Queen album named Britain's best seller

kdpjam

LONDON (AP) — Their over-the-top rock may not win the critical acclaim given The Beatles or the Rolling Stones, but Queen can claim Britain's best-selling album of all time. The Official U.K. Charts Company said Thursday that Queen's "Greatest Hits" had sold more than 5.4 million copies in Britain since its release in 1981, more than any other record.

The band, fronted by the late Freddie Mercury, is famous for overblown hits including "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You."

Queen's follow-up "Greatest Hits II" is the seventh best-selling album in Britain, according to the list.

The Beatles' 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was second, selling 4.8 million copies, followed by Oasis' 1995 disc "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" with 4.3 million.

Albums by Dire Straits, ABBA, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson and Madonna are also in the top 10 of the list, compiled by checking more than a half-century of sales figures.

The list proves critical kudos do not always translate into sales. Some of the most revered acts of the last half-century — including Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and the Sex Pistols — do not have an album in the top 100.

Boy band member turned solo showman Robbie Williams has six, while Oasis, Michael Jackson and Celine Dion have three each.

The Top 10:

1. "Greatest Hits," Queen, 5,407,587

2. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," The Beatles, 4,811,996

3. "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" Oasis, 4,314,715

4. "Brothers In Arms," Dire Straits, 3,956,704

5. "Gold," Abba, 3,943,950

6. "The Dark Side Of The Moon," Pink Floyd, 3,781,993

7. "Greatest Hits II," Queen, 3,644,619

8. "Thriller," Michael Jackson, 3,578,107

9. "Bad," Michael Jackson, 3,554,301

10. "The Immaculate Collection," Madonna, 3,402,160

FinsburyParkCarrots

Could have been worse, I suppose. It could have been Simply Red.

brhf9

Or the Spice Girls...

FinsburyParkCarrots

I can forgive the Spice Girls. At least they made no pretence of being anything other than a prefabricated, girl pop marketing ploy. But Mick Hucknall thinks he's Perry Como.

I'm not really surprised that Queen is top of the list. A lot of people in the UK don't like music at all. They just want something to play on their car sound systems, and Queen is the obvious choice: multi-purpose cod-rock that is alright for driving along and singing to, without listening to.

parel jam

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

Could have been worse, I suppose. It could have been Simply Red.

That's right - I fucking hate Simply Red...

soulsinging

where was definitely maybe on that list? i was a bit surprised when i couldnt find it near the top. i thought the brits loved oasis?

surferdude

I'm surprised by the albums not there that were huge in North America. Albums like:
Fleetwwod Mac - Rumours,
Eagles - Hotel California,
Led Zeppelin - IV,
Def Leppard - Hysteria or Pyromania,
or even Pearl Jam - Ten


I've never been overly impressed with the British taste in music and the way new fad bands are made out to be the second coming.

FinsburyParkCarrots

surferdude wrote:

I'm surprised by the albums not there that were huge in North America. Albums like:
Fleetwwod Mac - Rumours,
Eagles - Hotel California,
Led Zeppelin - IV,
Def Leppard - Hysteria or Pyromania,
or even Pearl Jam - Ten


I've never been overly impressed with the British taste in music and the way new fad bands are made out to be the second coming.

Ten didn't sell that well, here. I think it got to number 18 or something.

reeferchief

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

I'm not really surprised that Queen is top of the list. A lot of people in the UK don't like music at all. They just want something to play on their car sound systems, and Queen is the obvious choice: multi-purpose cod-rock that is alright for driving along and singing to, without listening to.

The formula to The Darkness' sucsess.

UKDave

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

I can forgive the Spice Girls. At least they made no pretence of being anything other than a prefabricated, girl pop marketing ploy. But Mick Hucknall thinks he's Perry Como.

I'm not really surprised that Queen is top of the list. A lot of people in the UK don't like music at all. They just want something to play on their car sound systems, and Queen is the obvious choice: multi-purpose cod-rock that is alright for driving along and singing to, without listening to.

Queen were a fucking fantastic band, not worth listening to??? :eek: wtf???

reeferchief

UKDave wrote:

Queen were a fucking fantastic band, not worth listening to??? :eek: wtf???

They were poo.

UKDave

reeferchief wrote:

They were poo.

Pointless friggin argument, you don't like 'em I do...

Awesome live band and if you are only basing your judgement on their later albums then you haven't got a clue...

reeferchief

UKDave wrote:

Pointless friggin argument, you don't like 'em I do...

Awesome live band and if you are only basing your judgement on their later albums then you haven't got a clue...

I'm not arguing just stating my opinion based on everything I have ever heard by them, and I've heard a lot from the early stuff such as the Sheer Heart Attack album and the later stuff.

UKDave

reeferchief wrote:

I'm not arguing just stating my opinion based on everything I have ever heard by them, and I've heard a lot from the early stuff such as the Sheer Heart Attack album and the later stuff.

And everyone's entitled to an opinion...

My favourites would be II, A Day At The Races, A Night At The Opera, News Of The World, The Game and out of the later stuff A Kind Of Magic, The Works and Innuedo...

reeferchief

UKDave wrote:

And everyone's entitled to an opinion...

My favourites would be II, A Day At The Races, A Night At The Opera, News Of The World, The Game and out of the later stuff A Kind Of Magic, The Works and Innuedo...

I respect the fact that people like Queen, same as I respect the fact people like the Spice Girls, who am I to tell them what to listen to.:)

UKDave

reeferchief wrote:

I respect the fact that people like Queen, same as I respect the fact people like the Spice Girls, who am I to tell them what to listen to.:)

Too right... even though I still frown at my youngest when he plays Boy Kill Boy, Fratelli's etc...

reeferchief

UKDave wrote:

Too right... even though I still frown at my youngest when he plays Boy Kill Boy, Fratelli's etc...

Arrgh I had to put some of that music on some comp. cd's I made for the pub I work in, it's what's popular, luckily I mixed it with some better more rocking stuff and classic indie like Stone Roses and The Charlatans etc etc.

UKDave

reeferchief wrote:

Arrgh I had to put some of that music on some comp. cd's I made for the pub I work in, it's what's popular, luckily I mixed it with some better more rocking stuff and classic indie like Stone Roses and The Charlatans etc etc.

North Country Boy...? :cool:

FinsburyParkCarrots

UKDave wrote:

Pointless friggin argument, you don't like 'em I do...

Awesome live band and if you are only basing your judgement on their later albums then you haven't got a clue...

I can remember Bohemian Rhapsody being number one, the first time around. I was only three, but the memory is still vivid. Horrible stuff.

What sums up Queen to me, is Freddie Mercury singing "No time for losers" at Live Aid (a benefit for the starving and helpless).

reeferchief

UKDave wrote:

North Country Boy...? :cool:

The ones I used across the 5 disc mix were One to Another, How High and The Only One I Know.:)

UKDave

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

I can remember Bohemian Rhapsody being number one, the first time around. I was only three, but the memory is still vivid. Horrible stuff.

What sums up Queen to me, is Freddie Mercury singing "No time for losers" at Live Aid (a benefit for the starving and helpless).

How to take something totally out of context... nice... one song, one lyric played at a benefit gig... are you saying people that are starving and helpless should be described as "losers" don't understand where you are coming from at all...

Next the line will be the additional album sales they got from playing... yeah of course they did, everyone who played benefitted from it, does that mean they shouldn't play them?

Besides I was only talking about the music not the people, if we knew more about most artists I'm sure it would cloud our judgements of them, apart from PJ of course...

FinsburyParkCarrots

UKDave wrote:

How to take something totally out of context... nice... one song, one lyric played at a benefit gig... are you saying people that are starving and helpless should be described as "losers" don't understand where you are coming from at all...

Next the line will be the additional album sales they got from playing... yeah of course they did, everyone who played benefitted from it, does that mean they shouldn't play them?

Besides I was only talking about the music not the people, if we knew more about most artists I'm sure it would cloud our judgements of them, apart from PJ of course...

Out of context? The band's entire attitude is summed up in that line! Hedonism; narcissism, Zarathustran devil-may-care self-supremacy ... The song "We are the champions", and all the champagne and coke consumed at Live Aid, screams of Mercury's utter, shallow hypocrisy as the very emblem of Thatcher-era rock music: excessive, and utterly soulless. If Mercury hadn't such an ego, he might have thought about the implications of his lyrics and the very politics they endorse so totally.

I make a judgement about the music because it reeks of a festering corporatism. In fact, Queen's performance summed up why Live Aid and its successors are doomed to failure: what we get are self aggrandising millionaires, pumping themselves up and playing Mother Theresa for five minutes before rushing backstage for another line, bought on the suffering of the Columbian poor.

With Freddie Mercury the man and the music were one, and one with a very nasty era in history, too.

UKDave

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

Out of context? The band's entire attitude is summed up in that line! Hedonism; narcissism, Zarathustran devil-may-care self-supremacy ... The song "We are the champions", and all the champagne and coke consumed at Live Aid, screams of Mercury's utter, shallow hypocrisy as the very emblem of Thatcher-era rock music: excessive, and utterly soulless. If Mercury hadn't such an ego, he might have thought about the implications of his lyrics and the very politics they endorse so totally.

I make a judgement about the music because it reeks of a festering corporatism. In fact, Queen's performance summed up why Live Aid and its successors are doomed to failure: what we get are self aggrandising millionaires, pumping themselves up and playing Mother Theresa for five minutes before rushing backstage for another line, bought on the suffering of the Columbian poor.

With Freddie Mercury the man and the music were one, and one with a very nasty era in history, too.

With most music I take the music at face value I like it or I don't based on the music alone... If Freddie didn't have such an ego he wouldn't have been one of the greatest front men ever, that doesn't mean I agree with his politics or his lifestyle.

The only band I take that amount of interest in is Pearl Jam, Queen is pure entertainment and the music stands up for itself, you can't blame a band for the "era in history" they were around to witness, not everyone wants to be Bono, there are plenty of critics of him too, does everyone have to be puritanically good and morally perfect? rock stars are human, with human failures, that's what feeds the music, anyway, enough I gotta go... peace and nice post on the Moving Train

FinsburyParkCarrots

UKDave wrote:

With most music I take the music at face value I like it or I don't based on the music alone... If Freddie didn't have such an ego he wouldn't have been one of the greatest front men ever, that doesn't mean I agree with his politics or his lifestyle.

The only band I take that amount of interest in is Pearl Jam, Queen is pure entertainment and the music stands up for itself, you can't blame a band for the "era in history" they were around to witness, not everyone wants to be Bono, there are plenty of critics of him too, does everyone have to be puritanically good and morally perfect? rock stars are human, with human failures, that's what feeds the music, anyway, enough I gotta go... peace and nice post on the Moving Train

Ah, don't mind the rant. I didn't get any breakfast this morning, and I'm feeling like one of the afflicted.

UKDave

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

Ah, don't mind the rant. I didn't get any breakfast this morning, and I'm feeling like one of the afflicted.

me neither, thanks for reminding me!! :eek: gotta go, have a good weekend

lephty

first album i ever bought was Queen - Classic. after wayne's world came out and bohemian rhapsody was huge again, they hooked me in. i used to play that tape non stop.

happy to see Queen up there though i would have expected the Rolling Stones or The Beatles or Led Zeppelin to be first.

gabers

This is kind of drifting a bit, but along the same campy rock bands as Queen, was Meatloaf ever big in England? Do you all know his songs? For the record, I think both have had their moments and some great songs to sing along to, if anything else.

FinsburyParkCarrots

gabers wrote:

This is kind of drifting a bit, but along the same campy rock bands as Queen, was Meatloaf ever big in England? Do you all know his songs? For the record, I think both have had their moments and some great songs to sing along to, if anything else.

Meatloaf did sell well here. The critics hate him, but if you go to any pub karaoke (and we've all done it, let's tell the truth and shame the devil), Bat Out of Hell and Paradise By The Dashboard Light are staples of any evening's, er, entertainment.

MJSB74

surferdude wrote:

or even Pearl Jam - Ten

80% of Brits haven't even heard of Pearl Jam. Musical polls here are fucking farcical. The last one I saw had Spice Girls in the top 50 albums of all time. Its not even funny. Robbie Williams was inducted into the UK music hall of fame last year.........a year before Led Zeppelin.