There are 43 posts filed in The People’s Album (this is page 3 of 7).
So we’re fairly deep in 2016 at this point, and that means this is potentially another year in which I could finally finish my epic chronicling of America’s best-selling albums. But considering I’ve got 20 more after this one and I only put out 8 of these during all of last year, well… I guess there’s always 2017.
Album: …Baby One More Time
Artist: Britney Spears
Release Date: January 12, 1999
Copies Sold In The U.S.: 14 million
FYI, this will probably be a pretty half-assed installment of The People’s Albums because 1) I just wanted to get this one out of the way before the all-out post-a-thon that will hopefully be this year’s Shocktober commences, and 2) this album seems pretty uninteresting/inessential considering it’s filled with a bunch of songs we’ve all heard a million times, while also 3) it feels even more uninteresting/inessential when taking into account that most of Simon & Garfunkel’s proper albums are worth listening to instead of some greatest hits comp. In fact, the most interesting thing about this album is probably it’s cover photo, which apparently was taken during Simon & Garfunkel’s short-lived proto-Gallagher & college mime professor phase.
Album: Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits
Artist: Simon & Garfunkel
Release Date: June 14, 1972
Copies Sold In The U.S.: 14 million
Does John Cougar Mellancamp owe his entire career to this album? I really don’t know, since I don’t know all that much about John Cougar Mellancamp, and I’m not sure I ever will. But anyways, let’s talk about Bruuuuuuuuuuce!
Album: Born In The U.S.A.
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Release Date: June 4, 1984
Copies Sold In The U.S.: 13.5 million
Yup. I have now officially listened to an ‘N Sync album and a Backstreet Boys album all the way through, several times. What the fuck are you doing with your life?
Album: Millennium
Artist: Backstreet Boys
Release Date: May 18, 1999
Copies Sold In The U.S.: 13.8 million
That’s right, ladies and gents. We’ve finally made it to the half way point of The People’s Albums. And sure, it’s taken almost two years and many hours of listening to not-that-great albums, but we’ve had some laughs as well as a few Kenny G-induced tears, and I just hope the top 25 will go a little bit faster (though I’m not holding my breath on that one). But for now, let’s praise Jah and take a look at Legend, a.k.a. that one Bob Marley album you’ve probably heard.
Album: Legend
Artist: Bob Marley & The Wailers
Release Date: May 8, 1984
Copies Sold In The U.S.: 13.6 million
I’m finding that a lot of the albums over the course of this series were owned by one of my family members on CD (and by “family members”, I mean my mom or sister since my dad basically stopped listening to music once he was out of his twenties). If you’re wondering (which I can’t imagine you are), the tally for number of People’s Albums I can remember lying around my childhood home is 7 so far. Which I honestly thought would be higher, but I’m nonetheless still using as a segue into the fact that the album I’m about to talk about is one of them.
Album: The Bodyguard Original Soundtrack
Artist: Whitney Houston & Various
Release Date: November 17, 1992
Copies Sold In The U.S.: 13.5 million
That’s right. It’s 2015 and I’m writing about Hootie & The Blowfish — a band that was already an easy punchline by the late ‘90s, and by now is, well, I don’t even know. But that doesn’t mean we can’t figure it out together, with a little love, and some tendah-ness.
Album: Cracked Rear View
Artist: Hootie & The Blowfish
Release Date: July 5, 1994
Copies Sold In The U.S.: It’s listed as having sold around 12 million copies, but is also certified as having gone 16x platinum, so who knows exactly.
