Best VS Best Selling

[Mr Badguy]

How often is a band`s best selling album their actual best record?

Do record sales mean shit in terms of quality?

And I mean rock music, well anything apart from pop (which is bought by fuckin` idiots whose taste is about as narrow as their radio station`s wave length).

Discuss.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

I think its very rare that their biggest album is their best.

But then, I wonder its whether I'm a big fan of the band in question and I get sick of the songs from that album being played.

Case in point: its fair to say that the majority of the people on this site believe that Fair Warning is the best CVH album, but it is the lowest selling CVH album.

If sales=quality then a lot of the older bands who, once again, are making great albums would see an increase in sales. Or would that be put down to promotion? Who knows?

[binnie]

I can't think of a band where best-seller equals best.

With ACDC it would be Back in Black, a classic album, but not a patch on the Bon stuff (I think most people would agree)

With Metallica it would be The Black Album. Ditton Back in Black (although some people don't like it), but it doesn't come close to Master of Puppets.

I suppose the logic is that bands "sell out" to make the best seller, but that's not always the case - sometimes it's just right place, right time, and a lot of best-sellers are quality records.

[binnie]

Out of interest, which album is Zeppelin's best-seller?

Hendrix?

Judas Priest?


I'm curious if the real classics by these bands were the ones that performed best....

[Terry]

Originally posted by binnie
Out of interest, which album is Zeppelin's best-seller?

Hendrix?

Judas Priest?


I'm curious if the real classics by these bands were the ones that performed best....

For Zep, I'd imagine Zoso was.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

Originally posted by binnie
I suppose the logic is that bands "sell out" to make the best seller, but that's not always the case - sometimes it's just right place, right time, and a lot of best-sellers are quality records.

I'd tend to agree.

A slight change in style doesn't necesserily mean selling out.

In Lemmy's book, hes talking about how, when Another Perfect Day came out, people were saying "Oh, they've gone commercial". And Lemmy said "It only reached number 57, so it obviously wasn't as commcerial as people thought".

He also brought up that all it was was that they had Brian Robertson on guitar at the time, and they incorprated his style of playing into Motorhead's sound. At the time, people hated it, but now its considered one of the most underrated metal albums of all time. So, go figure.

[ThrillsNSpills]

Originally posted by binnie
Out of interest, which album is Zeppelin's best-seller?
....

enjoy.

* "LED ZEPPELIN": 6X-platinum
* "LED ZEPPELIN II": 8X-platinum
* "LED ZEPPELIN III": 4X-platinum
* "Untitled" fourth album: 17X-platinum
* "HOUSES OF THE HOLY": 8X-platinum
* "PHYSICAL GRAFFITI": 9X-platinum
* "PRESENCE": 3X-platinum
* "IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR": 6X-platinum
* "LED ZEPPELIN" (4-CD set)": 6X-platinum
* "REMASTERS" (3-CD set)": 2X-platinum
* "THE COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS" (10-CD set): platinum

Rounding out the Led Zeppelin catalog, both "CODA" and "THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME" remain at their previous certification levels of RIAA platinum and RIAA quadruple platinum, respectively. The no. 12 debut of the 2-CD "BBC SESSIONS" set marks Led Zeppelin's fourth new chart entry in the Nineties, and comes 17 years after the group disbanded. "The Girl I Love," the first radio track from "BBC SESSIONS," is fast becoming a multi-format hit nationwide. According to BDS, Led Zeppelin's homage to blues legend Sleepy John Estes is currently no. 4 at Mainstream Rock and rock outlets, and no. 1 at Heritage Rock outlets nationwide.

[binnie]

Cheers Thrills!

[binnie]

Is there a consensus on which is the best Zep album?

I'd imagine 4 symbols would be there or there abouts, and it's clearly the best-seller in the US, so perhaps in this case best really does = best-seller.

Anyone agree?

[ThrillsNSpills]

Houses of the Holy for me.
Followed by Physical Graffiti.
They're all classics to me, even Coda.

http://sessions.led-zeppelin.us/

[Mr Badguy]

Priest`s biggest seller is "Screaming for vengeance".

I like it but it is nowhere near their best like "Sad wings of destiny", "Stained class", "British steel" or "Painkiller".

[Mr Badguy]

Oh, and I think "Somwhere in time" is Iron Maiden`s biggest worldwide seller.

[cMb]

Kiss 'Destroyer' ? Not their best IMO.

What is the best selling Sabbath album? Paranoid?

This is a cool thread.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

I'm gonna stay out of any Sabbath debate, cos I would take a DIO-SABBATH album over an OZZY-SABBATH album any day of the week.

[Terry]

Originally posted by ThrillsNSpills
Houses of the Holy for me.
Followed by Physical Graffiti.
They're all classics to me, even Coda.

http://sessions.led-zeppelin.us/

Houses and Physical are probably the two I still listen to the most.

Haven't really bothered listening to the first album, LZ 2 or LZ 3 in ages, and don't really need to listen to Zoso very often, as I've heard it so many times every note has been seared into my brain forever - outside of When The Levee breaks, which I play a couple of times a year because it's such a shit-hot track.

My favorite period of the band was Houses through Presence.

Hell, even with Van Halen, 1984 has sold ten million plus, and although WACF and Fair Warning probably sold the least out of the 6-pack, I'd be far more likely to listen to either of them than 1984 these days. 1984...well, I just never really cared for I'll Wait. Top Jimmy is a neat tune, but never really ranked up there with my fav VH tracks. When I play the album these days, I tend to skip to DDL, HFT, GGB and HOP, and not even bother with the rest anymore.