Most Embarrassing Best-Selling Album

[ActuaryGuy23]

I wanted this to be a "Most Embarrassing Platinum Album" thread, but alas I can't find a full list of US Platinum albums (best I see is a list on Wiki of albums that were 10X-platinum or more). So in lieu of that, what yearly #1 is the most embarrassing best-seller of all-time?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best-selling_albums_by_year_(USA)

As a side, how impressive that Thriller could be the best-selling album for TWO YEARS IN A ROW?

[Feif]

There are a bunch. Spice Girls? High School Musical Soundtrack? Billy Ray Cyrus?

[FourKicks]

backstreet boys have not one but two albums in the top 30 selling albums of all-time.

also...

As a side

EGGCORN!!!!!!
EVERYBODY GRAB A BROOM!!

[ActuaryGuy23]

I almost went back to fix that eggcorn... but I wanted to be lazy.

[IKnewIt]

Gotta be the High School Musical soundtrack.

[Bicycle Repair Man]

It's embarrassing that Hi Fidelity sold more copies in 1981 than Escape. I mean, what the heck? There are two somewhat good songs on the whole album.

[Chronus]

Gotta be the High School Musical soundtrack.

:iatp:

It's almost as embarrassing as Milli Vanilli winning a grammy.

[douglan]

:iatp:

It's almost as embarrassing as Milli Vanilli winning a grammy.

But they did not want that Grammy ;)

[Deano]

:iatp:

It's almost as embarrassing as Milli Vanilli winning a grammy.

I had tickets to Milli Vanilli, then they cancelled!

[Patience]

Gotta be the High School Musical soundtrack.

agreed

but in all honesty the Monkees aren't far behind when you realize the group was formed for the sole purpose of the TV show

[ORLYLOL]

Almost anything that goes platinum now

[sooner82]

Shaquille O'neal had a platinum album. I've never listened to it, but I assume it was turrable

[erosewater]

Shaq-Fu!

[DownInTexas]

As a side, how impressive that Thriller could be the best-selling album for TWO YEARS IN A ROW?

Less impressive when you realize that the "My Fair Lady" and "West Side Story" soundtracks also did it.

[Patience]

Less impressive when you realize that the "My Fair Lady" and "West Side Story" soundtracks also did it.

I purchased 2 of the 3

[vividox]

How come people can't figure out how to link wiki articles that end in a parenthesis properly?

[Vorian Atreides]

What is exactly meant by "embarassing"?

Is it that I'm embarassed that a particular album was #1 in that year? Or, that I'm embarrassed that I like that particular album?

Or, that we as a society should be embarrassed that the particular album was #1 in that year?

[Actuary321]

I had tickets to Milli Vanilli, then they cancelled!That is embarrassing.

How come people can't figure out how to link wiki articles that end in a parenthesis properly?It isn't them, it is the forum software. In some future update they will fix it. Like when the software would put ... in a long url and actually change the part that it removed from the url to ... so it would not link to the page you were trying to get to.

I would have to say the most ironic one in that list would have to be Don't Be Cruel by Bobby Brown

[Actuary321]

What is exactly meant by "embarassing"?

Is it that I'm embarassed that a particular album was #1 in that year? Or, that I'm embarrassed that I like that particular album?

Or, that we as a society should be embarrassed that the particular album was #1 in that year?
Any of the above.

[vividox]

That is embarrassing.

It isn't them, it is the forum software. In some future update they will fix it. Like when the software would put ... in a long url and actually change the part that it removed from the url to ... so it would not link to the page you were trying to get to.

I would have to say the most ironic one in that list would have to be Don't Be Cruel by Bobby Brown

So you're telling me it's the forum's fault that people can't do this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best-selling_albums_by_year_(USA)

[Patience]

Less impressive when you realize that the "My Fair Lady" and "West Side Story" soundtracks also did it.

and less impressive than Elton John with different albums or Eminem a few years apart

[Actuary321]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best-selling_albums_by_year_%28USA%29

Hey, I don't know. All I know is that it has done that to me before.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

agreed

but in all honesty the Monkees aren't far behind when you realize the group was formed for the sole purpose of the TV show
And it won the Emmy for best comedy one year.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

As a side, how impressive that Thriller could be the best-selling album for TWO YEARS IN A ROW?
Hypothesis: people bought the LP the first year, then the next year they bought the CD.

[Whiskey]

Hypothesis: people bought the LP the first year, then the next year they bought the Cassette.

IFYP

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Hmm, you don't seem to know about the period.
Cassettes relesaed by recording companies were made very cheaply. People bought LP's then recorded them onto higher-quality cassettes made by TEAC or Maxell.
1984 is considered the year of the "Big Bang" of CD sales.

[Triweasel]

yep, Maxell ftw. I spent many many hours recording onto tapes back then.

[Triweasel]

of the albums on that list i'd say Billy Ray Cyrus or High School Musical are probably the weakest. As lame as their premise was, the Monkees had some decent songs imo. Backstreet Boys, NSync etc. are just updated versions of that same concept.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Quick Q for the OP: Who's supposed to be embarrassed? And why? There are a lot of, I'll call them, "less choosy" consumers than you and I. There is a temporary mass hysteria regarding buying into fads iover a very short amount of time. Producers of such things wouldn't do it if it didn't work.

I'll go down the list and see if I have any of those albums in any form....

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Sound of Music: I think we had the movie soundtrack growing up.
West Side Story: had it in the family growing up.
Hello Dolly: had it in the family growing up.
Herb Alpert and TB: Whipped Cream and Other Delights. Oh, yeah. Mom was a big fan.
Simon and Garfunkel's BOTW.
Frampton Comes Alive: sister had it. I have it on the family iPod.
Fleetwood Mac's Rumors: CD
Pink Floyd The Wall: CD
Bruce Springsteen BITUSA

I think that's the last of the whole albums.

[keyser soze]

I wanted this to be a "Most Embarrassing Platinum Album" thread, but alas I can't find a full list of US Platinum albums (best I see is a list on Wiki of albums that were 10X-platinum or more).

Here are a couple terrible platinum albums - anyone that purchased either of these should be ashamed of themself.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51lYFF39E-L._SL500_AA300_.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jgHK1iZPL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[ElPatron]

There are a bunch. Spice Girls? High School Musical Soundtrack? Billy Ray Cyrus?

Ha, Spice Girls was the first album I thought of when I saw the thread title.

[3rookie]

It's embarrassing that Hi Fidelity sold more copies in 1981 than Escape. I mean, what the heck? There are two somewhat good songs on the whole album.All of Side 1 is (was) pretty good.