musicjunky318 said:

Azz said:

So what album is his best?

1. Dangerous

2. Off The Wall

3. Thriller

4. Bad

5. HIStory

6. Invincible

7. Blood On The Dancefloor

Oh god. Dangerous seems to be a stan/dedicated fan's favourite. And only a big MJ fan could rate it higher Off The Wall, Thriller or even Bad. But I agree with the rest of the list.

[Edited 12/31/12 18:59pm]

Azz said:

musicjunky318 said:

1. Dangerous

2. Off The Wall

3. Thriller

4. Bad

5. HIStory

6. Invincible

7. Blood On The Dancefloor

Oh god. Dangerous seems to be a stan/dedicated fan's favourite. And only a big MJ fan could rate it higher Off The Wall, Thriller or even Bad. But I agree with the rest of the list.

[Edited 12/31/12 18:59pm]

I love Dangerous. I'm 23 so I was a kid when it came out so this was the one I sorta grew up with - the earliest memories I have of Michael Jackson. My father said Remember The Time was the first song I really liked at 2 or 3. He said I used to tell him to play "The Time Song."

musicjunky318 said:

Azz said:

Oh god. Dangerous seems to be a stan/dedicated fan's favourite. And only a big MJ fan could rate it higher Off The Wall, Thriller or even Bad. But I agree with the rest of the list.

[Edited 12/31/12 18:59pm]

I love Dangerous. I'm 23 so I was a kid when it came out so this was the one I sorta grew up with - the earliest memories I have of Michael Jackson. My father said Remember The Time was the first song I really liked at 2 or 3. He said I used to tell him to play "The Time Song."

that's a nice story.

For me, there is too much filler; She drives me wild, can't let her get away & keep the faith, whilst others are just average/good; heal the world, jam, will you be there (too long), gone too soon.

I love dangerous, who is it, give into me and quite like why you wanna trip on me

[Edited 12/31/12 19:10pm]

Azz said:

musicjunky318 said:

Numbers don't define quality and the critiques are often wrong.

So both critics, sales, and general public opinion are wrong?

IMO thriller and off the wall are his best.

sales = general publics opinion though. And if we were to always agree with so-called music critics who write articles for Rolling Stone magazine, why are we even here on a music board?

Also I don't know why you think Dangerous is not one of his best albums but just because something sounds dated doesn't mean it's bad. All Prince's albums in the 80's sound really dated only because it's heavily based on the type of drum machines we don't use these days does that make his albums not good?

Sorry OP but you should've known this was gonna be another MJ thread...(basically any topic about huge album sales will end up being a MJ thread )

Emancipation89 said:

Azz said:

So both critics, sales, and general public opinion are wrong?

IMO thriller and off the wall are his best.

sales = general publics opinion though. And if we were to always agree with so-called music critics who write articles for Rolling Stone magazine, why are we even here on a music board?

Also I don't know why you think Dangerous is not one of his best albums but just because something sounds dated doesn't mean it's bad. All Prince's albums in the 80's sound really dated only because it's heavily based on the type of drum machines we don't use these days does that make his albums not good?

Sorry OP but you should've known this was gonna be another MJ thread...(basically any topic about huge album sales will end up being a MJ thread )

Perhaps I should rephrase - current public opinion? Selling well over time? Sales/charts of the time? I think these three things are different.

Critics can generally differentiate between album like Adele's and MJ's, despite both having mammoth sales - so they aren't so bad.

Yes the sound is dated, but I still think many of the songs are average, with only 4 or 5 stand out/memorable songs out of 14

[Edited 12/31/12 19:17pm]

I'm sorry for bringing MJ into this.

Azz said:

Critics can generally differentiate between Adele and MJ, despite mammoth sales - so they aren't so bad.

Well, I recently learned that Thriller didn't get a great review when it first came out though. After it was received so well by the public, of course, they changed their mind about the album. And RS gave Thriller 4/5 and right after his death they gave the album 5 stars.

[Edited 12/31/12 19:22pm]

^They do that all the time which is why they're phony. Someone didn't like "The Girl Is Mine" right?

[Edited 12/31/12 19:24pm]

musicjunky318 said:

I'm sorry for bringing MJ into this.

no, you're not

Oh dear, she is talented though, and I just realized she ruled 12' with 21, like 12:21 and in the US was the 21st person to get a diamond album since the Soundscan era began.

[Edited 1/1/13 6:31am]

I wish I could see a list of best-sellers that did not include greatest hits compilations.

Not to poo poo Queen or ABBA because those are amazing sets, but I think it's most impressive Adele is really SECOND for best-selling original album trailing only the Beatles.

its sales are so huge, that the information on the sales of this album impressed and interested me much more than the music, which is recorded on the album

Yes, the album is good, but not SO good. imho

21 already ranked 39th in the list of best-selling albums ever

[Edited 1/1/13 11:50am]

This may have helped with her sales during the festive period:

http://www.nme.com/news/adele/67918

AZ - didn't she have 3 #1 records in the states with this:

- rolling in the deep

- someone like you

- set fire to the rain

'rumour has it' - top #20

Turning tables top #100 hit

Quite a few hit singles if you ask me

My personal fav on the album is this soulful little number:

By the way that Queen figure is very dubious. About 10 or so years ago all 3 Queen Greatest Hits albums were re-packaged together as "The Platinum Collection" and sold for the price of a regular single disc album (about £10). That's 3 for the price of 1 and nowadays that's the only one most people buy, however some weird twist of fate has meant every sale of The Platinum Collection will also count as 3 individual sales of Greatest Hits 1, 2 and 3.

It didn't make much sense because for instance, Amy Winehouse's Back To Black had a special edition but each one of those was counted as a separate album, thus at times a few years ago both editions were on the chart together. When Thriller 25 was released it was also counted separately to the regular of Thriller (although the 2001 re-master did count).

The Queen Platinum Collection is the only one I can think of that was unfairly given a free ride to push their sales ahead. Although personally for me that's fine since I'm not a Beatles fan and Sgt. Pepper needed taking down!

musicjunky318 said:

I'm sorry for bringing MJ into this.

You should be. Thanks a lot...

mancabdriver said:

This may have helped with her sales during the festive period:

http://www.nme.com/news/adele/67918

AZ - didn't she have 3 #1 records in the states with this:

- rolling in the deep

- someone like you

- set fire to the rain

'rumour has it' - top #20

Turning tables top #100 hit

Quite a few hit singles if you ask me

My personal fav on the album is this soulful little number:

As of now, she's got like three (or four) platinum U.S. singles from this album (including one that wasn't even released as an official single) I'll Be Waiting hit some Billboard chart and peaked at 29 (not the Hot 100 but something else). I think Lovesong was also certified gold but I'm not sure. Everything on that album would've been a hit, that's why people bought it. Simple as that.

Impressive.

Timmy84 said:

As of now, she's got like three (or four) platinum U.S. singles from this album (including one that wasn't even released as an official single) I'll Be Waiting hit some Billboard chart and peaked at 29 (not the Hot 100 but something else). I think Lovesong was also certified gold but I'm not sure. Everything on that album would've been a hit, that's why people bought it. Simple as that.

In The U.S. Rolling In The Deep has gone 7x Platinum, Someone Like You has gone 5x Platinum, Set Fire To The Rain has gone 4x Platinum, Rumour Has It (which only peaked at 16) has 2x Platinum, And Turning Tables peaked at 63 but has gone gold

aardvark15 said:

Timmy84 said:

As of now, she's got like three (or four) platinum U.S. singles from this album (including one that wasn't even released as an official single) I'll Be Waiting hit some Billboard chart and peaked at 29 (not the Hot 100 but something else). I think Lovesong was also certified gold but I'm not sure. Everything on that album would've been a hit, that's why people bought it. Simple as that.

In The U.S. Rolling In The Deep has gone 7x Platinum, Someone Like You has gone 5x Platinum, Set Fire To The Rain has gone 4x Platinum, Rumour Has It (which only peaked at 16) has 2x Platinum, And Turning Tables peaked at 63 but has gone gold

That's it...

LiLi1992 said:

21 already ranked 39th in the list of best-selling albums ever

[Edited 1/1/13 11:50am]

Who made this list? lol

I agree with you the album is good but I don't think it's really that great. If it had been released some other year it wouldn't have been as successful I think. Still it's a good (really good just a bit overrated) album and I'm glad that someone's still selling records these days.

Get It Girl

babybugz said:

Get It Girl

How are people on the yeezy forums reacting?

I remember they were freaking out when she was outselling all the rappers

MiniJamesW said:

LiLi1992 said:

21 already ranked 39th in the list of best-selling albums ever

[Edited 1/1/13 11:50am]

Who made this list? lol

mediatraffic

Top 40

1 Michael Jackson - Thriller 34
2 Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon 20
3 Soundtrack - Grease 20
4 Soundtrack - The Bodyguard 19
5 Eagles - Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 18
6 Soundtrack - Saturday Night Fever 18
7 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV 17
8 Shania Twain - Come On Over 17
9 AC / DC - Back In Black 17
10 Michael Jackson - Bad 16
11 Fleetwood Mac - Rumours 16
12 Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill 16
13 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend 15
14 Beatles - One 15
15 Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 15
16 Michael Jackson - Dangerous 15
17 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love 15
18 Pink Floyd - The Wall 15
19 Guns n 'Roses - Appetite For Destruction 14
20 Celine Dion - Falling Into You 14
21 Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms 14
22 Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A. 14
23 Eagles - Hotel California 14
24 Soundtrack - Dirty Dancing 14
25 Simon & Garfunkel - Greatest Hits 14
26 Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell 14
27 U2 - The Joshua Tree 14
28 Abba - Gold Greatest Hits 14
29 Beatles - Abbey Road 13
30 Queen - Greatest Hits 13
31 Soundtrack - Titanic 13
32 Madonna - The Immaculate Collection 13
33 Mariah Carey - Music Box 13
34 Backstreet Boys - Millennium 12
35 Santana - Supernatural 12
36 Metallica - Metallica 12
37 Nirvana - Nevermind 12
38 Eric Clapton - Unplugged 12
39 Adele - 21 12
40 Beatles - 1962-1966 12

.

63 Prince - Purple Rain 10

(!!!!!!!!!! The last figure - coefficient, which equals 2 million!!!!!!!!!!!!

Therefore, these data should be multiplied by 2: Thriller sold 68 million copies, The Dark Side Of The Moon - 40 million, 21 - 24 million etc.)

Yes, this list is unofficial and is not 100% correct, but it is best that we have and are usually in the analysis of sales of albums using it.

[Edited 1/2/13 11:47am]

LiLi1992 said:

MiniJamesW said:

Who made this list? lol

mediatraffic

Top 40

1 Michael Jackson - Thriller 34
2 Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon 20
3 Soundtrack - Grease 20
4 Soundtrack - The Bodyguard 19
5 Eagles - Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 18
6 Soundtrack - Saturday Night Fever 18
7 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV 17
8 Shania Twain - Come On Over 17
9 AC / DC - Back In Black 17
10 Michael Jackson - Bad 16
11 Fleetwood Mac - Rumours 16
12 Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill 16
13 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend 15
14 Beatles - One 15
15 Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 15
16 Michael Jackson - Dangerous 15
17 Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love 15
18 Pink Floyd - The Wall 15
19 Guns n 'Roses - Appetite For Destruction 14
20 Celine Dion - Falling Into You 14
21 Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms 14
22 Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A. 14
23 Eagles - Hotel California 14
24 Soundtrack - Dirty Dancing 14
25 Simon & Garfunkel - Greatest Hits 14
26 Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell 14
27 U2 - The Joshua Tree 14
28 Abba - Gold Greatest Hits 14
29 Beatles - Abbey Road 13
30 Queen - Greatest Hits 13
31 Soundtrack - Titanic 13
32 Madonna - The Immaculate Collection 13
33 Mariah Carey - Music Box 13
34 Backstreet Boys - Millennium 12
35 Santana - Supernatural 12
36 Metallica - Metallica 12
37 Nirvana - Nevermind 12
38 Eric Clapton - Unplugged 12
39 Adele - 21 12
40 Beatles - 1962-1966 12

.

63 Prince - Purple Rain 10

(The last figure - coefficient, which equals 2 million)

Yes, this list is unofficial and is not 100% correct, but it is best that we have and are usually in the analysis of sales of albums using it.

[Edited 1/1/13 23:42pm]

Shania twain a straight up pimpstress

Come Om over only had 3 top 40 hits on billboard hot 100 & only 2 were top hits. But she 8 count em 8 top 10 hits on the country charts

Idk how but that album & her next album managed to sell way over diamond. After 3 diamond albums she basically said peave the fuck out

Idk how she sold that much but it was enough to not make an album after 2002.

I still think it's awesome Back In Black has sold 17 million copies with no top 40 hits either

I don't think this list is accurate at all for worldwide, maybe for US it is.

Anyways about Dangerous, I have heard people say it's a stan album, but I know lots of people my age who were elementary school or middle school aged during Dangerous or HIStory era who aren't big fans, just casually like him from afar, and own one or the other deeming it his best work without having the other work unless their parents had Thriller, and they probably have them cause of Black or White being huge at the time and HIStory cause of the hits package though for me as a fan it was both. Dangerous is a really great album that contains some of the best work of his career, but I have to give it to Bad when naming his best album. Love Thriller, but Bad and the best of Dangerous resonates the best with me. And I think the 77 to 81 period is so underrated and feel sorry for fans and casual listeners who have no idea just how raw they were.

[Edited 1/2/13 1:17am]

Gunsnhalen said:

Come Om over only had 3 top 40 hits on billboard hot 100 & only 2 were top hits. But she 8 count em 8 top 10 hits on the country charts

Idk how but that album & her next album managed to sell way over diamond. After 3 diamond albums she basically said peave the fuck out

Idk how she sold that much but it was enough to not make an album after 2002.

It was probably one of the first proper crossover Country albums worldwide. Not since the 70s with Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton had a Country-Pop artist become a worldwide success without having to have a novelty hit (e.g. Billy Ray Cyrus).

alphastreet said:

I don't think this list is accurate at all for worldwide, maybe for US it is.

Anyways about Dangerous, I have heard people say it's a stan album, but I know lots of people my age who were elementary school or middle school aged during Dangerous or HIStory era who aren't big fans, just casually like him from afar, and own one or the other deeming it his best work without having the other work unless their parents had Thriller, and they probably have them cause of Black or White being huge at the time and HIStory cause of the hits package though for me as a fan it was both. Dangerous is a really great album that contains some of the best work of his career, but I have to give it to Bad when naming his best album. Love Thriller, but Bad and the best of Dangerous resonates the best with me.

Absolutely true. I was 10 years old when Dangerous was released and it was a proper phenomenon at my school. Even today I constantly have workmates saying that Give In To Me is MJ's best song and that Dangerous is the only album they can get on board with. A lot of people between 30-40 often say that in my experience.

It's all related to people's individual tastes and their own experiences. A lot of younger people who weren't there at the time have just grown up with the media lampooning OTW-Thriller as the best MJ albums and taken it as fact. OTW is my all time favourite for the record but Dangerous a close second and Bad has the best memories of the era with the tour/videos/movie all coming todether perfectly for me as a 6 year old.

And I think the 77 to 81 period is so underrated and feel sorry for fans and casual listeners who have no idea just how raw they were.

[Edited 1/2/13 2:19am]

alphastreet said:

I don't think this list is accurate at all for worldwide, maybe for US it is.

Then what is your list?
It`s woldwide

no album sold in the U.S. more than 30 million copies, leave alone 68, 40 or 36 mln

The U.S. and Europe account for about 70% of the global music market ... so you can make the assumption just summarize these two markets, where sales it is possible to calculate and add 30% of the remaining world.
so yes, the list is not 100% reliable, but is close to reality.

This list was compiled in 2008, but after then, some adjustments were made (Eg added 21).
You know, the world is very big and many huge markets by 90% in the shade (Russia, China, India, Africa, etc.). In Russia there are over 150 million people .... needless to say, that 99% of the music downloaded for free?

In any case, from what we have it`s the best.

Even today I constantly have workmates saying that Give In To Me is MJ's best song

and they are absolutely right.

I was born the following year after D, so I have no personal experience, but in 2010, I listened for the first time the entire discography and after Off the Wall and Thriller was not very impressed (only liked Billie Jean, Beat it, WBSS, Don`t stop, Working day and night, Off the wall and Get on the floor) and only Bad and Dangerous really did IT for me.

PS Why I can never get past the discussion that obvious off-topic?

sorry

----------------------

So now Oasis!
it was very long ago, when I last listened this album, but I remember that I had a good impression of it.
I hope that 21 does not catch up in the near future, the guys that I really like: The Beatles and Queen, but I have a very, very bad feeling.

Let's think in general:most albums in the top 10 have been released a long time ago ... at first it was vinyl, then cassettes, then CD, etc. .... and fans bought this album over and over again in different formats ... In the 80's "Bad" has become a leader in the list of best-selling albums in the UK in the first 2 years after the release of ... and it was about 2.8 million over 2 years. Adele during this time sold 4.5 million .. and that all sales are only in modern formats ... it's just HUGE

Ellie said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Come Om over only had 3 top 40 hits on billboard hot 100 & only 2 were top hits. But she 8 count em 8 top 10 hits on the country charts

Idk how but that album & her next album managed to sell way over diamond. After 3 diamond albums she basically said peave the fuck out

Idk how she sold that much but it was enough to not make an album after 2002.

It was probably one of the first proper crossover Country albums worldwide. Not since the 70s with Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton had a Country-Pop artist become a worldwide success without having to have a novelty hit (e.g. Billy Ray Cyrus).

Absolutely true. I was 10 years old when Dangerous was released and it was a proper phenomenon at my school. Even today I constantly have workmates saying that Give In To Me is MJ's best song and that Dangerous is the only album they can get on board with. A lot of people between 30-40 often say that in my experience.

It's all related to people's individual tastes and their own experiences. A lot of younger people who weren't there at the time have just grown up with the media lampooning OTW-Thriller as the best MJ albums and taken it as fact. OTW is my all time favourite for the record but Dangerous a close second and Bad has the best memories of the era with the tour/videos/movie all coming todether perfectly for me as a 6 year old.

And I think the 77 to 81 period is so underrated and feel sorry for fans and casual listeners who have no idea just how raw they were.

[Edited 1/2/13 2:19am]

Thank you, I meet or see people like this all the time still too between the 28 to 37 age gap. Yearbooks of 92' referred to Black or White all the time in their grad thank you's, saying cool kids played it, and people who were not into pop music KNEW michael jackson and at least black or white, the phenomenon lasted over a year from what I recall, and I wasn't a diehard yet and knew this. Just liked him from afar then if someone else played him and was more into Madonna, other artists and other genres but thought he was cool when played (or was playing songs on repeat not realizing it's him!!!) , so this is coming from a non-biased point of view. I rediscovered and played catch up when HIStory came out though. Someone recently told me as well in 1993 during elementary everyone in their class had Dangerous and they sang Heal the World on the bus one time haha I really love hearing stories like that. Also I often hear just how much they love Give In To Me, Who Is It and think Black or White and WYBT (was also very popular in 93') is great. I like B or W cause of memories but it's become too overplayed for me compared to the other tracks on it.

[Edited 1/2/13 5:51am]

[Edited 1/2/13 6:03am]

[Edited 1/2/13 6:03am]

LiLi1992 said:

alphastreet said:

I don't think this list is accurate at all for worldwide, maybe for US it is.

Then what is your list?
It`s woldwide

no album sold in the U.S. more than 30 million copies, leave alone 68, 40 or 36 mln

The U.S. and Europe account for about 70% of the global music market ... so you can make the assumption just summarize these two markets, where sales it is possible to calculate and add 30% of the remaining world.
so yes, the list is not 100% reliable, but is close to reality.

This list was compiled in 2008, but after then, some adjustments were made (Eg added 21).
You know, the world is very big and many huge markets by 90% in the shade (Russia, China, India, Africa, etc.). In Russia there are over 150 million people .... needless to say, that 99% of the music downloaded for free?

In any case, from what we have it`s the best.

Even today I constantly have workmates saying that Give In To Me is MJ's best song

and they are absolutely right.

I was born the following year after D, so I have no personal experience, but in 2010, I listened for the first time the entire discography and after Off the Wall and Thriller was not very impressed (only liked Billie Jean, Beat it, WBSS, Don`t stop, Working day and night, Off the wall and Get on the floor) and only Bad and Dangerous really did IT for me.

PS Why I can never get past the discussion that obvious off-topic?

sorry

----------------------

So now Oasis!
it was very long ago, when I last listened this album, but I remember that I had a good impression of it.
I hope that 21 does not catch up in the near future, the guys that I really like: The Beatles and Queen, but I have a very, very bad feeling.

Let's think in general:most albums in the top 10 have been released a long time ago ... at first it was vinyl, then cassettes, then CD, etc. .... and fans bought this album over and over again in different formats ... In the 80's "Bad" has become a leader in the list of best-selling albums in the UK in the first 2 years after the release of ... and it was about 2.8 million over 2 years. Adele during this time sold 4.5 million .. and that all sales are only in modern formats ... it's just HUGE

Lil, from the lists I've seen over the years, it looks like a mix of US and worldwide figures all jumbled up. The last time I saw about 16 million for Bad was the late 80's, since the early 00's I have seen something like a 27 million figure which is now over 30 million that I read after the death. I have read 11 million for Bad in the US alone in 2005 though I know there is no certification to back it up yet so logically, 15 million is very likely in the US, though 15 million for Dangerous for either the US or worldwide makes no sense since the soundscan in the US is at 7 million and the worldwide sales are about 30 million if not more. If you go to wikipedia, there is a more accurate list though I have seen it years before wikipedia existed.

Thriller was referenced as 40 million around the relase of the Moonwalk book and 54 million in the 90's on a worldwide level. The last time it was recertified in the US was early 2000 or 2001 at about 29 million so the 34 million makes no sense though it sounds like it should be that high in the US, NOT worldwide! Catch my drift?

Those Beatles albums St. Pepper and One look very similar to what I read about US sales in 2005, definitely not worldwide at all. They have had so many diamond albums and were a worldwide phenomenon, so selling that little worldwide at their prime is an injustice to their numbers too.

[Edited 1/2/13 6:01am]

I wrote immediately after the list:

(The last figure - coefficient, which equals 2 million)

Bad has sold about 32 million according to this list.

16 on the list - it is not the number of copies sold

so 16 x 2 = 32 million
Now that album sales are close to 35 million worldwide.

Thriller - 68 million

St. Pepper and One - more than 30 million each

Purple Rain - 20 million

I just copied the list .. I think that everyone can do the math - just multiply by 2

12 for Adele - it's not 12 million copies sold, and 24 million
coefficient is used because it is impossible to obtain precise figures, especially for the old albums.