What was the greatest chart album of all time?

The approach taken to decide the greatest chart success of an album is similar to that for the greatest song. First all the scores are added up, then they are adjusted to remove any systematic bias that comes from the fact that more charts are available for recent periods. Of course albums didn't exist before 1947 so our charts only start in 1950. Notice that this list does not indicate the albums with the highest total sales (which cannot be known) but rather the albums with the most success in the charts. Once the album's adjusted scores are reviewed it is clear that some of them stand out as runaway successes. Here is the final list, the biggest album hits of all time:

#	Artist	Album Title	Year
1	The Beatles	Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	1967
2	Michael Jackson	Thriller	1982
3	The Beatles	Abbey Road	1969
4	Fleetwood Mac	Rumours	1977
5	Bee Gees	Saturday Night Fever	1978
6	The Beatles	Revolver	1966
7	Dire Straits	Brothers In Arms	1985
8	Bruce Springsteen	Born In The USA	1984
9	Pink Floyd	Dark Side Of The Moon	1973
10	The Beatles	The Beatles (The White Album)	1968
11	Pink Floyd	The Wall	1979
12	U2	The Joshua Tree	1987
13	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water	1970
14	The Beatles	Rubber Soul	1965
15	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin 2	1969
16	Santana	Supernatural	1999
17	Eagles	Hotel California	1976
18	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	1995
19	U2	Rattle & Hum	1988
20	Original Soundtrack	Grease: The Original Soundtrack	1978
21	Led Zeppelin	Four Symbols (Led Zeppelin 4)	1971
22	Paul Simon	Graceland	1986
23	Leonard Bernstein	West Side Story	1962
24	Madonna	True Blue	1986
25	Tracy Chapman	Tracy Chapman	1988
26	Whitney Houston	The Bodyguard	1993
27	Celine Dion	Falling Into You	1996
28	Nirvana	Nevermind	1991
29	Neil Young	Harvest	1972
30	Eminem	The Eminem Show	2002
31	Green Day	American Idiot	2004
32	Miles Davis	Kind of Blue	1959
33	Celine Dion	Let's Talk About Love	1997
34	Coldplay	X & Y	2005
35	Madonna	Like A Prayer	1989
36	Pink Floyd	Wish You Were Here	1975
37	REM	Automatic For The People	1992
38	Phil Collins	No Jacket Required	1985
39	Prince	Purple Rain	1984
40	Whitney Houston	Whitney Houston	1985
41	U2	How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb	2004
42	Phil Collins	... But Seriously	1989
43	Sinead O'Connor	I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got	1990
44	AC/DC	Back In Black	1980
45	The Police	Synchronicity	1983
46	Celine Dion & James Horner	Titanic	1998
47	Michael Jackson	Bad	1987
48	Stevie Wonder	Songs In The Key Of Life	1976
49	Eric Clapton	Unplugged	1992
50	Norah Jones	Come Away With Me	2002
51	U2	Achtung Baby	1991
52	The Rolling Stones	Sticky Fingers	1971
53	The Fugees	The Score	1996
54	Abba	Gold, Greatest Hits	1992
55	Bon Jovi	Slippery When Wet	1986
56	Oasis	(What's The Story) Morning Glory?	1995
57	Spice Girls	Spice	1996
58	Supertramp	Breakfast In America	1979
59	The Doors	The Doors	1967
60	Eminem	The Marshall Mathers LP	2000
61	Led Zeppelin	Houses Of The Holy	1973
62	Metallica	Metallica	1991
63	Elton John	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road	1973
64	The Prodigy	The Fat Of The Land	1997
65	Shania Twain	Come On Over	1998
66	The Beatles	1	2000
67	Celine Dion	All The Way... A Decade Of Songs	1999
68	Richard Rodgers	The Sound Of Music	1965
69	Madonna	Ray Of Light	1998
70	The Rolling Stones	Exile On Main Street	1972
71	John Lennon	Double Fantasy	1980
72	Peter Gabriel	So	1986
73	Lionel Richie	Can't Slow Down	1983
74	Madonna	Like A Virgin	1984
75	Wings	Band On The Run	1974
76	Radiohead	OK Computer	1997
77	Coldplay	A Rush Of Blood To The Head	2002
78	The Backstreet Boys	Millennium	1999
79	Mariah Carey	Daydream	1995
80	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Californication	1999
81	Jimi Hendrix	Are You Experienced?	1967
82	Pink Floyd	The Division Bell	1994
83	Mariah Carey	Music Box	1993
84	Michael Jackson	Dangerous	1991
85	Madonna	Confessions On A Dance Floor	2005
86	Original Soundtrack	Dirty Dancing	1987
87	Metallica	Load	1996
88	Bon Jovi	Crossroad - The Best Of Bon Jovi	1994
89	U2	All That You Can't Leave Behind	2000
90	Michael Jackson	History - Past, Present & Future, Book 1	1995
91	The Rolling Stones	Let It Bleed	1969
92	Madonna	Music	2000
93	Norah Jones	Feels Like Home	2004
94	George Michael	Faith	1987
95	Whitney Houston	Whitney	1987
96	REM	Out Of Time	1991
97	Metallica	St Anger	2003
98	Eminem	Encore	2004
99	U2	Zooropa	1993
100	Frank Sinatra	In the Wee Small Hours	1955
101	Barbra Streisand	Guilty	1980
102	Frank Sinatra	Songs For Swingin' Lovers	1956
103	Bob Newhart	The Button-Down Mind Of Bob Newhart	1960
104	The Beach Boys	Pet Sounds	1966
105	Meat Loaf	Bat Out Of Hell	1977
106	Ray Charles	Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music	1962
107	John Lennon	Imagine	1971
108	Bruce Springsteen	Born To Run	1975
109	Thelonious Monk	Genius of Modern Music, Vol 2	1951
110	The Beatles	A Hard Day's Night	1964
111	Michael Jackson	Off The Wall	1979
112	James Blunt	Back To Bedlam	2005
113	The Beatles	Help!	1965
114	Nirvana	Unplugged In New York	1994
115	Carole King	Tapestry	1971
116	Original Soundtrack	Oklahoma!	1955
117	Linkin Park	Meteora	2003
118	Britney Spears	Oops!... I Did It Again	2000
119	Red Hot Chili Peppers	By The Way	2002
120	Michael Jackson	Invincible	2001
121	Bruce Springsteen	Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits	1995
122	Led Zeppelin	Physical Graffiti	1975
123	Santana	Abraxas	1970
124	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Stadium Arcadium	2006
125	The Beatles	The Beatles 1967-1970	1973
126	Elton John	Elton John's Greatest Hits	1974
127	Paul McCartney	Tug Of War	1982
128	Deep Purple	Machine Head	1972
129	No Doubt	Tragic Kingdom	1996
130	Bob Dylan	Highway 61 Revisited	1965
131	Jimi Hendrix	Electric Ladyland	1968
132	Queen	A Night At The Opera	1975
133	Prince	Lovesexy	1988
134	Bob Dylan	Blood On The Tracks	1975
135	Coldplay	Viva La Vida	2008
136	Britney Spears	Baby One More Time	1999
137	Guns n' Roses	Appetite For Destruction	1987
138	Bryan Adams	So Far So Good	1993
139	Alanis Morissette	Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie	1998
140	REM	Monster	1994
141	REM	New Adventures In Hi-Fi	1996
142	The Cranberries	No Need To Argue	1994
143	Original Soundtrack	Flashdance	1983
144	Bob Dylan	Desire	1976
145	Ricky Martin	Ricky Martin	1999
146	Prince	Sign 'O' The Times	1987
147	The Verve	Urban Hymns	1997
148	Meat Loaf	Bat Out Of Hell II, Back Into Hell	1993
149	The Sex Pistols	Never Mind The B******s, Here's The Sex Pistols	1977
150	U2	Pop	1997
151	Bruce Springsteen	The Rising	2002
152	Massive Attack	Mezzanine	1998
153	The Smashing Pumpkins	Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness	1995
154	Bon Jovi	New Jersey	1988
155	The Rolling Stones	Tattoo You	1981
156	Dido	No Angel	2001
157	Destiny's Child	Survivor	2001
158	Robbie Williams	Intensive Care	2005
159	Bryan Adams	Waking Up The Neighbours	1991
160	Abba	Arrival	1976
161	Lauryn Hill	The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill	1998
162	Nirvana	In Utero	1993
163	Anastacia	Anastacia	2004
164	The Beatles	The Beatles 1962-1966	1973
165	The Clash	London Calling	1979
166	Elvis Presley	Elvis Presley	1956
167	Roxy Music	Avalon	1982
168	Evanescence	Fallen	2003
169	Dido	Life For Rent	2003
170	David Bowie	The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars	1972
171	George Harrison	All Things Must Pass	1970
172	Frederick Loewe	My Fair Lady	1957
173	U2	The Unforgettable Fire	1984
174	The Police	Ghost In The Machine	1981
175	Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young	Deja Vu	1970
176	Green Day	Dookie	1994
177	Shakira	Laundry Service	2002
178	Def Leppard	Hysteria	1987
179	Pink Floyd	P.U.L.S.E.	1995
180	Bruce Springsteen	The River	1980
181	The Rolling Stones	Some Girls	1978
182	Phil Collins	Face Value	1981
183	Limp Bizkit	Chocolate Starfish & The Hot Dog Flavoured Water	2000
184	Spice Girls	Spiceworld	1997
185	Shania Twain	Up	2002
186	Tina Turner	Foreign Affair	1989
187	Guns n' Roses	Use Your Illusion II	1991
188	Beyonce	Dangerously In Love	2003
189	Madonna	The Immaculate Collection	1990
190	Robbie Williams	Robbie Williams' Greatest Hits	2004
191	Madonna	I'm Breathless	1990
192	Andrew Lloyd Webber	Jesus Christ Superstar	1971
193	Rick Astley	Whenever You Need Somebody	1988
194	Bee Gees	Spirits Having Flown	1979
195	Original Soundtrack	Top Gun	1986
196	Bon Jovi	These Days	1995
197	Moby	Play	1999
198	Celine Dion	The Colour Of My Love	1994
199	The Rolling Stones	Voodoo Lounge	1994
200	Radiohead	Kid A	2000

The data here was calculated off-line from data version 1.8.0049. The way the scores are adjusted has been slightly refined so the order is different from our previous listings (especially for the lower numbered entries). We believe that this new ordering provides a better estimate of success.

As with all the complex calculations described on the site you can decide to try a different approach. If your analysis shows something interesting tell us about it.

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Previous Comments

Previous Comments (newest first)

21 Aug 2014

Is there a top 1000 or 3000 CSV of Album data?

I'd love to see the raw numbers for albums in the same way as they presented for the top 3000 singles. I'd like to combine the two so that album sales contribute to the ranking of singles.

RockGolf

Unfortunately we don't have enough album charts to divide them into the regions and get significant results (statistically)

Update: We have now added some code to deliver a listing of the top 2000 albums in CSV form. See the FAQ: "How is the site is generated?" (the "Different Approach?" section).

9 Sep 2012

cool

I can't believe Lovesexy beat Sign O' the Times ... oh well, it was very successful worldwide even if not in the states, thanks for your list!

You'll note that on Prince's album page they are the other way round, so it depends how you calculate the result (the greatest chart list is less sensative to the source charts that are available).

13 Aug 2009

The Beatles / Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Couldn't agree more, the Beatles / "Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is where it supposed to be in the No. 1 slot. That album is responsible for all those other albums that came after. The Beatles were the pioneers, the originators, and the sounds they created changed the world. The Beatles influence goes far beyond music and it's importance will never be equalled.