[Eagles Greatest Hits 1971-1975 courtesy of All Music.]
Ah, it was a different time...In case you were having this discussion at some point--or just happened to be curious--here are, according to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), the top 10 selling albums of all time in the US. We're sure you'll be surprised by some of the following titles on the list (millions of copies sold in brackets):
EAGLES Greatest Hits 1971 - 1975 (Elektra/Asylum-1976) [29]
MICHAEL JACKSON Thriller (Epic-1982) [27]
LED ZEPPELIN IV (Atlantic-1971) [23]
PINK FLOYD The Wall (Columbia-1976) [23]
AC/DC Back In Black (Atlantic-1980) [23]
GARTH BROOKS Double Live (Capitol Nashville-1998) [21]
BILLY JOEL Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II (Columbia-1985) [21]
SHANIA TWAIN Come On Over (Mercury Nashville-1995) [20]
FLEETWOOD MAC Rumours (Warner Bros-1977) [19]
THE BEATLES [self-titled aka The White Album] (Apple-1968) [19]
Bubbling underneath are two debut albums: Guns 'N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction (Geffen-1987) with 18 million copies sold; and Boston's self-titled disc (Epic-1975) with 17 million. (The latter has doubled in sales figures in the last 30+ years from its initial 8 million when released.)
Also, The Beatles' 1967-1970 compilation [aka The Blue Album], Hootie and the Blowfish's Cracked Rear View, Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, The Eagles' Hotel California, Elton John's Greatest Hits, and Alanis Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill are all tied with 16 million copies each. At 15 million units apiece are The Beatles' 1962-1966 comp [aka The Red Album], Journey's Greatest Hits, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, and Santana's Supernatural.
We never would've guessed The Wall has outsold Dark Side of The Moon by a more than 30% margin (especially after the latter had that seemingly never-ending stay on the charts), nor that The White Album is the Fab Four's best seller by far. (Sgt Pepper's and Abbey Road come in at 12 and 11 million, respectively, while Rubber Soul and Magical Mystery Tour are both tied at 6 million copies, followed by Meet the Beatles and Revolver with 5 million each.)
Oh, and the once greatest selling live album of all time, 1976's Frampton Comes Alive--which has long been dethroned by the likes of Garth Brooks, Bruce Springsteen, and the Eagles--has sales of 6 million.
In addition, there are almost 40 albums which the RIAA credit with having hit the 10 million plateau--known as diamond level sales--with the overall list of the top 100 concluding at 5 million sold. And meanwhile, in 2008 we couldn't get ONE to hit the three million mark, for the first time since 1991. To quote John Lennon's posthumous single "Nobody Told Me", Strange days, indeed. Most peculiar, Momma.
