[Music]
sometimes an
album creates the perfect storm to
become both a cultural
and financial phenomenon welcome to
watch mojo and today
we're counting down our picks for the
top 10 billboard record-setting albums
for this list we're looking at the
records that dominated the billboard 200
charts and reached heights that were
unprecedented
we're basing our choices on a mix of
time on the charts monumental firsts and
shifts within the charts that seemed
impossible
we're also excluding achievements by the
rolling stones the beatles and bts that
are based on multiple albums
as opposed to the success of one
number 10 captain fantastic and the
brown dirt cowboy
elton john
[Music]
even with classic number one albums like
goodbye yellow brick road
elton john didn't debut at number one on
the billboard 200 until
1975.
[Music]
in fact his record captain fantastic and
the brown dirt cowboy was the first
album to ever debut at number one
instead of climbing the charts to get
there the autobiographical records feat
is all the more impressive
considering its only big single was
someone saved my life tonight
with the momentum of a greatest hits
record behind him jon even managed to
debut at number one
again with rock of the westies later
that same year
number nine west side story various
artists
almost a year after west side story came
out in 1961
its soundtrack went all the way to
number one on billboard's album charts
over the course of the next year the
album held its spot to have the longest
run at number one on the chart
west side story even won a grammy which
definitely didn't hurt its extended
[Music]
this reign hold is a combined total from
the mono and stereo album charts which
at the time were charted separately
in fact it was only dethroned in august
of 1963 when the two charts were
combined
[Music]
we never had the love that every child
ought to get
number eight licensed to ill beastie
[Music]
boys
while artists like grand master flash
and run dmc helped drive hip hop
it was the beastie boys who first hit
number one with a rap album
license to ill had plenty of help from
massive singles like fight for your
right and brass monkey
which both put it on the map
[Music]
[Applause]
and it wasn't too long after that the
political voices behind nwa had the
first
hardcore album to go number one
[Music]
licensed to ill even stayed on top for
seven weeks
and spent a whopping 73 weeks on the
charts
plus they would later hit number 18 in
2012 after
mca's death
[Music]
number seven beyonce beyonce
beyonce knowles self-titled fifth album
was a landmark release for her
and broke handfuls of records within a
few days of its release
the album debuted at number one making
knowles the first woman to have her
first five albums debut at the top of
the charts
[Music]
the album landed at number one after
selling over 600 000 copies in a few
days
making it one of the biggest sales weeks
of 2013.
itunes even reported beyonce as its
fastest selling album
ever internationally knoll's fifth
record was also the second digital only
album to ever top the billboard 200.
number six tapestry carol king
looking out on the morning rain
carol king's tapestry debuted on the
billboard 200 at 79 in 1971
and didn't leave the charts until 1977.
this incredible longevity gave king the
longest consecutive run on the charts by
a female artist with a whopping 302
weeks on the billboard 200.
[Music]
carol's album also spent 15 consecutive
weeks at number one
which earned her the longest consecutive
female reign until whitney houston
dethroned her in 1993
though adele's 21 would break many of
these records tapestry has returned to
the chart as recently as 2016
thanks to its strong songwriting and
gilmore girls using where you lead as a
theme song will follow
anywhere
number five vitaligy pearl jam
while cds had taken over the music
industry by the 90s
pearl jam decided to first release
vitaligy on vinyl
vitalogy ended up debuting on the
billboard 255
making it the first vinyl album to enter
the charts since cds took over the
market
[Music]
though it slipped to 173 it made the
massive leap to number one the week the
cd version finally came out
[Music]
vitaligy held the largest chart position
climb until biggie's life after death
went from 176 to number one the album
also had the most vinyl sales for one
week until jack white's lazaretto broke
the record
two decades later number four rumors
fleetwood mack
after 10 increasingly successful albums
fleetwood mac made their most successful
release
ever with rumors the album quickly hit
number one and stayed there for an
impressive 31 non-consecutive weeks
[Applause]
[Music]
its second single dreams also became the
band's only song to ever top the us
billboard 100.
thanks to hit singles like go your own
way and don't stop
the album top charts worldwide it even
hit number 11 on the billboard 200 in
2011
thanks to songs from it being used on
[Music]
glee
with enough sales to go diamond rumors
has become an essential part of
any record collection
number three dark side of the moon pink
floyd
[Music]
since it landed on the billboard charts
in 1973
pink floyd's classic dark side of the
moon has made billboard chart history
in fact the album stayed on the
billboard 200 for a whopping 14
years or 741 weeks until it finally
stepped off in 1988
[Music]
after older or catalog albums were
allowed back onto the charts in 2009
the album has continued well above 900
weeks on the charts
darkseid has the longest stay on the
billboard 200 while runner-up bob
marley's legend only has 600 weeks
the album even gained a minor boost in
sales during 2017's total solar eclipse
number two 21 adele
there's a fire starting in my heart
though it was a massive hit when it came
out adele's 21 has continued to rule
billboard charts as the years go on
21 spent its first 78 weeks on the
billboard 200 in the top 10
and went on to spend a total of 24
non-consecutive weeks at number one
adele beat out whitney houston for the
longest female number one reign on the
200
and houston beat out carol king 21 spent
353 consecutive weeks on the chart from
its debut
in 2011 until late 2017
[Music]
additionally 21 is actually the first
album by a woman to earn 450 weeks on
the chart overall
[Music]
before we unveil our number one pick
here are some honorable mentions
coloring book chance the rapper
[Music]
before we continue be sure to subscribe
to our channel and ring the bell to get
notified about our latest videos you'll
have the option to be notified for
occasional videos or
all of them if you're on your phone make
sure you go into your settings and
switch on notifications
number one thriller michael jackson
[Music]
with singles like billie jean beat it
and its own title track
michael jackson had an easy hit with
thriller the album
easily topped the charts and has spent
37 weeks at number one
michael jackson still holds the longest
number one reign for any artist on the
billboard 200 given that west side story
is a compilation
the album has remained the best-selling
album of all time
with an estimated 66 million albums sold
worldwide
u.s sales account for 33 million which
makes thriller 33 times platinum
the endless sales have also earned
thriller over 400 weeks and
counting on the billboard 200.
do you agree with our picks check out
this other recent clip from watchmojo
and be sure to subscribe and ring the
bell to be notified about our latest
videos