Metal Sludge Gossip Board

Which albums are you surprised sold as much as they did?

Inevitably someone will mention backstreet boys or slippery when wet but it is pretty obvious why these albums sold a shit load.

Slide It In.

Allegedly 6x platinum, 4x in the USA alone. Didn't hit a million until after 1987 came out, so 1987 is responsible for nearly all of those sales. Crazy.

The Bodyguard Soundtrack. I always forget.

Santana - Supernatural

Not so much "wow, i dont know why anyone bought that" take if thats what you're looking for, more of a "holy jesus they were THAT big?" take.

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 11:56 am The Bodyguard Soundtrack. I always forget.

Santana - Supernatural

Not so much "wow, i dont know why anyone bought that" take if thats what you're looking for, more of a "holy jesus they were THAT big?" take.

The latter take is fine. The first two stone temple pilots fall into that category for me. I knew they were popular but I didn't realise quite how many albums they sold with their first two releases.

pieceofme wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:02 pm

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 11:56 am The Bodyguard Soundtrack. I always forget.

Santana - Supernatural

Not so much "wow, i dont know why anyone bought that" take if thats what you're looking for, more of a "holy jesus they were THAT big?" take.

The latter take is fine. The first two stone temple pilots fall into that category for me. I knew they were popular but I didn't realise quite how many albums they sold with their first two releases.

There's a lot of those, Hootie is another one, a lot of country artists. Esp from the 90s right before Napster. I always think of Devil Without a Cause as one of the very last albums that got in under the wire before file sharing harpooned everything. It went 11x platinum!

FreddyFender wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 11:54 am Slide It In.

Allegedly 6x platinum, 4x in the USA alone. Didn't hit a million until after 1987 came out, so 1987 is responsible for nearly all of those sales. Crazy.

This is my fave Whitesnake record. Had no idea it sold that many copies. Did it even have a hit single???

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:11 pm

pieceofme wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:02 pm

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 11:56 am The Bodyguard Soundtrack. I always forget.

Santana - Supernatural

Not so much "wow, i dont know why anyone bought that" take if thats what you're looking for, more of a "holy jesus they were THAT big?" take.

The latter take is fine. The first two stone temple pilots fall into that category for me. I knew they were popular but I didn't realise quite how many albums they sold with their first two releases.

There's a lot of those, Hootie is another one, a lot of country artists. Esp from the 90s right before Napster. I always think of Devil Without a Cause as one of the very last albums that got in under the wire before file sharing harpooned everything. It went 11x platinum!

Cracked Rear View just seemed to break at the right time, and it really nailed that Eagles-like blend of rock, pop and country that appeals to potentially so many people. I never got into the album or the band personally, but I could see how it connected with different demographics. The fact that it went 22X platinum still blows my mind, but maybe part of that is that I didn't think it was as good as millions of others did.

Poetic Justice..how did that not sell 5 million

Krokus selling platinum with the Headhunter.

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 11:56 am
Santana - Supernatural

This one used to bug me in the sense that the album sales and arms-full of Grammy's had little to do w/ Carlos Santana, and everything to do with Rob Thomas. Matchbox 20 had only released their debut which was a complete monster, and fans were dying for something new from them. Smooth came out and millions of young, female Rob Thomas fans ate it up. That put it on the map with CONSTANT airplay which paved the way for the rest of the singles to hit big. I doubt 1/10th of people or Grammy voters give two shits about the record without Smooth paving the way. For the record, I think Carlos' solo on that song is one of the great solos of all-time, but again nobody cares without Rob Thomas.

In the DLR thread, people were saying ALAE was moving toward platinum, and I cant believe it even did 250,000. I didnt know anyone who was still into Dave by then.

S.O.D.'s Speak English or Die sold a million copies, twice as much as the latest Van Halen album.

CrankerBait wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:42 pm

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:11 pm

pieceofme wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:02 pm

The latter take is fine. The first two stone temple pilots fall into that category for me. I knew they were popular but I didn't realise quite how many albums they sold with their first two releases.

There's a lot of those, Hootie is another one, a lot of country artists. Esp from the 90s right before Napster. I always think of Devil Without a Cause as one of the very last albums that got in under the wire before file sharing harpooned everything. It went 11x platinum!

Cracked Rear View just seemed to break at the right time, and it really nailed that Eagles-like blend of rock, pop and country that appeals to potentially so many people. I never got into the album or the band personally, but I could see how it connected with different demographics. The fact that it went 22X platinum still blows my mind, but maybe part of that is that I didn't think it was as good as millions of others did.

Yeah, Jagged Little Pill too. There's a few things going on there, I think:

- When a band has one absolutely massive album and doesn't really extend their career, it's easy to forget how absolutely huge they were for a period.
- The crossover effect is huge, like you mentioned with CRV, and it's easy to not notice that as a listener. People tend to remember the biggest acts from their favorite genres, and forget about the ones that sold to EVERYONE. I mentioned Kid Rock, that would be another crossed-over way more than people remember moment.
- And I think sometimes looking back at numbers we just forget how many albums people actually used to sell .

sirthx2 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 1:03 pm

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 11:56 am
Santana - Supernatural

This one used to bug me in the sense that the album sales and arms-full of Grammy's had little to do w/ Carlos Santana, and everything to do with Rob Thomas. Matchbox 20 had only released their debut which was a complete monster, and fans were dying for something new from them. Smooth came out and millions of young, female Rob Thomas fans ate it up. That put it on the map with CONSTANT airplay which paved the way for the rest of the singles to hit big. I doubt 1/10th of people or Grammy voters give two shits about the record without Smooth paving the way. For the record, I think Carlos' solo on that song is one of the great solos of all-time, but again nobody cares without Rob Thomas.

If that was true, Matchbox 20's album would've outsold Supernatural, no?

As the crossover effect has been mentioned, you're discounting all of the sales to older fans who were like "oh, cool, Santana is all huge again? I always liked him" and blasted the album in rotation with Clapton Unplugged over and over.

And don't discount the other tracks on that album and the numerous other young/hip artists that were on there.

I don't know if it was a Clive Davis brainchild, but it the absolute perfect crossover storm for $$$.

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 2:22 pm

sirthx2 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 1:03 pm

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 11:56 am
Santana - Supernatural

This one used to bug me in the sense that the album sales and arms-full of Grammy's had little to do w/ Carlos Santana, and everything to do with Rob Thomas. Matchbox 20 had only released their debut which was a complete monster, and fans were dying for something new from them. Smooth came out and millions of young, female Rob Thomas fans ate it up. That put it on the map with CONSTANT airplay which paved the way for the rest of the singles to hit big. I doubt 1/10th of people or Grammy voters give two shits about the record without Smooth paving the way. For the record, I think Carlos' solo on that song is one of the great solos of all-time, but again nobody cares without Rob Thomas.

If that was true, Matchbox 20's album would've outsold Supernatural, no?

As the crossover effect has been mentioned, you're discounting all of the sales to older fans who were like "oh, cool, Santana is all huge again? I always liked him" and blasted the album in rotation with Clapton Unplugged over and over.

And don't discount the other tracks on that album and the numerous other young/hip artists that were on there.

I don't know if it was a Clive Davis brainchild, but it the absolute perfect crossover storm for $$$.

Yes, all valid but older fans don't ever hear it without that initial airplay, which also setup the rest of the tracks to succeed. Exaggerating a bit, but the point is, the record has HUGE because of the guests, and Carlos got 100% the glory. There's a reason why Smooth was the first single. They knew that Matchbox fans were dying for new stuff and took advantage.

sirthx2 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 2:35 pm Yes, all valid but older fans don't ever hear it without that initial airplay, which also setup the rest of the tracks to succeed. Exaggerating a bit, but the point is, the record has HUGE because of the guests, and Carlos got 100% the glory. There's a reason why Smooth was the first single. They knew that Matchbox fans were dying for new stuff and took advantage.

100%

Psychobolia.com wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 1:48 pm S.O.D.'s Speak English or Die sold a million copies

Should have been Diamond. Epic and 10x better than any Anthrax album.

In fact, Nuclear Assault > Anthrax

I know it was released under Santana's name, but I think credit was absolutely spread around fairly on Supernatural.

Rob Thomas and Matchbox 20 got plenty of the glory from Smooth as well. His face was everywhere. Clive Davis as well - he was the mastermind and came up with the album because Carlos had called him and told him his grandkids were asking why they didn't play him on the radio (or something like that). and I know this falls outside of sludge, but the song on that album with Mexican band Mana won them a grammy or two and raised their profile outside of Mexico significantly - its still a staple when they play arenas all over the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy2oEA5bhvU

That album elevated a lot of people. Perfect record for the era.

Boston Walk on Platinum - Album just seem to come and go with no real airplay
Journey - Revelation (Platinum) Even if it had a best of that doubled the sales.
Kiss - Crazy Nights 1x
Metallica - Lulu. No idea how many it sold...but whatever it was is too many

Motley - Theatre of Pain 4x platinum is insane. Also surprised that TFFl is only at 1x platinum when it is a way better album

In that recent Dread Zeppelin documentary, it said that Un-Led-Ed album sold a million copies. Which is pretty nuts

daveg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 4:44 pm Boston Walk on Platinum - Album just seem to come and go with no real airplay
Journey - Revelation (Platinum) Even if it had a best of that doubled the sales.
Kiss - Crazy Nights 1x
Metallica - Lulu. No idea how many it sold...but whatever it was is too many

Motley - Theatre of Pain 4x platinum is insane. Also surprised that TFFl is only at 1x platinum when it is a way better album

Home Sweet Home was on it. A huge ballad with cross-over appeal. Smokin in the Boys Room was a huge hit as well.
Not surprising it vastly outsold TFFL

Wiseacre wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 3:15 pm

Psychobolia.com wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 1:48 pm S.O.D.'s Speak English or Die sold a million copies

Should have been Diamond. Epic and 10x better than any Anthrax album.

In fact, Nuclear Assault > Anthrax

I gave Nuclear Assault a chance, but John Connelly's voice is annoying as fuck, like Keel!

Psychobolia.com wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 10:43 pm

Wiseacre wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 3:15 pm

Psychobolia.com wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 1:48 pm S.O.D.'s Speak English or Die sold a million copies

Should have been Diamond. Epic and 10x better than any Anthrax album.

In fact, Nuclear Assault > Anthrax

I gave Nuclear Assault a chance, but John Connelly's voice is annoying as fuck, like Keel!

I actually hate Joey’s voice; too clean and boring. He should sing for Styx, not a thrash band. I like John’s voice. It’s different but fits their music. Kinda like Sean from Vio-lence. But it’s a love/hate thing.

daveg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 4:44 pm
Motley - Theatre of Pain 4x platinum is insane. Also surprised that TFFl is only at 1x platinum when it is a way better album

Mötley had some much momentum when they released ToP and GGG that they could have released anything that sounded like them and gone multiplatinum. Then Feelgood kept them going for a couple more years.

Back on topic, Meat Loaf. Not only did Bat out of Hell 14 million but 15 years later he does BooH2 and it goes 5x platinum. How did that happen when nothing he did in between sold?

When I was younger I hated the Eagles. I don’t know why exactly. It just didn’t register with me like Motley and GNR did!

Their GH album has sold like 45 million copies! Even though I love those songs now as an adult, that’s a shocking number!

Plus… Celine and Mariah Christmas albums! Mariah I kinda get because every boy wants to titty fuck Mariah under the Christmas tree but Celine’s skinny ass? Who’s buying that?

Evanescence - Fallen

selling 10 million copies in the US and over 17 million copies worldwide, making it the sixth best-selling album of the 21st century.

Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory

certified 12× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It also reached the top 10 in 15 other countries and has sold 32 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling debut album since Guns N' Roses's Appetite for Destruction

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 2:45 pm

sirthx2 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 2:35 pm Yes, all valid but older fans don't ever hear it without that initial airplay, which also setup the rest of the tracks to succeed. Exaggerating a bit, but the point is, the record has HUGE because of the guests, and Carlos got 100% the glory. There's a reason why Smooth was the first single. They knew that Matchbox fans were dying for new stuff and took advantage.

100%

Over here Smooth hit big, all kinda tied in with the Latin sound. J Lo, Ricky Martin, et al. Matchbox20 were not really known here unlike the US.

SeniorGrande wrote: ↑Tue Mar 11, 2025 7:04 am Evanescence - Fallen

selling 10 million copies in the US and over 17 million copies worldwide, making it the sixth best-selling album of the 21st century.

Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory

certified 12× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It also reached the top 10 in 15 other countries and has sold 32 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling debut album since Guns N' Roses's Appetite for Destruction

Two great examples of what happens when an arist from a male-dominated genre crosses over to women. "Wait, they sold HOW much?"

sirthx2 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 1:03 pm

aznsquirt wrote: ↑Mon Mar 10, 2025 11:56 am
Santana - Supernatural

This one used to bug me in the sense that the album sales and arms-full of Grammy's had little to do w/ Carlos Santana, and everything to do with Rob Thomas. Matchbox 20 had only released their debut which was a complete monster, and fans were dying for something new from them. Smooth came out and millions of young, female Rob Thomas fans ate it up. That put it on the map with CONSTANT airplay which paved the way for the rest of the singles to hit big. I doubt 1/10th of people or Grammy voters give two shits about the record without Smooth paving the way. For the record, I think Carlos' solo on that song is one of the great solos of all-time, but again nobody cares without Rob Thomas.

Not to mention, the Santana/Michele Branch track was also huge.