Does Anyone Know Neil Young albums in order of sales?*

Does anyone know of a sales ranking of Neil Young albums? It would be fascinating to see his wildly varied catalogue arranged in order of commercial success.

 

Well, we can put Harvest at the top of that list!

 

I haven't seen one, but I'd be surprised if "Harvest" wasn't number one, vastly outpacing everything else. The 1993 "Unplugged" album might be high up there too.

 

I was hoping the first post was the actual list

I'm guessing that Harvest is on top with some compilation (Decade?) following.

 

Sadly, no. But surely this data is out there somewhere?

 

A quick glance at Wikipedia tells me that Harvest, Harvest Moon, and After The Goldrush are at the top. Unplugged sold well, but nowhere near the numbers of those three albums.
Decade sold well also...but nothing like the big 3.

Neil Young discography and filmography - Wikipedia

 

Yes and Harvest Moon met expectations going platinum effortlessly. As if fans had been waiting for this sequel. I'd bet it it's his second or third best seller.

 

Some info below from a Neil fansite, ca. 2004.
His top sellers at that time included:

• Harvest – 4.3 million
• After the Gold Rush – 2.5 million
• Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere – 2.4 million
• Harvest Moon – 2 million
• Rust Never Sleeps – 1 million+

Neil Young Albums

 

I would expect Freedom to have done very well as well.

 

Wonder if those are US sales or worldwide. According to the listing of certifications the top 5 looks like:

Harvest
After The Gold Rush
Harvest Moon
Rust Never Sleeps
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

 

I saw so many copies of 'Landing on Water' and 'Trans' in cut out bins over the years, I'd swear they were certified as having negative sales. Somehow, more copies were retuned then actually ever shipped.

 

I believe ARC sold 17 copies (some believe it sold as many as 18 but that would suggest there are even more Metal Machine Music fans with disposable income then previously thought. I mean it's possible but....)

 

Harvest Moon over Rust Never Sleeps surprises me.

 

Point taken, but the song "Harvest Moon" had huge crossover into the MOR/Adult Contemporary market. I've heard it in doctor's offices & at weddings. "Out of the Blue & Into the Black" — not so much.

 

yeah, I guess

 

I returned my copy and bought something else.

 

So would I, but it only went gold (over 500,000 sold), not platinum (over 1 million sold).

 

Arc & MMM were my "clear out the apartment after parties in early 90s University days"... simultaneously on my stereo and my roomate's stereo... sounds like you went to one of our bashes!

 

I'm wondering if "Rust Never Sleeps" got some critical acclaim push at the time of it's release? Maybe a good write-up in Rolling Stone that year that stood out? End of year critics polls? 1979 wasn't exactly a kind year to those "old" classic rock dinosaurs. I always found it weird that it was the only Neil Young in my Dad's vinyl collection - and he wasn't a big Neil guy.

 

Re•ac•tor, Hawks & Doves and American Stars 'n Bars always seemed to be in the cutout bins.

 

Not nearly as significant as real album sales, but play stats on Spotify definitely correspond to that top sellers chart from 2004:

 

Those numbers are lower than I would have guessed. Everyone should own a copy of the first three on the list.

 

https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=neil+young

One minor surprise, Live Rust is platinum, along with the other top albums mentioned above, and Decade.

 

Never underestimate the schmaltz market.

 

Rust was the RS album of the year, and got a hugely positive review, and Neil was the RS artist of the year.

That did it.