Posted October 9, 20186 yr OCC: National Album Day itself takes place on October 13, launched this year to celebrate the enduring album format. The day is being marked by asking everyone in the UK to listen to their favourite album from start to finish, starting at 3.33pm. OfficialCharts.com will celebrate by revealing the Top 40 biggest studio albums of all time, complete with up-to-date sales figures. A show on BBC Radio 2 will accompany the chart on the same day.
October 9, 20186 yr must've been a few years back but nothing much could have changed since, aside from Adele and Ed Sheeran no other new albums would have sold enough to make the top 40.
October 13, 20186 yr The Beatles’ classic record Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has been crowned the British public’s all-time favourite studio album, according to a brand new chart due to be counted down on BBC Radio 2 today (Saturday, October 13). The ground-breaking 1967 LP strides home with 5.34 million combined sales at the top of the all-time Official Studio Albums Chart, which has been compiled by the Official Charts Company to mark today’s National Album Day celebrations. The confirmation further cements the position of Sir Paul McCartney as the most successful albums artist in UK chart history, racking up 22 Number 1 albums across his illustrious career (15 with The Beatles, 2 with Wings, 4 solo and 1 with Linda McCartney). The honour will be confirmed this on Saturday, October 13 when the brand new chart will be counted down during a special National Album Day edition of Pick of the Pops hosted by Paul Gambaccini will be broadcast by BBC Radio 2 from 1-3pm. The full Top 40 is posted below. The chart - which ranks albums by combining physical sales, downloads and streams in the UK - reflects album sales of 135 million across more than 60 years. It is topped by an eclectic Top 5 which accounts for approaching 25 million sales on its own, reflecting the music from five different decades. Snapping at The Beatles’ toes are Adele’s 2011 album 21 in second place (5.11m), followed by 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory by Oasis (4.94m). In fourth place comes Pink Floyd’s 1973 classic The Dark Side of the Moon (4.47m), just ahead of Michael Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller (4.47m). Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (to give it it’s full name) is the only album from the Sixties to make the list, along with six albums from the Seventies, six from the Eighties and eight from the Nineties. The first decade of the new Millennium (2000s) claims most places, with 14 albums, while five albums from the current decade made the list. The act with most albums in the Top 40 list is Coldplay, with A Rush of Blood to the Head at 27, X&Y at 32 and Parachutes at 40. Five acts claim two albums in the list – Adele, Dido, Ed Sheeran, Michael Buble and Michael Jackson. In total 33 different acts are represented in the chart. The 40 albums have, between them, notched 343 weeks at Number 1 in the Official Albums Chart, with Simon & Garfunkel’s 1970 classic Bridge over Troubled Water claiming the longest spell, a total of 33 weeks. Sgt. Pepper’s follows just behind with 28 weeks, ahead of Adele’s 21 on 23 weeks. The highest ranking album not to reach the number 1 spot is Pink Floyd’s 1973 titles The Dark Side of the Moon (peaked at 2) – it is one of three albums in the rundown which never claimed the top spot, along with Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell (peaked at 9) and Jeff Wayne’s 1978 album The War of the Worlds (peaked at 5). Some 25 of the Top 40 are accounted for by British acts, 8 are by US artists, 4 by Canadian acts and 2 by Irish acts; the remaining album is by the US/UK band Fleetwood Mac. Across the list, 18 are credited to bands, 12 to male artists and 10 to females. Official Studio Albums Chart - all-time POS TITLE TITLE ARTIST YEAR PEAK WKS AT #1 SALES ACT 1 SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND BEATLES BEATLES 1967 1 28 5,34M UK BAND 2 21 ADELE ADELE 2011 1 23 5,11M UK FEMALE 3 WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY OASIS OASIS 1995 1 10 4,94M UK BAND 4 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON PINK FLOYD PINK FLOYD 1973 2 0 4,47M UK BAND 5 THRILLER MICHAEL JACKSON MICHAEL JACKSON 1982 1 8 4,47M US MALE 6 BROTHERS IN ARMS DIRE STRAITS DIRE STRAITS 1985 1 14 4,35M UK BAND 7 BAD MICHAEL JACKSON MICHAEL JACKSON 1987 1 5 4,14M US MALE 8 RUMOURS FLEETWOOD MAC FLEETWOOD MAC 1977 1 1 4,09M UK / US BAND 9 BACK TO BLACK AMY WINEHOUSE AMY WINEHOUSE 2006 1 6 3,93M UK FEMALE 10 25 ADELE ADELE 2015 1 13 3,50M UK FEMALE 11 STARS SIMPLY RED SIMPLY RED 1991 1 12 3,45M UK BAND 12 COME ON OVER SHANIA TWAIN SHANIA TWAIN 1997 1 11 3,43M CAN FEMALE 13 X ED SHEERAN ED SHEERAN 2014 1 13 3,38M UK MALE 14 BAT OUT OF HELL MEAT LOAF MEAT LOAF 1977 9 0 3,37M US MALE 15 BACK TO BEDLAM JAMES BLUNT JAMES BLUNT 2004 1 10 3,36M UK MALE 16 URBAN HYMNS VERVE VERVE 1997 1 12 3,34M UK BAND 17 BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER SIMON & GARFUNKEL SIMON & GARFUNKEL 1970 1 33 3,26M US BAND 18 SPIRIT LEONA LEWIS LEONA LEWIS 2007 1 8 3,17M UK FEMALE 19 CRAZY LOVE MICHAEL BUBLE MICHAEL BUBLE 2009 1 1 3,13M CAN MALE 20 DIVIDE ED SHEERAN ED SHEERAN 2017 1 20 3,10M UK MALE 21 NO ANGEL DIDO DIDO 2000 1 7 3,09M UK FEMALE 22 WHITE LADDER DAVID GRAY DAVID GRAY 1998 1 2 3,02M UK MALE 23 THE FAME LADY GAGA LADY GAGA 2008 1 7 2,99M US FEMALE 24 ONLY BY THE NIGHT KINGS OF LEON KINGS OF LEON 2008 1 4 2,98M US BAND 25 TALK ON CORNERS CORRS CORRS 1997 1 10 2,96M IRE BAND 26 A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD COLDPLAY COLDPLAY 2002 1 3 2,96M UK BAND 27 SPICE SPICE GIRLS SPICE GIRLS 1996 1 15 2,96M UK BAND 28 LIFE FOR RENT DIDO DIDO 2003 1 10 2,90M UK FEMALE 29 THE JOSHUA TREE U2 U2 1987 1 2 2,88M IRE BAND 30 BEAUTIFUL WORLD TAKE THAT TAKE THAT 2006 1 8 2,88M UK BAND 31 HOPES AND FEARS KEANE KEANE 2004 1 5 2,86M UK BAND 32 THE WAR OF THE WORLDS JEFF WAYNE JEFF WAYNE 1978 5 0 2,80M UK MALE 33 X&Y COLDPLAY COLDPLAY 2005 1 4 2,79M UK BAND 34 JAGGED LITTLE PILL ALANIS MORISSETTE ALANIS MORISSETTE 1995 1 11 2,78M CAN FEMALE 35 SCISSOR SISTERS SCISSOR SISTERS SCISSOR SISTERS 2004 1 4 2,76M US BAND 36 TUBULAR BELLS MIKE OLDFIELD MIKE OLDFIELD 1973 1 1 2,76M UK MALE 37 BUT SERIOUSLY PHIL COLLINS PHIL COLLINS 1989 1 15 2,75M UK MALE 38 CHRISTMAS MICHAEL BUBLE MICHAEL BUBLE 2011 1 3 2,75M CAN MALE 39 TRACY CHAPMAN TRACY CHAPMAN TRACY CHAPMAN 1988 1 3 2,71M US FEMALE 40 PARACHUTES COLDPLAY COLDPLAY 2000 1 1 2,71M UK BAND ©2018 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved. Chart is based on album sales and streams from 1956 to wk 39, 2018. Edited October 13, 20186 yr by JCM20
October 13, 20186 yr This needed a 3 hour show so they could have played a track from each album. To skip Keane, The Corrs and Leona is criminal. What a brilliant track The Boxer is though. Edited October 13, 20186 yr by Crazy Chris
October 13, 20186 yr This needed a 3 hour show so they could have played a track from each album. To skip Keane, The Corrs and Leona is criminal. What a brilliant track The Boxer is though. Skipping Leona Lewis was an act of mercy. Skipping War Of The Worlds was unforgivable.
October 13, 20186 yr I listened to the full show, frustrating they skipped the likes of Keane and Kings of Leon but a good list overall.
October 14, 20186 yr I kind of wish they'd just done the entire list of 60 again. The greatest significance, however, is Divide, the only album to only make it into this list thanks to streaming sales. UPDATE: Oops, I forgot Christmas by Michael Bublé. Edited October 14, 20186 yr by JCM20
October 14, 20186 yr The ones from the 40 I own:Sgt. Pepper's (on regular vinyl, picture disc and Indian pressing cassette)21 (on CD)Morning Glory ('' '')The Dark Side Of The Moon (on CD and vinyl)Thriller (on vinyl [original pressing])Brothers In Arms (on cassette)Bad (on cassette and CD)Rumours (on CD and vinyl)Back To Black (on CD)Urban Hymns ('' '')White Ladder ('' '')The Fame (Fame Monster CD edition)Only By The Night (on CD)A Rush Of Blood To The Head ('' '')The Joshua Trea (on cassette)Hopes And Fears (on CD)X&Y ('' '')Jagged Little Pill ('' '')Tubular Bells (on vinyl [original pressing])Christmas (on CD [special deluxe edition]. I remember getting the standard edition from an HMV store when I was in Year 7 after hearing a TA play her copy of the album on a CD player in school. Unfortunately, I lost my standard copy but I recently managed to pick up a deluxe copy from a Barnardo's store.)Parachutes (on CD) Edited October 14, 20186 yr by 28 Daleks Later
October 14, 20186 yr divide is moving up but its cos of streaming counting forever, shoudn't they put a cap in album streams too? I notice they're using again the old OASIS figures, they change their mind every week
October 14, 20186 yr 1 SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND BEATLES BEATLES 1967 1 28 5,34M UK BAND 2 21 ADELE ADELE 2011 1 23 5,11M UK FEMALE Wow it will soon be the biggest UK album ever :ooo
October 14, 20186 yr There has been some surprise that neither ABBA nor Queen made the List. Both Groups would be in the Top 10 of the UK's Best Selling Album's Acts. Queen would be 2nd, (after The Beatles), and ABBA would be about 8th. But neither Act had a truly gigantic Selling UK Studio Album. Not one that sold the 2.7 Million needed to reach the All Time Top 40, anyway... Both ABBA and Queen sell far better with Compilation Albums. Queen have the UK's No.1 'Hits' Album, with 'Greatest Hits' (One). They are also 3rd with 'Greatest Hits II'. ABBA are 2nd with 'Gold' and 8th with 'Greatest Hits', (One). It was 7th but 'Ladies And Gentlemen: The Best Of George Michael', overtook it, after he died, a few Years ago. In 2008, Alan Jones gave out the UK's Total Sales of 'ABBA Gold' on 2 or 3 occasions, due to it returning to No.1. If you carefully add his Totals to its Sales to the end of 2008, and for 2009 - 2018, (so far), you get over 5,580,000 UK Sales for it. Which means that it should have had an 18th UK Platinum Award ages ago. Instead it is still stuck on 17 for 5,100,000. I have worked it out 4 times and always I get over 5,580,000 UK Sales for it. I don't see how 'Sgt. Pepper' can over-take either 'ABBA Gold' or 'Greatest Hits', by Queen. Both of those Albums spend far, far longer in the UK Top 75 than The Beatles Album. That means that it consistently sells less than those 2 Albums. So how can it ever outsell them?
October 14, 20186 yr Now that streaming takes up a big proportion of album sales it's fair to say Queen's Greatest Hits will never be overtaken as it will quite literally keep on selling (by SES) for the rest of time. Adele could potentially take the top selling studio album when she next releases an album, which will send '21' back into the charts, but not before then. For now it's not doing enough to overtake though so she'll need the boost that comes from the hype of a new album.
October 14, 20186 yr I think Rumours is going to fast become one the top selling studio albums at the rate its going. Its been placed in the YTD 40 the past two years, seems to have really found a new lease of life with the younger generation, me being one of them. Fantastic album though, one that is now one of my favourites having only really properly listened to it a couple of years back. Still amazing that Adele managed to shift 5 million units in almost as many years, especially considering the only other albums on that countdown have took 20-30 years to achieve the same sales and without any re-released editions. Edited October 14, 20186 yr by Supercell
October 14, 20186 yr divide is moving up but its cos of streaming counting forever, shoudn't they put a cap in album streams too? You can stream all these albums like every day if you are into doing such a thing
October 14, 20186 yr You can stream all these albums like every day if you are into doing such a thing Yes but surely an album like Divide would benefit way more from this as younger people tend to stream more. Greatest Hits albums benefit more from streaming than decades old studio albums.
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