The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

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Do they DESERVE it?

1. Michael Jackson: Thriller
12
6%
2. Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975
2
1%
3. Eagles: Hotel California
3
1%
4. Shania Twain: Come on Over
0
No votes
5. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV
20
10%
6. Whitney Houston & Various Artists: "The Bodyguard" Soundtrack
0
No votes
7. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
17
8%
8. AC/DC: Back in Black
14
7%
9. Adele: 21
0
No votes
10. Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill
1
0%
11. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
18
9%
12. The Beatles: 1
13
6%
13. ABBA: Gold: Greatest Hits
17
8%
14. Bob Marley & The Wailers: Legend
14
7%
15. Guns N’ Roses: Appetite for Destruction
4
2%
16. The Bee Gees & Various Artists: "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack
8
4%
17. Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell
5
2%
18. Metallica: Metallica
3
1%
19. Santana: Supernatural
0
No votes
20. Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A.
3
1%
21. Madonna: The Immaculate Collection
9
4%
22. Celine Dion: Let’s Talk About Love
0
No votes
23. Michael Jackson: Bad
3
1%
24. Pink Floyd: The Wall
4
2%
25. The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
31
15%
 
Total votes: 201

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fange
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby fange » 20 Sep 2018, 13:28

Eddie Shah environment wrote:The first single was fine.


Well, that explains why it's the 10th best-selling album of all time. :roll: Mystery over!
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby naughty boy » 20 Sep 2018, 13:31

:lol:
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Hightea » 20 Sep 2018, 16:18

Jagged Little Pill' is there because of timing and several hit songs. I almost voted for it as we listened to it lots when it came out and it seemed every young women in America bought this album. Saw her live during this period and it was all screaming drunk girls sing all night. Now I'm down to one song (no not that one) on a playlist or two and its rarely listened too. It's proof that most of these albums on the list only required a few mass appeal songs to make it a top selling album.

Not surprised that most bcb don't get the reason these albums are top selling. I agree not a fan of most of them and even the three we picked are far from that artists best work.

My choices are
Pink Floyd - DSOTM - might be my 5th or 6th favorite Floyd Album but still excellent. It's a weird album to be so successful but Money, Us and Them, and Time are in radio rotations around certain parts of the globe.
For those that don't think it did well in UK - "in the UK, it is the seventh-best-selling album of all time and the highest selling album never to reach number one"
Bob Marley - Legends- typically stay away from greatest hits albums but this one was a good mix of Bob's songs. Although its success might be because it has the "inoffensive selection of Marley's less political music" giving it appeal to the USA audience who might shine away from the radical Marley. Also this is a staple thru out the Caribbean and any beach area in America and Mexico. I'm sure it sold well in the Uk too.
Beatles- Pepper

In regards to the others
I get the Eagles success. Good marketing, smart greatest hits albums. Never been a fan except for a few songs, but across america its a staple. Surprised Hotel Cali is so high too as its really only had two major hits. HC and New Kid in Town but maybe that's really all it takes.
Whitney Houston - "I Will Always Love You" was such a big single around the world that it dominated. My guess is this album is there just based on the first year it was out.
Thriller- timing is everything. 1983 was a bad year for pop music so Thriller dominated with 7 pop hits which was enough. Did Jackson have better albums? yes but that isn't what sells albums - timing is everything. Billie Jean is the only song I really like. I'm wondering if the videos also played a part in it's success?
AC/DC - always puzzled by the success of this band and wasn't even aware how big they were until many years later. Is it a global thing? I know heavy rock is big in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia along with the US and Uk. I'm thinking that anyone who even remotely likes metal has this album but surprised that that makes it such a big sell?
Meatloaf makes no sense to me although I get it had four hits.
Santana - guests, luck and good timing. Santana (or really Clive Davis) made a good move for himself with this album. Which because of various guests was a mix of very different styles which got it not just rock and pop stations but also many other music format stations.
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby bobzilla77 » 22 Sep 2018, 00:27

The Modernist wrote:
bobzilla77 wrote:I would say all those albums probably sold enough copies to get on a list of "albums that sold the most copies." Did they deserve it based on art merit? I wouldn't presume to know.

The Wall was a big deal in it's time, the last gasp of 70s rock. A stadium level band releases a conceptual double album that produces a number one single. As a result it sells a lot. What's your problem?


Problem..? Er I don't understand why it's still so popular! But I think on some level its fans see it as quite a profound statement as JC said.
I remember in the UK at the time they were seen as these dinosaurs, it was greeted with some derision by many, it wasn't seen as an event. I think for an entire generation in the UK Pink Floyd were sort of dismissed as these stadium rock leftovers from another decade. But they've certainly had the last laugh as they've lasted and got new generations of fans since.


That wasn't directed at you in particular. It seems to really piss people on BCB off that it was so popular. They want to live in a world where Pink Floyd The Wall is unpopular. I find that interesting.
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby bobzilla77 » 22 Sep 2018, 02:26

Bent Fabric wrote:
trans-chigley express wrote:
Lyin' Eyes is over 6 mins long too. Seems more like 16 to me.



This is funny, because there is some interview with Henley or Frey (truly it doesn't fucking matter which) in which the narrator/interviewee boastfully claims that "It's a six minute song, but of course it feels much shorter cause that's how we designed it" - basically, exactly the sort of thing Ricky Gervais was always getting people like Ben Stiller to say on Extras when they portrayed some "worst version of themselves".


Yup. Fuck those guys!
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Jimbo » 22 Sep 2018, 02:53

I look at the big picture and you know what I see? Disparity. They're all different genres. That's the globalists oldest trick. Divide and conquer. They don't want music fans to agree. We're tearing ourselves apart and that's how they want us, all torn up. :?
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby naughty boy » 22 Sep 2018, 03:18

bobzilla77 wrote:That wasn't directed at you in particular. It seems to really piss people on BCB off that it was so popular. They want to live in a world where Pink Floyd The Wall is unpopular. I find that interesting.


I'd say it's that we really don't understand why it's popular - when you consider that most very popular albums contain pop or rock that's accessible/tuneful/catchy/uplifting. This is none of those things.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Count Machuki » 22 Sep 2018, 04:51

Jimbo wrote:I look at the big picture and you know what I see? Disparity. They're all different genres. That's the globalists oldest trick. Divide and conquer. They don't want music fans to agree. We're tearing ourselves apart and that's how they want us, all torn up. :?


That's the craziest thing I've seen on YY in a long time.
Get a grip, Jimbo!
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby The Modernist » 22 Sep 2018, 05:54

Count Machuki wrote:
Jimbo wrote:I look at the big picture and you know what I see? Disparity. They're all different genres. That's the globalists oldest trick. Divide and conquer. They don't want music fans to agree. We're tearing ourselves apart and that's how they want us, all torn up. :?


That's the craziest thing I've seen on YY in a long time.
Get a grip, Jimbo!


Getting a grip is what the New World Order want us to do.
Don't listen to him Jimbo!

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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Georgios » 22 Sep 2018, 13:14

Count Machuki wrote:
Jimbo wrote:I look at the big picture and you know what I see? Disparity. They're all different genres. That's the globalists oldest trick. Divide and conquer. They don't want music fans to agree. We're tearing ourselves apart and that's how they want us, all torn up. :?


That's the craziest thing I've seen on YY in a long time.
Get a grip, Jimbo!


I always assumed this Jimbo character was a (very good) parody. You telling me he isn't?

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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Jimbo » 22 Sep 2018, 13:32

In this case I was parodying myself. Perhaps a "wink" icon would have told you so but fuck you if you can't get a joke.

And thank you, Georgios, for partially recognizing my sense of humor. My usual posts are quite serious and reflect what I have learned and how I feel - and that is quite nervous about current and coming wars and the future of our societies.
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Count Machuki » 22 Sep 2018, 15:19

Right. Parody of a parody.
I guess your shit is just too high concept for me, there, Jimbo.
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Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D

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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Jimbo » 22 Sep 2018, 16:39

Count Machuki wrote:Right. Parody of a parody.
I guess your shit is just too high concept for me, there, Jimbo.


I apologize for saying "fuck you." That was harsh and I feel badly for saying it. What I will say instead is that I wish you'd open your eyes a little wider and allow yourself to see a bigger political picture than the left-right, blue-red sort of game you seem to like playing. I'm not crazy or a loon. There really are unelected forces at work in America and throughout the world who are trampling on your freedoms and democracy while leading you and I closer and closer to war. History shows us that this is so and you owe it to yourself to learn about them and be aware.

My self=parody was quite clever, if I say so myself, because I added some truth to it and that is the concept of "divide and conquer." That there are divisions in society such as the two political parties, one supposedly conservative and the other liberal is not because some people see free health care while the other sees freeloaders. No, everyone wants free health care but there are assholes out there who are fucking with all of our our minds, dividing and conquering and getting rich. That's the conspiracy, man! As I have shown in my postings time after time the mainstream media are liars, fake news, especially when it comes to truthful articles about corruption among the rich and powerful. Jimmy Dore has a new video about the record breaking poisonous red tide in Florida and Jimmy plays a CBS news story which says so. At the end of the report Jimmy notes how the the reporter fails to say the cause of the red tide, which. with a little research, shows it's fertilizer run-off from big agriculture. CBS won't say that. Rick Scott the governor won't say it either. CBS's owners are in bed with Rick Scott and there, again, is the conspiracy.

Again, sorry for my rude words but you do need to open your eyes a little wider.
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Count Machuki » 22 Sep 2018, 16:54

That Adele record isn't THAT bad, you know...

Give it another ten years it might sound good.
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby WG Kaspar » 22 Sep 2018, 21:34

Eddie Shah environment wrote:
bobzilla77 wrote:That wasn't directed at you in particular. It seems to really piss people on BCB off that it was so popular. They want to live in a world where Pink Floyd The Wall is unpopular. I find that interesting.


I'd say it's that we really don't understand why it's popular - when you consider that most very popular albums contain pop or rock that's accessible/tuneful/catchy/uplifting. This is none of those things.


erm, it's the most accessible thing they have ever done, in fact it's the only one of their albums that it's conventional rock. Another Brick In The Wall is their most accessible/catchy tune, there are straight rockers and easily digestible slow ones throughout, the longest song is 6.30 and most songs there are around the 3-4 minute mark. For a band that was as huge as them at the time, I think that the success of The Wall is very easy to understand. Whether it's good or not is a whole different discussion.
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Georgios » 22 Sep 2018, 21:47

Another Brick In The Wall is many things, but catchy it isn't. Apparently it was their take on Disco, and you have to hand it to them not many acts could make 'Disco' sound so plodding and monotonous - but they could. Such innovators, The Floyd.

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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby WG Kaspar » 22 Sep 2018, 22:31

Georgios wrote:Another Brick In The Wall is many things, but catchy it isn't. Apparently it was their take on Disco, and you have to hand it to them not many acts could make 'Disco' sound so plodding and monotonous - but they could. Such innovators, The Floyd.

You obviously don't like it which is fine, but it has hit written all over it.
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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby naughty boy » 22 Sep 2018, 22:41

The album doesn't. It's dreary.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Georgios » 22 Sep 2018, 22:43

To me Comfortably Numb sounds like a much more obvious hit from that album, but it never even charted despite being released as a single. Regrettably I can't argue with your final point, as the great music buying British public did indeed send it to No.1 - The daft bastards.

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Re: The best-selling LPs of all time: do they deserve to be?

Postby Bent Fabric » 22 Sep 2018, 23:06

Eddie Shah environment wrote:The album doesn't. It's dreary.


It suppose it is (and, yes, I like it well enough) - and yet, to my way of thinking it seems both less dreary and less self obsessed than, say, the Adele album or Jagged Little Pill.

The humanity at the heart of it (human isolation is, for better or worse, a resonant hook), as well as the anti-war sentiment, are timeless in their way (when I saw Waters perform it about ten years ago, I was struck by a basic sense of just how severely the relevant military madness had escalated in the years since he'd written those songs).

Right place, right time, right record is frequently part of the story with these albums (most clearly perhaps with Thriller and Saturday Night Fever - unstoppable momentum, and an impressive series of undeniable "mega" songs in both cases).

Even some of the ones I can't remotely relate to - there's still some begrudging acknowledgement on my part that there was absolutely a massive audience who were assuredly ready for "THAT record".

And then there's Santana.

I've got no rationalization whatsoever for that. I fully understand the cynical theory and design behind the making of the sausage, but my mind's eye cannot even manufacture a hypothetical scenario in which a person elects to listen voluntarily.


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