France Best Selling Albums Ever: Update Part 3
90s STRUGGLING Records
Mylène Farmer – L’Autre (1991) : 1 420 000
Similar in every possible way to Ainsi Soit-Je, follow up album L’Autre also sold well past 1 million units when first released. It is also a not-so-good catalog seller, even weaker actually. If 1988 set moved 65,000 units from 2002 to 2015, this one did quite less at 45,000 units. Thus, while the previous one was close to be elected for the Part 4 of those updates, this one almost went into the Part 2. As every Mylène Farmer record, it can still suddenly get a free bonus from a fans praised reissue.
Dire Straits – On Every Street (1991) : 1 330 000
On Every Street, the much anticipated Dire Straits comeback six years after the monster seller Brothers In Arms, hasn’t been the massive catalog seller that is its predecessor. The 1985 album is still re-entering charts almost every year, although it failed to do so in 2016, while the band main catalog force at the moment is 2005 compilation Private Investigations which charted for 16 weeks this year. On its side, On Every Street never re-enters being a low but steady seller. The album also add some copies every fall thanks to the discounted 2CD pack with Brothers In Arms.
Lionel Richie – Back to Front (1992) : 1 180 000
It is impressive to see how much of a crossover Lionel Richie achieved during the 80s. R&B artists tend to do OK in France, but none truly reach super sales. The American star clearly did it, moving past a million units of his 1992 best of on the back of his 80s hits. A few years later, Truly, The Love Songs went 4 weeks #1 in the compilation chart too. Charting regularly up to 2008, although lower and lower, Back To Front held the position of the leading compilation of the artist in spite of various subsequent ones released. The overall popularity of Lionel Richie is going down though. During the 80s his albums were sitting various weeks inside the Top 10, from the 90s to 2006 he never went Top 10 again but granted the Top 40 with all his albums. During the last 10 years, his two LPs peaked at #79 and #134, highlighting his decreasing trajectory.