One week ago, the CSPC analysis of Oasis has been published. Their cult album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? has posted very strong results in streaming. The list added today in the Data Collector refers to this performance. How does it rank among deep catalog albums?
Please keep in mind some artists with strong results in this format hasn’t been studied so far, e.g. the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Journey or Dr. Dre. All figures reflect the value as collected at the time of the artist’s respective articles. All figures represent Worldwide streams.
Reminder of the formula
Equivalent Albums Sales (EAS) = 212/132 * Spotify streams / 1500 + YouTube views / 11750
Albums Ranking – Streaming (EAS) – Catalog (before 2000)
1. 1991 – Nirvana – Nevermind – 1,007,000
2. 1982 – Michael Jackson – Thriller – 993,000
3. 1995 – Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – 762,000
4. 1977 – Bob Marley – Exodus – 695,000
5. 1987 – Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction – 668,000
6. 1987 – Michael Jackson – Bad – 662,000
7. 1977 – Fleetwood Mac – Rumours – 625,000
8. 1991 – Metallica – Metallica – 570,000
9. 1975 – Queen – A Night at the Opera – 544,000
10. 1979 – Pink Floyd – The Wall – 527,000
11. 1978 – Bob Marley – Kaya – 512,000
12. 1986 – Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet – 485,000
13. 1997 – Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape – 424,000
14. 1987 – U2 – The Joshua Tree – 416,000
15. 1973 – Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon – 392,000
16. 1980 – Bob Marley – Uprising – 370,000
17. 1991 – Michael Jackson – Dangerous – 364,000
18. 1993 – Nirvana – In Utero – 360,000
19. 1978 – Queen – Jazz – 359,000
20. 1984 – Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. – 348,000
20. 1977 – Queen – News of the World – 348,000
22. 1980 – Queen – The Game – 342,000
23. 1999 – Backstreet Boys – Millennium – 338,000
24. 1999 – Destiny’s Child – The Writing’s on the Wall – 313,000
25. 1994 – Mariah Carey – Merry Christmas – 312,000
26. 1994 – Green Day – Dookie – 309,000
27. 1992 – Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard – 305,000
28. 1999 – Eminem – The Slim Shady LP – 299,000
29. 1969 – Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed – 294,000
30. 1971 – Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV – 291,000
31. 1995 – Michael Jackson – HIStory: Past, Present and Future – 280,000
32. 1984 – Wham! – Make It Big – 274,000
33. 1972 – David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars – 268,000
34. 1991 – Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I – 267,000
35. 1997 – Backstreet Boys – Backstreet’s Back – 265,000
36. 1966 – Rolling Stones – Aftermath – 261,000
37. 1977 – Bee Gees & Various Artists – Saturday Night Fever – 259,000
38. 1975 – Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here – 255,000
38. 1997 – Shania Twain – Come On Over – 255,000
40. 1979 – Michael Jackson – Off the Wall – 241,000
41. 1978 – Various Artists – Grease – 240,000
41. 1969 – Beatles – Abbey Road – 240,000
43. 1982 – Queen – Hot Space – 239,000
44. 1974 – Bob Marley – Natty Dread – 237,000
44. 1984 – Queen – The Works – 237,000
46. 1991 – Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion II – 232,000
47. 1969 – Jackson 5 – Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 – 227,000
48. 1999 – Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time – 225,000
48. 1971 – David Bowie – Hunky Dory – 225,000
50. 1983 – David Bowie – Let’s Dance – 217,000
MJD hi, yes there are quite a few I’m sure. I’d love you to do a top 100.
“16. Limp Bizkit – Chocolate starfish – 307,648,414”
Starfish is from October 2000, so not really before 2000.
Like Hybrid Theory btw. Released one week later that album would probably rank high on this list if valid!
Apologies, yes you’re right. I muddled it up with the previous album. 😕
Great list Nuclear Dolphin!
You should add Dr. Dre 2001 (1999) and Radiohead Pablo Honey (1992).
I’m sure you know, but using straight forward streams from albums has it’s limitations. A track like Nirvana’s All Apologies has about 18 mio plays from In Utero, but more than 48 mio plays in total. I’m sure there are many other examples.
TC hi, you’re right about Nirvana. Its funny I just did the streaming total for ‘Live unplugged’ and the streams just from that album are 299,934,867 and Sublimes self titled album from 1996 is at 456,905,344. So I guess those totals would actually be a lot higher. Dr Dre’s 2001 album which I didn’t put on the list because I thought it was released in 2001 is actually at 921,473,864, which is unbelievable. Pablo honey is at 247,450,382.
Thanks. A few weeks and 2001 will reach one billion!
Dre’s figures are outstanding. When I see results of 2001 or All Eyez on Me I always think about Beck’s Odelay. This is a very good album for sure, but it still always amazes me to see people that blindly repeat critics’ choices put this album as the absolute 90s classic behind OK Computer, when All Eyez On Me, released the same year, tops it in every possible point of view. Bigger upon release, much larger lasting appeal, better rated relatively to their respective genres, much stronger impact on the culture of its time, more relevant / influent for the… Read more »
I am more excited with post 2000 and i hope it’s next next week
True but it doesn’t feel like rock. 😕
MJD hi, yes those figures are straight forward streams from the albums. Lots of artists with just 1 album, like Blink 182 such a massive total, who would have thought? I guess then the numbers would be even higher then. I just find it interesting what people are listening to these days from decades ago, a lot of massive artists that are not on the list like Elton John, Prince, Madonna, Aerosmith and only 1 Beatles album. It’s predominately rock based that seems to be popular but there are no new rock bands pulling in the numbers which I find… Read more »
Yes it is a massive task, we can all thanks Anthony for this amazing work!
As for new rock bands, the Arctic Monkeys are fairly solid. Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed, the XX and the Black Keys have some strong records too although they lack big hits. Then of course Imagine Dragons are insanely popular.
Here is the list I made. I’m sure there are albums that have been left out but I’d be happy for any others you may have to create a top 100. 🙂 1. Red hot chili peppers – Californication – 775,906,197 2. 2Pac – All Eyez on me – 557,921,997 3. Notorious B.I.G – Life after death – 468,778,805 4. AC/DC – Back in black – 436,947,038 5. Red hot chili peppers – Blood, sugar, sex, magik – 436,947,038 6. Journey – Escape- 430,941,277 7. Pearl jam – Ten – 378,884,225 8. Offspring – American – 362,726,117 9. Goo goo… Read more »
Hi, a couple of mistakes. AC/DC – Back in black is at 438,728,247, I’ve marked it down as the same as RHCP’s – BSSM. Also Dire straits – Brothers in arms is at 275,827,416, the total I’ve put up here is for their 1st album. Apologies. These numbers were all as off yesterday.
Ok, so I’ve redone the list. Its a total of 40 albums that would fit inside the top 50 already posted. Some surprises here for sure! 1. Red hot chili peppers – Californication – 775,906,197 2. 2Pac – All Eyez on me – 557,921,997 3. Blink 182 – Enema of the state – 520,974,385 4. Notorious B.I.G – Life after death – 468,778,805 5. AC/DC – Back in black – 438,728,247 6. Red hot chili peppers – Blood, sugar, sex, magik – 436,947,038 7. Journey – Escape- 430,941,277 8. Pearl jam – Ten – 378,884,225 9. Offspring – Americana –… Read more »
Wow thanks for that^^^
To look at these lists one has to understand that they will never be 100 percent accurate. The more artists that get added to the CSPC list will mean that there are always more and more acts with outdated numbers. Plus there are SO many acts to cover, especially the “one album wonder” acts that might not get covered for quite some time. Either was I found these lists interesting
Hi Nuclear Dolphin! A small comment on figures from the article: they refer to equivalent album sales rather than Spotify streams. A total of 217,5 million streams is worth 232,880 EAS. Then, the article also includes YouTube. Thanks for the list! A lot of expected albums here, and albums that would make a very good playlist for sure. I take it you used streams as listed inside the album only, not compiling also the additional versions of each song available? I would expect an album like Talking Book to be there elseway, United too. The list really shows streaming isn’t… Read more »
Yesterday I actually compiled a list of pre 2000 albums from various different artists that should all be on this list. The reality is that this list should look totally different. At the moment its dominated by Michael Jackson, Queen and Bob Marley but in reality these artists wouldn’t dominate the top 50 the way they have here. It is dominated by rock music but there are a few rap artists and a little pop music. To qualify the total streams needed to be over 220 million.
Can we get a pre-2010 list?