Top 25 Biggest Selling Albums Of All Time - How Many Do You Own?

11

Thriller
Back In Black
Bat Out of Hell
Dark Side of the Moon
Saturday Night Fever
Rumours
Led Zeppelin IV
Sgt. Pepper
The Immaculate Collection
1
Abbey Road

It always surprises me and I think it's incredible that Back in Black is so high up. Bigger than Dark Side of the Moon. Amazing.

 

Seven

 

Five. The Beatles, ABBA and Pink Floyd.

Used to have some of the others. That's not an album collection I would play much. But some.

 

You had to be there, with your hormones tuned to the right frequency. I was never a fan, but at 16 it was impossible for me to miss the text, subtext, tone, tenor and zeitgeist of the album.

 

No Elvis?

 

10

 

not a massive album seller. Elvis Christmas Album was his biggest and I think it was around the 50 mark on the list if I remember

 

Five.
The three Beatles titles in many various formats and releases, plus Zep and Floyd.

 

As someone mentioned, Elvis was much more of a singles artist. And albums just weren't as much of a "thing" until the mid-60s, I don't think - at least not for rock.

Supposedly Elvis's 1st Christmas album is his biggest seller.

"#1" from the early 2000s did well, too - I'd not be surprised to learn it's #2!

 

I currently have 9:

Thriller
Dark Side of the Moon
Rumours
Jagged Little Pill
Sgt. Pepper's
21
The Immaculate Collection
1
Abbey Road

A few others have come and gone from my collection: Led Zeppelin IV, Bad, Dangerous, Born in the USA

 

18

 

11

 

8

 

Only 5.

 

16

 

Proudly just one of that bog average list!

 

14
More than I expected when I saw the thread title.

 

I've got 9 of them.

Interesting results:

Dark Side of the Moon, Zep IV, Rumors, and of course the Beatles albums are extremely widely owned among members.

The Bodyguard, Dirty Dancing, and Shania Twian fare very poorly.

And it's hilarious that Celine Dion fares even worse than that. It's been more than 20 years and I still cringe whenever that damn song comes on.

 

12

 

19

 

I was going to say that most, except probably the ones you mention not having plus one or two others, have iconic album covers that are instantly recognisable to most people. In fact, many would be familiar as images to people who do not own them.

Worldwide taste is also based on links with cinema (Someone cheered in the cinema when Leo floated off and everyone else seemed to giggle in agreement) or must-have AOR for trendy dinner parties (I bet Eric's Unplugged can"t have been too far out of the top 30).

Still, interesting to consider reasons why some albums are so universally popular.

I bet Led Zep IV is mainly due to a certain guitarist favourite.

The presence of compilations illustrate perhaps how some might well have been bought as gifts - I wonder when in the year some were marketed?

I'm still puzzled by a couple of entries on the list though. Shows that worldwide sales aren't a reflection of what is the absolute best.

 

9-Should I celebrate or be embarassed?

 

Wikipedia claims 26 million copies sold worldwide. So its roughly 4 million units off of this list since this tapers off at around 30 million units.

 

I own 6. 2 of which I never listen to, Abbey Road and Sgt P. I have never listened to 7 of the rest. I don’t seem to buy compilations.

 

Out of the 13 I own I think I listen to half of those somewhat regularly. The rest I sort of just pick and chose the odd song here and there