Apart from live
presentations and copyright money, one of the best sources of income artists
have at their disposal is record sales. Nowadays, that may not be exactly true,
but some years ago, before music download was invented, people either bought
albums at the stores, or waited for their favorite songs to play on the radio.
That explains why the best-selling albums of all time are older ones.
The first place
among the best-selling albums is Michael Jackson’s Thriller, released in 1982, with an estimate between 110 and 140
million units sold worldwide. It’s Michael Jackson’s sixth album, and its songs
mix pop, soul, R&B and rock to keep Jackson’s unique musical
characteristics. Seven songs from Thriller
were released as singles, and all of them made it to Billboard’s top ten,
which reflects their success. Between them are the album’s homonymous Thriller, Beat It (featuring guest of honor Eddie Van Halen, who played the
guitar for the song) and Billie Jean.
From 1982 to 1984, Thriller and its
songs were nominated and won many awards, such as thirteen Billboard awards and
eight Grammies.
Having sold
approximately half the units that Thriller
sold, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the
Moon comes second on the list. It was released in 1973, and, without a
doubt, the record was one of the most remarkable ever released. Pink Floyd is
known for their musical experiments, almost never writing conventional songs,
and Dark Side of the Moon shows their
best results in experimenting. Not only the introduction of dialogs during the
songs was remarkable, but the relationship between the album and the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939). If the movie
and the album are played simultaneously, there is no shortage of coincidences
(for example, the sound of heartbeats at the end of the album, at the same time
as Dorothy, at the movie, tries to hear Tin Man’s heart, and the fact that most
of the songs’ lengths coincide with the scenes’). Dark Side of the Moon was re-released in its 20th and 30th
anniversaries, both reedited versions, featuring the same hit songs, such as Time, Money and Us and Them.
With just a few
copies behind Dark Side of the Moon
is AC/DC’s Back in Black. It was
released in 1980. Back in Black is
AC/DC’s comeback album after the death of their former lead singer, Bon Scott,
from an alcoholic intoxication, followed by his replacement by Brian Johnson,
who still sings for the band. Back in
Black features some of the band’s most famous songs, such as Hell’s Bells, You Shook me All Night Long,
and the album’s homonymous, Back in Black,
which turned into a rock and roll icon. The creativity of the band members is
over the edge, as they keep releasing songs until today, following the same
winning formula as found in Back in Black,
never losing quality.
Also showing up
at the best-seller list are many movie soundtracks, such as the ones in The Bodyguard, Dirty Dancing, Phantom of the Opera, Saturday Night Fever and Titanic, along with The Eagles’ and Queen’s
greatest hits compilations. Many other bands, such as The Beatles, Led
Zeppelin, Madonna and even The Backstreet Boys are among the best-sellers.
Posted by Naya.
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