Album artist 44 - Genesis

This page lists the album chart runs of Genesis. A list of songs by Genesis can be found here. The albums are listed with the most widely successful first.

At various times the following acts have been part of the group: Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford (of Mike & The Mechanics), Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett.

#	Artist	Album Title	Year	Chart Entries
1	Genesis	Invisible Touch	1986	UK 1 - Jun 1986 (96 weeks), Canada 1 for 1 week - 1986, New Zealand 1 for 1 - Nov 1986, US 6 X Platinum (certified by RIAA in Jun 1996), UK 4 x Platinum (certified by BPI in Dec 1989), ODK Germany 2 - Jun 1986 (88 weeks) (15 weeks in top 10), Germany 2 - Jun 1986 (62 weeks), Germany Platinum (certified by BMieV in 1987), Billboard 3 - Jun 1986 (84 weeks) (25 weeks in top 10), Norway 3 - Jun 1986 (14 weeks), US BB 4 of 1986, Switzerland 4 - Jun 1986 (27 weeks), Sweden 4 - Jun 1986 (15 weeks), Hong Kong Gold (certified by IFPI-HK in 1988), Austria 5 - Aug 1986 (8 months), France (InfoDisc) 7 of 1986 (peak 8, 35 weeks), Australia (Kent) 8 of 1986 (peak 3), US sales 6 M (according to RIAA), US CashBox 11 of 1986, Italy 24 of 1986, Global 65 - 15 M claimed, Xgau rating C+ (1986)
2	Genesis	We Can't Dance	1991	UK 1 - Nov 1991 (61 weeks), ODK Germany 1 - Nov 1991 (73 weeks) (25 weeks at number 1) (50 weeks in top 10), Germany 1 for 25 weeks - Dec 1991, Germany 1 - Nov 1991 (52 weeks), Europe num 1 for 5 weeks - Dec 1991, Austria 1 - Nov 1991 (12 months), Switzerland 1 - Nov 1991 (53 weeks), Norway 1 - Nov 1991 (19 weeks), US 4 X Platinum (certified by RIAA in Jun 1996), UK 5 x Platinum (certified by BPI in Mar 1997), Germany 5 x Platinum (certified by BMieV in 1994), Billboard 4 - Nov 1991 (72 weeks) (5 weeks in top 10), Sweden 4 - Nov 1991 (25 weeks), France (InfoDisc) 9 of 1991 (peak 2, 67 weeks), US CashBox 18 of 1992, US BB 19 of 1991, Australia (ARIA) 26 of 1992, Italy 28 of 1991, Global 58 - 16 M claimed
3	Genesis	Genesis	1983	UK 1 - Oct 1983 (51 weeks), ODK Germany 1 - Oct 1983 (34 weeks) (1 week at number 1) (18 weeks in top 10), Germany 1 for 1 week - Dec 1983, Germany 1 - Oct 1983 (20 weeks), US 4 X Platinum (certified by RIAA in Jun 1996), UK 2 x Platinum (certified by BPI in Oct 1987), Switzerland 2 - Nov 1983 (31 weeks), Norway 2 - Oct 1983 (22 weeks), Germany Platinum (certified by BMieV in 1987), Austria 7 - Jan 1984 (4 months), Billboard 9 - Oct 1983 (50 weeks) (3 weeks in top 10), France (InfoDisc) 10 of 1983 (peak 2, 64 weeks), Sweden 12 - Oct 1983 (12 weeks), US CashBox 23 of 1984, US BB 26 of 1983, Italy 32 of 1983, Holland free40 47 of 1983, Global 82 - 12 M claimed, RYM 144 of 1983
4	Genesis	Abacab	1981	UK 1 - Sep 1981 (27 weeks), US 2 X Platinum (certified by RIAA in Feb 1988), Norway 4 - Oct 1981 (11 weeks), France (InfoDisc) 4 of 1981 (peak 1, 92 weeks), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Sep 1981), Germany Gold (certified by BMieV in 1988), ODK Germany 6 - Oct 1981 (20 weeks) (3 weeks in top 10), Germany 6 - Oct 1981 (6 weeks), Billboard 7 - Oct 1981 (64 weeks) (6 weeks in top 10), Sweden 11 - Oct 1981 (6 weeks), Italy 13 of 1981, Holland free40 25 of 1981, US BB 29 of 1981, US CashBox 51 of 1981, Global 131 - 8 M claimed, AVrev 16
5	Genesis	Duke	1980	UK 1 - Apr 1980 (30 weeks), ODK Germany 2 - Apr 1980 (27 weeks) (5 weeks in top 10), Germany 2 - Apr 1980 (12 weeks), US Platinum (certified by RIAA in Feb 1988), UK Platinum (certified by BPI in Jul 1980), Norway 4 - Apr 1980 (15 weeks), Sweden 9 - Apr 1980 (12 weeks), Billboard 11 - Apr 1980 (31 weeks), Austria 14 - May 1980 (1 month), Italy 20 of 1980, Holland free40 31 of 1980, France (InfoDisc) 33 of 1980 (peak 4, 56 weeks), US BB 47 of 1980, US CashBox 50 of 1980, UK Albums 2013-23 peak 97 - Oct 2014 (1 week), WXPN 725 (1980), RYM 149 of 1980
6	Genesis	...and Then There Were Three...	1978	ODK Germany 2 - Apr 1978 (55 weeks) (25 weeks in top 10), Germany 2 - May 1978 (23 weeks), US Platinum (certified by RIAA in Feb 1988), UK 3 - Apr 1978 (32 weeks), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Apr 1978), Germany Gold (certified by BMieV in 1978), Norway 7 - Mar 1978 (14 weeks), Billboard 14 - Apr 1978 (33 weeks), Austria 17 - Sep 1978 (3 months), France (InfoDisc) 19 of 1978 (peak 2, 66 weeks), Sweden 22 - Apr 1978 (6 weeks), Holland free40 33 of 1978, Italy 46 of 1978, US BB 79 of 1978, US CashBox 86 of 1978, Radio Caroline 169 (1978), Xgau rating D+ (1978)
7	Genesis	Turn It On Again - The Hits	1999	ODK Germany 1 - Mar 1992 (49 weeks) (1 week at number 1) (8 weeks in top 10), Germany 1 for 1 week - Nov 1999, Germany 1 - Mar 1992 (40 weeks), Norway 1 - Nov 1999 (10 weeks), UK Platinum (certified by BPI in Nov 1999), Germany Platinum (certified by BMieV in 1999), Europe Platinum (certified by IFIP in 1999), UK 4 - Nov 1999 (18 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Mar 2001), France Gold (certified by SNEP Dec 1999), Austria 10 - Apr 1992 (4 months), Switzerland 10 - Nov 1999 (17 weeks), Sweden 15 - Nov 1999 (3 weeks), Billboard 65 - Nov 1999 (9 weeks)
8	Genesis	The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway	1974	BEA 2 of 1974, US Gold (certified by RIAA in Apr 1990), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Feb 1975), UK 10 - Dec 1974 (6 weeks), Billboard 41 - Dec 1974 (16 weeks), Italy 52 of 1975, Radio Caroline 53 (1974), France (InfoDisc) 72 of 1975 (peak 1, 20 weeks), WXPN 113 (1974), WTMD 130, Acclaimed 408 (1974), RYM 10 of 1974, AVrev 100, Xgau rating B- (1974)
9	Genesis	Live - The Way We Walk Volume One: The Shorts	1992	UK 2 x Platinum (certified by BPI in Jan 1993), ODK Germany 2 - Nov 1992 (26 weeks) (10 weeks in top 10), Germany 2 - Nov 1992 (12 weeks), Germany Platinum (certified by BMieV in 1998), UK 3 - Nov 1992 (18 weeks), Switzerland 4 - Nov 1992 (18 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Jan 1993), Austria 11 - Dec 1992 (4 months), France (InfoDisc) 22 of 1992 (peak 3, 34 weeks), Billboard 35 - Dec 1992 (23 weeks), Sweden 40 - Dec 1992 (2 weeks)
10	Genesis	A Trick of the Tail	1976	UK 3 - Feb 1976 (39 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Apr 1990), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Jun 1976), France (InfoDisc) 14 of 1976 (peak 1, 56 weeks), Sweden 17 - Feb 1976 (8 weeks), Italy 17 of 1976, Billboard 31 - Mar 1976 (18 weeks), Radio Caroline 68 (1976), WXPN 132 (1976), WTMD 835, Acclaimed 2555 (1976), RYM 30 of 1976
11	Genesis	Three Sides Live	1982	UK 2 - Jun 1982 (19 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Oct 1982), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Jun 1982), Billboard 10 - Jun 1982 (25 weeks) (3 weeks in top 10), Norway 14 - Jun 1982 (8 weeks), ODK Germany 22 - Jul 1982 (15 weeks), US BB 47 of 1982, Italy 55 of 1982, Holland free40 56 of 1982, US CashBox 60 of 1982, RYM 155 of 1982
12	Genesis	Live - The Way We Walk Volume Two: The Longs	1993	UK 1 - Jan 1993 (9 weeks), ODK Germany 2 - Jan 1993 (20 weeks) (6 weeks in top 10), Germany 2 - Jan 1993 (8 weeks), Switzerland 3 - Jan 1993 (12 weeks), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Jan 1993), Austria 13 - Feb 1993 (3 months), Norway 17 - Jan 1993 (2 weeks), Billboard 20 - Feb 1993 (9 weeks), Sweden 33 - Jan 1993 (2 weeks), France (InfoDisc) 66 of 1993 (peak 3, 12 weeks), Italy 73 of 1993
13	Genesis	Calling All Stations	1997	UK 2 - Sep 1997 (7 weeks), ODK Germany 2 - Sep 1997 (31 weeks) (8 weeks in top 10), Germany 2 - Sep 1997 (8 weeks), Norway 2 - Sep 1997 (6 weeks), Switzerland 3 - Sep 1997 (11 weeks), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Sep 1997), France Gold (certified by SNEP Dec 1997), Germany Gold (certified by BMieV in 1997), Austria 6 - Sep 1997 (3 months), Sweden 11 - Sep 1997 (5 weeks), Billboard 54 - Sep 1997 (5 weeks)
14	Genesis	Seconds Out	1977	UK 4 - Oct 1977 (17 weeks), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Nov 1977), Germany Gold (certified by BMieV in 1980), ODK Germany 22 - Jan 1978 (49 weeks), Sweden 26 - Nov 1977 (6 weeks), Billboard 47 - Dec 1977 (16 weeks), Italy 49 of 1977, Holland free40 50 of 1977, France (InfoDisc) 64 of 1977 (peak 10, 22 weeks), Radio Caroline 99 (1977), WXPN 561 (1977), RYM 47 of 1977
15	Genesis	Selling England By The Pound	1973	UK 3 - Oct 1973 (21 weeks), US Gold (certified by RIAA in Apr 1990), BEA 7 of 1973, Italy 18 of 1974, Billboard 70 - Dec 1973 (29 weeks), Radio Caroline 83 (1973), WXPN 131 (1973), WTMD 357, Acclaimed 728 (1973), UK Silver (certified by BPI in Dec 1973), RYM 3 of 1973, Xgau rating B (1973)
16	Genesis	Wind & Wuthering	1977	US Gold (certified by RIAA in Apr 1990), UK Gold (certified by BPI in Feb 1977), UK 7 - Jan 1977 (22 weeks), Norway 12 - Jan 1977 (6 weeks), Sweden 21 - Dec 1976 (10 weeks), Billboard 26 - Jan 1977 (21 weeks), Italy 39 of 1977, US CashBox 50 of 1977, France (InfoDisc) 66 of 1977 (peak 3, 20 weeks), WXPN 653 (1976), RYM 77 of 1976
17	Genesis	Foxtrot	1972	BEA 10 of 1972, UK 12 - Oct 1972 (7 weeks), Italy 62 of 1972, France (InfoDisc) 93 of 1975 (peak 15, 16 weeks), Radio Caroline 183 (1972), WXPN 279 (1972), WTMD 497, Acclaimed 857 (1972), RYM 13 of 1972, Xgau rating C (1972)
18	Genesis	Live over Europe 2007	2007	ODK Germany 1 - Dec 2007 (42 weeks) (1 week at number 1) (4 weeks in top 10), Germany 1 for 1 week - Jul 2008, Germany 1 - Jun 2008 (14 weeks), Germany Gold (certified by BMieV in 2008), UK 51 - Dec 2007 (5 weeks), Switzerland 62 - Dec 2007 (2 weeks)
19	Genesis	The Platinum Collection	2004	UK Platinum (certified by BPI in Apr 2006), Germany Gold (certified by BMieV in 2005), ODK Germany 15 - Dec 2004 (13 weeks), Germany 15 - Dec 2004 (1 week), Norway 15 - Jan 2005 (6 weeks), UK 21 - Dec 2004 (9 weeks), Billboard 100 - Oct 2005 (3 weeks)
20	Genesis	Genesis Live	1973	UK 9 - Aug 1973 (10 weeks), Italy 43 of 1973, Billboard 105 - May 1974 (14 weeks), RYM 107 of 1973
21	Genesis	Nursery Cryme	1971	UK 39 - May 1974 (2 weeks), Italy 50 of 1972, RYM 50 of 1971, Xgau rating C- (1971)
22	Genesis	Trespass	1970	UK 98 - Apr 1984 (1 week), Radio Caroline 294 (1970), RYM 159 of 1970
23	Genesis	R-Kive	2014	UK Albums 2013-23 peak 7 - Oct 2014 (8 weeks), ODK Germany 23 - Oct 2014 (3 weeks)
24	Genesis	Archive 1967-1975	1998	UK 35 - Jul 1998 (1 week), ODK Germany 75 - Jul 1998 (1 week)
25	Genesis	Live At Wembley Stadium	2003	Germany Gold (certified by BMieV in 2005), ODK Germany 93 - Dec 2003 (2 weeks)
26	Genesis	Turn It On Again: The Hits: The Tour Edition	2007	Billboard 132 - Sep 2007 (3 weeks)
27	Genesis	From Genesis To Revelation	1974	Billboard 170 - Oct 1974 (4 weeks)
28	Genesis	1973 - 2007 Live	2009	ODK Germany 42 - Oct 2009 (1 week)
29	Genesis	1970 - 1975	2008	ODK Germany 22 - Nov 2008 (8 weeks)
30	Genesis	1983 - 1998	2007	ODK Germany 57 - Oct 2007 (2 weeks)
31	Genesis	Platinum Collection - The Video Show	unknown	Germany Platinum (certified by BMieV in 2007)
32	Genesis	The Last Domino	2021	UK Albums 2013-23 peak 9 - Sep 2021 (3 weeks)
33	Genesis	BBC Broadcasts	2023	UK Albums 2013-23 peak 23 - Mar 2023 (1 week)

Previous Comments

Previous Comments (newest first)

28 Dec 2016

Sales

The 'best' figures I've seen were in a programme hosted by Bill Bailey, whodidn't look at any sales at all but looked at how many units had actually been produced, on the premise that if they weren't selling, they wouldn't be produced. I can't remember what percentage was knocked off for non-sales, but total albums produced (minus the non-sales) was 320 million.

2 Dec 2009

Genesis biggest seller

Hi I read with a friend of mine on a website that Genesis highest selling album is not We Can't Dance it is actually Invisible Touch. It looks like to me that your numbers and maybe statistics are outdated. We Can't Dance sold 22,000,000 copies worldwide and went 4 times platinum in the U.S. and Invisible Touch went 6 times platinum in the U.S. and has sold 24,000,000 copies globally. I even read on the VH1 website that Invisible Touch is Genesis highest selling pop album to date.

Thanks Aaron Wake

First of all thank you for your input. Of course most of the lists on this site measure success in the charts round the world and not sales. So, for example, the 1983 album "Genesis" lists higher than "Invisible Touch" because it was a hit in more countries, but it is fairly certain that its sales were lower.

Claims of worldwide sales on web sites are generally not trustworthy, for example on Wikipedia look at the number of page modifications and the length of discussions on all pages that mention sales numbers. The issue is that there are no validated worldwide sales numbers so every group of fans use their own approach to estimate numbers.

We do have a page that lists our estimates of sales numbers. We use a combination of the certification levels from the US, UK, France and Germany (the four biggest markets). That page describes how we combine those numbers to estimate worldwide sales. It also explains why we don't trust even our own listing of sales numbers.

The two albums you mention are listed on that page. Your numbers for the US sales are correct, however you don't list the fact that "We Can't Dance" was also 5xPlatinum in the UK and 5xPlatinum in Germany, while "Invisible Touch" was 4xPlatinum in the UK and 1xPlatinum in Germany. "Invisible Touch" was more successful in the US, however the certifications and chart positions show that "We Can't Dance" was clearly a bigger hit in Europe.

Our estimate is that "We Can't Dance" sold 15-24 million worldwide and "Invisible Touch" sold 12-17 million.

We don't know where VH1 got these numbers from, however we have seen other occasions when VH1 has over emphasised acts that were successful in the US and ignored acts that were hits anywhere else in the world. This is one of the reasons why we don't use any of their charts in this site.

So, we believe that the balance of evidence suggests that "We Can't Dance" sold more, however the wide margin of error leaves the question open. We also have learnt that you should not trust any website that lists worldwide album sales numbers (even our own).