When I looked and saw it was a Wikipedia list, I stopped being interested.

[detlef]

When I looked and saw it was a Wikipedia list, I stopped being interested.

 

It's a freaking list of album sales. Get over yourself.

[matt770]

It's a freaking list of album sales. Get over yourself.

 

Yeah, it's just raw stats, who cares where it came from.

 

Now that I've looked at it myself, I'm surprised Def Leppard sold more copies of Hysteria than Pyromania, and I'm surprised to see Ace of Base sold that many copies. And coincidentally, that album is right in the middle of a crap cluster.

Backstreet Boys Black & Blue 2000 Pop 24 [32]

Linkin Park Hybrid Theory 2000 Nu metal / Rap metal / Alternative rock 24 [47]

Ace of Base Happy Nation/The Sign 1993 Pop 23 [48]

Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory? 1995 Britpop / Rock 22 [49][50]

Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2000 Rap / Hip-hop 22 [51]

Bon Jovi Cross Road 1994 Rock 21 [52]

 

[detlef]

Yeah, it's just raw stats, who cares where it came from.

 

Now that I've looked at it myself, I'm surprised Def Leppard sold more copies of Hysteria than Pyromania, and I'm surprised to see Ace of Base sold that many copies. And coincidentally, that album is right in the middle of a crap cluster.

 

My point is that I'm not really very important. This isn't some argument over government policy where someone is citing a wiki page to make a point that a certain tax policy was or wasn't effective. This is, "ooh look, Celine Dion sold a bunch of vinyl in the 90s."

[godtomsatan]

This is, "ooh look, Celine Dion sold a bunch of vinyl in the 90s."

 

 

This ties in to what I was going to say about some of these records......

 

Vinyl, cassette, CD, digital, etc.. Many of these records were purchased in multiple formats, and multiple packages/re-releases. A band like U2, they probably sold all there's in CDs (at least everything after Joshua Tree). A band like Metallica, or GnR, or Nirvana, only have one format and the re-release, instead of the Beatles, the Stones, AC/DC, MJ, etc., who have had LPs, cassettes, CDs, and digital format revolutions to sell their stuff.

 

I'm not sure how Ace of Base or Meat Loaf gets on these kinds of lists, but there are a lot of Scandinavians, Germans, and Japanese with music tastes who buy a lot of records.

[detlef]

This ties in to what I was going to say about some of these records......

 

Vinyl, cassette, CD, digital, etc.. Many of these records were purchased in multiple formats, and multiple packages/re-releases. A band like U2, they probably sold all there's in CDs (at least everything after Joshua Tree). A band like Metallica, or GnR, or Nirvana, only have one format and the re-release, instead of the Beatles, the Stones, AC/DC, MJ, etc., who have had LPs, cassettes, CDs, and digital format revolutions to sell their stuff.

 

I'm not sure how Ace of Base or Meat Loaf gets on these kinds of lists, but there are a lot of Scandinavians, Germans, and Japanese with music tastes who buy a lot of records.

 

So do you think that different formats are not taken into account? I just assumed they were talking units. vinyl, CD, 8track, cassette, didn't matter. Or are you saying that having different formats increased the numbers? Do you think many people bought both vinyl and cassette of the same album?

 

Just curious what you're trying to say.

 

Also, re-issues in new formats certainly haven't done much for the older bands you mention, seeing as how none of their albums rank as highly in terms of total sales as they do in terms of their significance. The Beatles have one non-greatest hits album on that list and it's not super high up there.

Edited April 25, 2012 by detlef

[godtomsatan]

So do you think that different formats are not taken into account? I just assumed they were talking units. vinyl, CD, 8track, cassette, didn't matter. Or are you saying that having different formats increased the numbers? Do you think many people bought both vinyl and cassette of the same album?

 

 

I imagine there's quite a number of folks who had vinyl/cassette copies of some records who bought CD versions or digitally downloaded records as well. I have three versions of Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed for example. Then there are repackaged and remastered re-releases added in there as well.

[Ursa Majoris]

I guess it's like this. If you'd never seen that list, would you guess that album was a top 5 all-time selling album?

 

 

Yes, for sure. It was an enormous hit in 1977, the year of punk. How about this amazing fact:

 

Bat Out of Hell has sold over 43 million copies worldwide,^[1] making it one of the highest selling albums of all time. In the UK alone, its 2.1 million sales put it in 38th place. Despite peaking at #9 and spending only two weeks in the top ten in 1981, it has now clocked up 474 weeks on the UK album chart, a figure bettered only by Rumours by Fleetwood Mac - 478 weeks. In Australia, it knocked the Bee Gees off the number #1 spot and went on to become the biggest-selling Australian album of all time for several years. It is now second on the list. Bat Out of Hell is also one of only two albums that has never exited the Top 200 in the UK charts: this makes it the longest stay in any music chart in the world, although the published chart contains just 75 positions.

 

I'm not sure how Ace of Base or Meat Loaf gets on these kinds of lists, but there are a lot of Scandinavians, Germans, and Japanese with music tastes who buy a lot of records.

 

 

This has much to do with the success of Mr Loaf. All too often people think it's the American market that is the only one that counts. However, Britain, Europe, Australia and Japan are together double the size of the US market and many artists have had extremely successful careers without making a ripple on the west side of the Atlantic.

[detlef]

I imagine there's quite a number of folks who had vinyl/cassette copies of some records who bought CD versions or digitally downloaded records as well. I have three versions of Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed for example. Then there are repackaged and remastered re-releases added in there as well.

 

I realized just after I wrote that you meant people who bought the lp and then coming back and buying the CD years later. But, again, if you think about the sorts of albums that would happen with, it hasn't seemed to help. Funny you mention the stones because it was because of a discussion about them that we ended up looking for the all-time list. According to what I found, Some Girls is the best selling Stones album ever (not including greatest hits because Hot Rocks has done 12 million), with 9 million worldwide. That's less than half of any on the all-time list.

 

Meanwhile, Backstreet Boys, likely selling exactly one format (being after LPs and cassettes and before itunes). crushed about 80 million units of pre-pube crap sold all at once, no re-release, no fans who wore out their LPs back in the day coming back for more. The worst selling of the three on the list selling 2x more than the single highest Stones record and that was a Greatest Hits.

 

I mean, taking a look at that list, at least half of them were put out after LPs were basically done.

Edited April 25, 2012 by detlef

[detlef]

Yes, for sure. It was an enormous hit in 1977, the year of punk. How about this amazing fact:

 

 

 

 

 

This has much to do with the success of Mr Loaf. All too often people think it's the American market that is the only one that counts. However, Britain, Europe, Australia and Japan are together double the size of the US market and many artists have had extremely successful careers without making a ripple on the west side of the Atlantic.

 

Interesting. I was born in late 1968, so I was certainly not quite of record-buying age at the time, but I also wasn't an infant. And, eventually, I became a total music geek. I guess I'm surprised I completely missed that whole phenomonon. My first LP was Some Girls, bought for me by my sister for Xmas in '78. I think it's a great album and love it to this day, but at the time the best thing about it was the fact that the cover slid their faces in and out behind those wigs and the fact that they said the f-word.

[stevegrab]

I imagine there's quite a number of folks who had vinyl/cassette copies of some records who bought CD versions or digitally downloaded records as well. I have three versions of Sticky Fingers and Let It Bleed for example. Then there are repackaged and remastered re-releases added in there as well.

 

 

Certainly, anybody that grew up in the vinyl and tape era have since replaced some of their favorite albums with CD or digital copies. I know I've been doing that, some of the digital copies were not "purchased" but acquired from others I share some of my music files with. Paying $10-15 for the original copy once was enough.