Saturday, May 23, 2009

Top Selling Albums - Led Zeppelin Leads The Way


Led Zeppelin has 5 Albums listed on the top albums sold of all time. Led Zeppelin leads the way with the most albums. Atlantic Records reports that Led Zeppelin has sold over 200 million records worldwide. Led Zeppelin's biggest selling album is "Led Zeppelin IV". The Recording Industry Association of America lists Led Zeppelin as the third best selling musical act/artist in history behind the Beatles and Elvis. Staying with the theme of this blog, I also want to recognize that Bon Jovi's "Slipper When Wet" album made the list of the top selling albums of all time. - Kenny Leibow
















As I was searching the internet for which artist or band who sold the most albums, the list that I found with the most consistency was for albums sold in the U.S.A. Please see the list below. Even though the list of albums and artists are consistent, the millions of records sold looks a little light based on my research.The list below is as of November 2003. It includes Rock, Country, Movie Soundtracks, Rap and Children's albums. Each album on the list represents 9 million or more sales in the USA.

Source: classicbands.com







Millions Sold Title Artist's Name
28 Their Greatest Hits (vol. 1) The Eagles
27 Thriller Michael Jackson
23 The Wall Pink Floyd
22 Led Zeppelin IV Led Zeppelin
21 Back In Black AC/DC
21 Greatest Hits VOL I & II Billy Joel
20 Come On Over Shania Twain
19 The Beatles The Beatles
19 Rumours Fleetwood Mac
17 Boston Boston
17 The Bodyguard (soundtrack) Whitney Houston
16 The Beatles 1967 - 1970 The Beatles
16 Hotel California Eagles
16 Greatest Hits Elton John
16 Jagged Little Pill Alanis Morissette
16 No Fences Garth Brooks
16 Cracked Rear View Hootie & The Blowfish
15 Physical Graffiti Led Zeppelin
15 The Beatles 1962 - 1966 The Beatles
15 Saturday Night Fever The Bee Gees
15 Born In The U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen
15 Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd
15 Appetite For Destruction Guns 'n Roses
15 Double Live Garth Brooks
14 Supernatural Santana
14 Bat Out Of Hell Meat Loaf
14 Ropin' The Wind Garth Brooks
14 Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys
14 Baby One More Time Britney Spears
13 Frampton Comes Alive Peter Frampton
13 Greatest Hits Simon & Garfunkel
13 Purple Rain (soundtrack) Prince & The Revolution
13 Whitney Houston Whitney Houston
13 Baby One More Time Britney Spears
13 Millennium Backstreet Boys
13 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live Bruce Springsteen
13 Metallica Metallica
13 Greatest Hits 1974 - 1978 Steve Miller Band
12 Abbey Road The Beatles
12 Led Zeppelin II Led Zeppelin
12 Hot Rocks The Rolling Stones
12 Slippery When Wet Bon Jovi
12 II Boyz II Men
12 Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits Kenny Rogers
12 Breathless Kenny G
12 Hysteria Def Leppard
12 The Woman In Me Shania Twain
12 No Jacket Required Phil Collins
12 Yourself Or Someone Like You Matchbox Twenty
12 Forrest Gump Soundtrack Various Artists
12 Wide Open Spaces Dixie Chicks
11 Ten Pearl Jam
11 Dirty Dancing Soundtrack Various Artists
11 James Taylor's Greatest Hits James Taylor
11 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band The Beatles
11 Crazysexycool TLC
11 Pieces Of You Jewel
11 Houses Of The Holy Led Zeppelin
11 Titanic Soundtrack Various Artists
11 No Strings Attached 'N Sync
11 Falling Into You Celine Dion
11 Eagles Greatest Hits Volume II Eagles
11 Devil Without A Cause Kid Rock
11 Human Clay Creed
10 The Stranger Billy Joel
10 1984 Van Halen
10 Aerosmith's Greatest Hits Aerosmith
10 Best Of The Doobies The Doobie Brothers
10 Can't Slow Down Lionel Richie
10 Daydream Mariah Carey
10 Dookie Green Day
10 Eliminator ZZ Top
10 Faith George Michael
10 Fly Dixie Chicks
10 Greatest Hits Journey
10 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin
10 Legend Bob Marley & The Wailers
10 Let's Talk About Love Celine Dion
10 Life After Death Notorious B.I.G.
10 Tragic Kingdom No Doubt
10 Like A Virgin Madonna
10 Music Box Mariah Carey
10 'N Sync 'N Sync
10 Nevermind Nirvana
10 Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'em HAMMER
10 Tapestry Carole King
10 The Hits Garth Brooks
10 The Immaculate Collection Madonna
10 The Joshua Tree U2
10 The Lion King Soundtrack Various Artists
10 Unplugged Eric Clapton
10 Van Halen Van Halen
10 Greatest Hits Tom Petty
9 Top Gun Soundtrack Various Artists
9 Footloose Soundtrack Various Artists
9 All Eyez On Me Tupac
9 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Smashing Pumkins
9 High Infidelity REO Speedwagon
9 Greatest Hits Patsy Cline
9 Mariah Carey Mariah Carey
9 Cooleyhighharmony Boyz II Men
9 Garth Brooks Garth Brooks
9 Licenced To Ill Beastie Boys
9 The Sign Ace Of Base
9 Whitney Whitney Houston
9 Escape Journey
9 Best Of The Doors The Doors
9 Some Gave All Billy Ray Cyrus
9 Pyromania Def Leppard
9 Greatest Hits John Denver
9 Brothers In Arms Dire Straits
9 Great Band Era Various Artists
9 Big Willie Style Will Smith
9 Greatest Hits 2 Pac

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Skid Row - 18 and Life

Skid Row was formed in Toms River, New Jersey not far from where I grew up. Below is a full biography of Skid Row. I bought their first album "Skid Row" in 1989, which went Multi-Platinum. Below is a list of the tracks from Skid Row's first album. Please watch the two music videos, "18 and Life (Live)" and "I Remember You (1989)". I always thought that "18 and Life" had powerful lyrics. - Kenny Leibow

Biography
Skid Row were one of the very last hair metal bands to hit the mainstream before grunge took over in the early '90s. While the band's self-titled debut employed standard pop-metal riffs and generic lyrics (albeit to great commercial success), 1991's Slave to the Grind and 1995's Subhuman Race broke away from the pop-metal mold with uncharacteristically hard, thrashy guitars and unique songwriting techniques. Though personal differences and changing trends would eventually tear the core lineup apart by 1996, Skid Row showed tremendous promise during their short time in the spotlight.

Based in New Jersey, Skid Row were formed in 1986 by bassist Rachel Bolan and former Bon Jovi guitarist Dave "The Snake" Sabo. The pair added guitarist Scott Hill, drummer Rob Affuso, and a larger than life vocalist named Sebastian Bach to the lineup by early 1987, and the band spent the next year and a half playing a series of local clubs in the eastern U.S. Having remained in contact with Jon Bon Jovi, Sabo convinced the established rock star to land Skid Row a record deal with Mercury Records. In 1989, the band released its first album, Skid Row, which went multi-platinum on the strength of the Top 40 singles "18 and Life" and "I Remember You." Success came with a backlash, however -- the bandmembers had naïvely signed away much of their royalties, and Sebastian Bach's wild, often childlike behavior landed the group in additional trouble. During the subsequent tour, Bach garnered harsh criticism for a T-shirt he publicly sported displaying the message "AIDS KILLS FAGS DEAD." Suits were also filed against Bach after a concert during the supporting tour, where the singer allegedly threw a glass bottle into the crowd and injured a young female fan.

Nonetheless, Skid Row's muscular songcraft retained a devoted audience. Released in 1991, Slave to the Grind debuted at number one on the Billboard chart, an unprecedented accomplishment for a metal band. While the album did not chart any real radio hits, Grind received stronger critical praise and eventually reached platinum status. However, like so many of their peers, Skid Row lost much of their fan base during the grunge invasion of the '90s. As Nirvana stormed the scene in 1992, Skid Row took a hiatus, waiting out the grunge period and pondering breakups (ironically, Nirvana had once gone under the name Skid Row in the '80s). Skid Row returned in 1995 with Subhuman Race, which surprisingly charted in the Top 40 but otherwise did not attract any real attention.

During the supporting tour, tensions between the group members ran high and Skid Row disbanded shortly afterward. Bach went on to form the Last Hard Men with Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, but the group broke up after recording a cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" for the Scream soundtrack in 1996. Plans to record new songs for the Skid Row greatest-hits album, 1998's Forty Seasons, fell through, and Bach went on to form a solo project and portray the title role in the Broadway musical +Jeckyll and Hyde. In mid-2000, Skid Row re-formed with new singer Johnny Solinger and toured as the opening band for Kiss' farewell tour. They released Thickskin with Solinger in 2003, followed by Revolutions Per Minute in 2006. Meanwhile, Sebastian Bach enjoyed a surge in popularity when he appeared in a VH1 reality show opposite Ted Nugent and Scott Ian. Barry Weber, All Music Guide

Group Members:
Johnny Solinger
Phil Varone
Scott Hill
Sebastian Bach
Rachel Bolan
Rob Affuso
Dave "The Snake" Sabo

Source: www.starpulse.com


Skid Row (1989)












Tracks
1. Big Guns
2. Sweet Little Sister
3. Can't Stand The Heartache
4. Pieces Of Me
5. 18 And Life
6. Rattlesnake Shake
7. Youth Gone Wild
8. Here I Am
9. Makin' A Mess
10. I Remember You
11. Midnight / Tornado


Skid Row – 18 and Life (Live)
Warning: Some Strong Language


Skid Row – I Remember You (1989)

With Lyrics