{"id":5018,"date":"2015-11-03T15:59:22","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T15:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=5018"},"modified":"2025-02-13T10:04:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T10:04:38","slug":"the-10-best-selling-albums-of-the-90s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/03\/the-10-best-selling-albums-of-the-90s\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 best selling albums of the 90s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 90s was a fantastic time for music, with countless classic albums from now legendary artists. <em>OK Computer, Parklife, Nevermind<\/em>: the list goes on.<\/p>\n<p>So surely the biggest selling 90s albums in the UK is a pretty epic list, right? Erm&#8230;not quite. Prepare yourself for a shock as we delve into the weird and not-that-wonderful music taste of Britain circa-1990s&#8230;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>In this blog:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Explore the ten best-selling albums of the 90s in the UK, featuring iconic artists and unexpected hits. The list includes:\n<ul>\n<li>Oasis \u2013 (What&#8217;s The Story) Morning Glory?<\/li>\n<li>Simply Red \u2013 Stars<\/li>\n<li>Spice Girls \u2013 Spice<\/li>\n<li>The Corrs \u2013 Talk on Corners<\/li>\n<li>Alanis Morissette \u2013 Jagged Little Pill<\/li>\n<li>Robson and Jerome \u2013 Robson and Jerome<\/li>\n<li>Madonna \u2013 The Immaculate Collection<\/li>\n<li>The Verve \u2013 Urban Hymns<\/li>\n<li>ABBA \u2013 Gold: Greatest Hits<\/li>\n<li>Celine Dion \u2013 Falling Into You<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Discover how these albums achieved remarkable sales and the lasting impact they had on the music industry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/celine-dion.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5019\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/celine-dion.jpg\" alt=\"Celine Dion\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/celine-dion.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/celine-dion-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>10: Falling Into You \u201d\u201c Celine Dion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 2,130,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In at number 10 is everyone\u2019s favourite Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion with <em>Falling Into You<\/em>, released in 1996.<\/p>\n<p>Even though the general public\u2019s opinion of Ms. Dion has shifted quite dramatically in the past 2 decades, <em>Falling Into You <\/em>was highly regarded in the 90s. It won Album of the Year at the Grammys, won three World Music Awards and is the 13<sup>th<\/sup> highest selling album of all time.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the height of Dion\u2019s 90s fame actually came a year later, when she contributed a song to a certain film about a sinking ship&#8230;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/abba-gold.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1719\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/abba-gold.jpg\" alt=\"Gold - ABBA\" width=\"290\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/abba-gold.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/abba-gold-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>9: Gold: Greatest Hits \u201d\u201c ABBA<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 2,420,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Despite breaking up in 1982, ABBA still managed to release one of the biggest selling albums of the 90s. Never underestimate the power of chirpy Swedish pop.<\/p>\n<p><em>Gold<\/em> also has the distinct honour of topping the UK charts on 4 different occasions in the 90s: once when it was released in 1992, and 3 more times when it re-released in 1999. It\u2019s the only 90s album to top the charts in the 2000s too,\u00a0hitting #1 yet again thanks to <em>Mamma Mia. <\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/the-verve.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5020\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/the-verve.jpg\" alt=\"The Verve\" width=\"290\" height=\"278\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>8: Urban Hymns \u201d\u201c The Verve<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 2,480,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no denying the quality of <em>Urban Hymns<\/em>, The Verve\u2019s 1997 commercial breakthrough. It won countless awards, spawned two timeless singles (<em>Bittersweet Symphony <\/em>and <em>The Drugs Don\u2019t Work<\/em>) and sold a ridiculous amount of copies.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the success of the album proved too much for the band to handle, and they split up in April 1999 after some troubled tour and festival appearances. Oh, what could have been!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/madonna1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5022\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/madonna1.jpg\" alt=\"Madonna\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/madonna1.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/madonna1-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>7: The Immaculate Collection \u201d\u201c Madonna<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 2,500,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh look, another greatest hits collection! Unlike <em>ABBA Gold<\/em>, though, this one at least contains a couple of songs recorded in the 90s (albeit at the very, very start).<\/p>\n<p>Still, you can\u2019t really fault this collection of the Queen of Pop\u2019s best singles. Especially when you see what\u2019s coming up next&#8230;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/robson.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5023\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/robson.jpg\" alt=\"Robson\" width=\"290\" height=\"285\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>6: Robson and Jerome \u201d\u201c Robson and Jerome<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 2,530,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Robson Green and Jerome Flynn were a pair of actors who appeared on a programme called <em>Soldier Soldier<\/em>. In one episode, they sang <em>Unchained Melody<\/em> and some fans called ITV asking where they could buy it. The sound of cash registers ringing eventually attracted the attention of a certain\u00a0Simon Cowell.<\/p>\n<p>The result was this, an album consisting entirely of covers including <em>Amazing Grace<\/em>, <em>Daydream Believer <\/em>and cover album standard <em>Danny Boy<\/em>. Q Magazine later named it the 22<sup>nd<\/sup> worst album of all time.<\/p>\n<p>So, in summary, an album which featured the bloke off <em>Extreme Fishing<\/em> outsold <em>The Bends, Definitely Maybe, Nevermind <\/em>and countless other classic albums. The 90s, eh?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/jagged.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5024\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/jagged.jpg\" alt=\"jagged\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/jagged.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/jagged-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>5: Jagged Little Pill \u201d\u201c Alanis Morrissette<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 2,570,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The queen of alt-rock angst managed to shift over 2 million copies of <em>Jagged Little Pill<\/em>, despite the confusion surrounding lead single <em>Ironic<\/em> (which contains no examples of irony whatsoever&#8230;ironically).<\/p>\n<p>The album performed even better in the States, selling well over 7 million copies. Globally, it\u2019s the 12<sup>th<\/sup> bestselling album of all time, outselling every single Beatles album (<em>St Pepper\u2019s <\/em>is the nearest in 14<sup>th<\/sup>).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/the-corrs.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5026\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/the-corrs.jpg\" alt=\"The Corrs\" width=\"290\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/the-corrs.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/the-corrs-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>4: Talk on Corners \u201d\u201c The Corrs <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 2,600,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ask anyone under the age of 21 if they like The Corrs and you\u2019re pretty much guaranteed to get the same response as asking a caveman to describe an iPad.<\/p>\n<p>In the late 90s, though, they were everyone\u2019s favourite Celtic rock quartet. <em>Talk On Corners<\/em> was their breakthrough and is still the biggest selling album by an Irish band in the UK. It was the highest selling album of 1998 and the 9<sup>th<\/sup> best of 1999.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/spice.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5027\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/spice.jpg\" alt=\"spice\" width=\"290\" height=\"283\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>3: Spice \u201d\u201c Spice Girls<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 3,020,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You knew this was coming, didn\u2019t you? The biggest girl band of all time were a bona fide cultural phenomenon in the 90s, although their debut album remains their bestseller. And why wouldn\u2019t it be, with bangers like <em>Wanna Be <\/em>and <em>Who Do You Think You Are<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>The success of <em>Spice <\/em>led to global tours, the girl power manifesto and a movie that most people, including the Spice Girls themselves, probably want to forget about.<\/p>\n<p>So, who could have possibly sold more albums than the Spice Girls? The answer lies in Manchester&#8230;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/simply-red.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5029\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/simply-red.jpg\" alt=\"Simply Red\" width=\"290\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/simply-red.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/simply-red-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>2: Stars \u201d\u201c Simply Red <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 3,290,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8230;it\u2019s Mick Hucknall! What, were you expecting someone else?<\/p>\n<p>The 4<sup>th<\/sup> album by Simply Red has gone platinum 12 times and was the best selling album of 1991 <em>and <\/em>1992. The early 90s belonged to Mick Hucknall, basically, and his reign was only broken by another bunch of Mancs&#8230;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/oasis.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5031\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/oasis.jpg\" alt=\"Oasis\" width=\"290\" height=\"286\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>1: (What\u2019s The Story) Morning Glory? \u201d\u201c Oasis<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Total sold: 4,160,000<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, they had to appear somewhere. Oasis\u2019 second album is the biggest selling album of the 90s by a long way and, unlike some of the albums on this list, is still regarded as an absolute classic (sorry Robson and Jerome).<\/p>\n<p>Producer Owen Morris claims the album was recorded in just 15 days, with roughly one song completed per day. It has since sold over 20 million copies, which isn\u2019t a bad result for just over two weeks work.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Want to build your record collection? Check out our awesome range of <a href=\"https:\/\/store.musicmagpie.co.uk\/music\/vinyl\">cheap vinyl records<\/a> on the musicMagpie Store.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re planning to clear out your music collection, or just need a bit of extra cash, why not <a title=\"Sell CDs\" href=\"http:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/entertainment\/sell-cds\/\">sell CDs<\/a> with musicMagpie? It\u2019s FREE and easy, plus we\u2019ll pay you on the same day we receive your stuff. Click below to get started.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/start-selling\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6492\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/startselling.jpg\" alt=\"Start Selling\" width=\"400\" height=\"80\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/startselling.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/startselling-300x60.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 90s was a fantastic time for music, with countless classic albums from now legendary artists. OK Computer, Parklife, Nevermind: the list goes on. So surely the biggest selling 90s albums in the UK is a pretty epic list, right? Erm&#8230;not quite. Prepare yourself for a shock as we delve &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[1602,1603,1581],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5018"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5018"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17940,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5018\/revisions\/17940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}