Thriller still the biggest-selling album of all time

Non-MJ fans were ecstatic about the news.

Their Greatest Hits by the Eagles with 38 million in platinum sales has overtaken Thriller by Michael Jackson with its recorded 33 million, as the best-selling album of all time. 

While that was big news indeed, it soon turned out that the figures only included sales in the United States and Canada. Out there in other parts of the world, Thriller by MJ remains supreme with a whopping 66 million copies sold against the 51 million of Their Greatest Hits.  

The updated list put together by Wikipedia last week is the latest of its type.  Comparisons with the US chart shows a marked difference. There is a dominant Garth Brooks in America and the absence of ABBA, which figures prominently worldwide. There is also the strong rock presence everywhere else instead of the hip-hop and R&B in North America. Needless to say, I find the global tally more indicative of the local market trends.

Time now to find out which of your favorites made the list. If you are in that purging or tidying up mood at the opening of the year or simply transitioning to digital from CD, I am sure you will also find this list most helpful. Now you know which ones to keep along with the albums you like and which ones to get rid of. 

Now, no matter what they say, I am keeping the Michael Jackson albums, especially the landmark Thriller. People who have committed crimes should be apprehended, hauled to court and if found guilty given the appropriate penalty. They can be jailed or hanged or electrocuted, drowned in gas or quartered. They should be punished no matter who they are. 

But I stop the punishment over their artistic or technological accomplishments. Those are for everybody in all generations to enjoy and learn from. OK, maybe the ones who created them were rapists or pedophiles. But I now ask would you burn the Mona Lisa if it were proven that Leonardo da Vinci was a pederast? What about Michaelangelo, would you erase the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel if he had been guilty of sex crimes? And so Thriller stays plus all those other MJ albums. 

Here is the list:    

Michael Jackson, Thriller, 66 million; Eagles, Their Greatest Hits, 51 million; AC/DC, Back In Black, 50 million; Pink Floyd, Dark Side of The Moon, 45 million; Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard Soundtrack, 45 million; Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell, 43 million; Eagles, Hotel California, 42 million; Bee Gees, Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack, 40 million; Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, 40 million; Shania Twain, Come On Over, 40 million; Various artists, Grease the movie soundtrack, 38 million.

Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV, 37 million; Michael Jackson, Bad, 35 million; Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill, 33 million; Celine Dion, Falling Into You, 32 million; The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 32 million; Dirty Dancing Soundtrack, 32 million; Michael Jackson, Dangerous, 32 million; Adele, 21, 31 million; Celine Dion, Let’s Talk About Love, 31 million; The Beatles 1, 31 million; ABBA Gold: The Greatest Hits, 30 million.

Madonna, The Immaculate Collection, 30 million; The Beatles, Abbey Road, 30 million; Bruce Springsteen, Born In The U.S.A, 30 million; Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms, 30 million; James Horner, Titanic Soundtrack, 30 million; Metallica, Metallica, 30 million; Nirvana, Nevermind, 30 million; Pink Floyd, The Wall, 30 million; Santana, Supernatural, 30 million; Guns N’ Roses, Appetite For Destruction, 30 million.

Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet, 30 million; Mariah Carey, Music Box, 27 million; Eminem, The Eminem Show, 27 million; Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory, 27 million; Norah Jones, Come Away With Me, 27 million, Eric Clapton, Unplugged, 26 million; Madonna, True Blue, 25 million; Bob Marley & the Wailers, Legend, the Best of Bob Marley & the Wailers, 25 million; Carole King, Tapestry, 25 million; Phil Collins, No Jacket Required, 25 million.

Queen, Greatest Hits, 25 million; Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, 25 million; U2, Joshua Tree, 25 million; Prince & the Revolution, Purple Rain Soundtrack, 25 million; Britney Spears, Baby One More Time, 25 million; Elton John, Greatest Hits, 24 million; Backstreet Boys, Backstreet’s Back, 24 million; Backstreet Boys, Millenium, 24 million; Spice Girls, Spice, 23 million; Ace of Base, Happy Nation/ The Sign, 23 million.

Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, 22 million; Oasis, What’s The Story Morning Glory, 22 million; Adele, 25, 22 million; Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP, 21 million; Madonna, Like A Virgin, 21 million; Bon Jovi, Crossroads, 21 million; Boston, Boston, 20 million; Britney Spears, Oops I Did It Again, 20 million; Celine Dion, The Colour Of My Love, 20 million; Hysteria, Def Leppard, 20 million.

Elvis Presley, Elvis Christmas Album, 20 million; George Michael, Faith, 20 million; Green Day, Dookie, 20 million; Lionel Richie, Can’t Slow Down, 20 million; Mariah Carey, Daydream, 20 million; Michael Jackson, HIStory: Past, Present & Future, 20 million; Michael Jackson, Off The Wall, 20 million; Shania Twain, The Woman In Me, 20 million; Supertramp, Breakfast In America, 20 million; Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman, 20 million; Various artists, Flashdance Soundtrack, 20 million; Whitney Houston, Whitney, 20 million.