Our Least Favorite Diamond-Selling Albums

[@t-swizzle8102]

I think Kramzer is the type of guy that if you simply saw a still photo of him, you might be tricked into thinking he's attractive, but when you see his mannerisms, hear his voice, and really let his self-importance wash over you, you realize this is a guy who is only loved by his mother. And that's only because she's obliged to do so by the social contract which explicitly states that mothers HAVE TO LOVE even their most awful children. Even Jason, with his drab looks and non-existent personality in which excitement and/or anger/disdain were not programmed onto the robot microchip which acts as his primary operating system, would have to be considered an upgrade to Kramzer...BARELY. Which leaves us with Joe. Joe may have been the worst of the many Three Stooges incarnations to go along with Moe and Larry, but in this particular case, Joe is the only guy that makes these three stooges remotely watchable. Can you even imagine this channel without our beloved Joe? Watching Kramzer admire himself in his zoom box while tousling his hair thinking, "Man I look good!" in a manner that is completely out of touch with reality, while Jason keeps asking himself in an internal dialogue, "What would a human person say or do next?" fearful that folks might realize that he's one of the first artificial intelligence robots created that was clearly NOT designed for sexual purposes. This is not an attempt to drive a wedge between what seems like three friends from prior school days who are now adults, nor is it meant to diminish, in any way, Kramzer's mom, as Kramzer himself seems to have that covered. Instead, this is simply an open love-letter to Joe, the cuddliest curmudgeon on KZbin. Were this the ACTUAL music business, some A&R man would be whispering in Joe's ear, saying, "These guys are nothing without you. Let me manage your career so that you can do great things instead of continuing to allow these losers to drag you down." You know, the standard A&R guy speech. But seriously, Joe, that completely fictional A&R guy makes a good point... In terms of worst diamond-selling albums of all-time, there is but a single choice, if any of you guys had ever heard of this uniquely American music called JAZZ. There's a rich tradition which you numb skulls clearly know nothing about (Sorry Joe), with probably more 5 star albums than all of the other genres combined, and yet, the genre's lone diamond-selling representation is a limp, elevator-like musical bastardization of the genre [smooth jazz...yuck!] by Kenny G entitled Breathless. If you guys were cultured...like me...you'd know there's really no other album close to this, the WORST diamond-selling album of all-time. This album came out the year after Nirvana's Nevermind?! It's historic amount of sales truly boggle the mind. So, yeah. Another one you guys got wrong. But you keep trying. And Joe, just know you're doing God's work propping up these clowns, the downside to that being, when it's all said and done, you'll be trading in Kramzer and Jason, for your new friend in heaven--Scott Stapp.

[@mainzergirl9610]

Someone has too much time on his/her hands.

[@ryankramzer1256]

Another troll already made these points. You got anything original?

[@t-swizzle8102]

@@ryankramzer1256 That's some weak sauce coming from your personal account. It was funny. Laugh a little FFS...

[@jasonjames6383]

@@mainzergirl9610 Not sure why someone would watch the channel and spend so much time typing this comment if they disliked one of the hosts so much :).

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Swear that’s not my burner account. - Joe

[@albertoramirez6388]

As far as the Eagles go, they released the Greatest hits in February of 1976, ten months before Hotel California. They were already all over the charts and riding high off of their #1 album One of These Nights (1975). Their GH was well-timed for this reason, and they could not have known that some of their yet-to-come songs or albums would meet with greater success. Anyway they released a 2nd GH collection in 1982 to include their later hits.

[@christophersorensen3338]

This is correct. The Greatest Hits was released after their first 4 albums, which was really odd as they were still riding high. Then afterward, they released Hotel California, which is undoubtedly their true greatest hits... The first whole A side and half the B side play like hit after hit after hit. Maybe you could say Hotel California is their Greatest Hits volume 2

[@edward8597]

The craziest diamond-certified album in Canada is Supertramp's "Crime of the Century". In the USA and in their native UK, it only went gold. Diamond certification is *twenty times* gold. It sold more copies total in Canada than it sold in the USA, a country ten times its size. It's a very good album, but it's interesting that it's one of the best-selling albums in Canada and just a blip elsewhere

[@toonhkuitjes6382]

One of the greatest ever albums and should have sold more everywhere. Like a poppier Dark Side of the Moon.

[@davidellis5141]

@@toonhkuitjes6382 That's an optimistic take. Nothing wrong with that.

[@scottmcrae3355]

Canadians are the biggest Supertramp fans in the world. All of their big albums and songs charted higher up here than anywhere else in the world. It’s pretty cool.

[@phillipanderson7398]

You're bloody well right.

[@JohannesYtterstrom]

Great album and a quite interesting observation!

[@michaelcoogan268]

Great timing on release of Eagles Greatest Hits. They had four LPs, the last being One Of These Nights, which had three huge singles. The Greatest Hits was the easiest way for people who only knew One Of These Nights to get to know more of the band's music. As many have mentioned, Hotel California was released after Greatest Hits. Not neccesarily bad, but there are so many LPs with staggering sales, Hootie is one, and how about Come On Over by Shania Twain - 33 million copies. Have to defend The Stranger, the only Billy Joel LP I enjoy from start to finish.

[@chrismarzoli2170]

A little memo to Joe about Eagles Greatest Hits 1971-75 and why it sold so many copies: This compilation was released in February 1976, almost a year before Hotel California was released so of course no Hotel tracks are on it. (No one had ever heard them yet!) The next Eagles Greatest Hits Volume 2 (with tracks culled from Hotel and Long Run only) was not released until 1982. The first career spanning widely available Eagles greatest hits album was not released until 2003. So sure, from 2003 on, if you wanted to buy an Eagles greatest hits album, you were better off buying the 2003 compilation than the 1976 compilation. But from 1976 to 2003, if you wanted a compilation that included the first 2/3 of the Eagles output, the GH 71-75 album was your only choice! So that album had 17 years to sell where it was the "only game in town". I would imagine the bulk of its 38 million sales were accumulated between 1976-2003.

[@scottmcrae3355]

As mentioned above, diamond in Canada is one million in sales. The Tragically Hip have 2 certified diamond records (Up to Here and Fully Completely) and barely made a dent anywhere else in the world.

[@charleyyoho4693]

I love Hybrid Theory!!!! One of my favorite albums of all time

[@nightowl1851]

Pretty much felt alone in '95 when Hootie played nonstop from *everywhere* and I was like "WHY IS THIS SELLING?" and everyone around me was "What? I like it."

[@josejones]

You were definitely not alone.

[@trickygoose2]

It blows my mind that "Cracked Rear View" sold something like 21 million in the US. In the UK it sold about a hundredth of that.

[@curly_wyn]

August and Everything After is the same thing, yet the boys love that one…

[@dtchinacat3973]

Exactly Ian McGillis, I don't understand the "Eagles Hate"? They had a SOUND, good Middle of the Road Country Rock with a little Disco Funk once in while. Eagles Greatest Hits is a good set of early eagles hits! Just like: America's Greatest Hits, Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits, Rolling Stones Hot Rocks, ECT.. Great albums when you don't want to buy all the LPs just to get the hits you like!

[@davidbeckman7925]

Yes indeed. And i know Joe is familiar with "Eagles Greatest Hits Volume 2," with all the Hotel C and The Long Run stuff.. but he doesn't sound like he does on this episode.

[@walterevans5658]

I hope physical media keeps coming back. I only half jokingly tell people unless you own a physical copy you don't really own it and you don't really care that much about it. We'd be in a better place if we all had wall to wall shelves of vinyl and CDs.

[@toonhkuitjes6382]

Yeah I’m with you but now seriously looking at streaming.

[@Vanessa.P]

I have a wall of CDs and it makes me happy, so I think you're right. My vinyl isn't a whole wall yet but someday.

[@cheapcinemachannel4548]

I still buy CDs. In 2022 used CDs are a real bargain.

[@nightowl1851]

@@Vanessa.P I've recently pulled all of my old vinyl out of storage with the dream of a wall display. But I don't know how I'll do it with the lack of room here. Still have one of those CD towers from apartment-livin' in the '90s.

[@Vanessa.P]

@@nightowl1851 If you live near an Ikea they have some pretty good and affordable vinyl storage units of various sizes. I have some floating shelves and one cabinet unit that is quite compact. I've been able to make that work with my limited space.

[@davidellis5141]

The Debut Van Halen & The Smashing Pumpkins 🎃 are some of the few of the 92 that are truly excellent records. Nirvana & Prince also sneak in with Diamond status. A true 💎 record in class was the debut Sade Diamond 💎 Life. Quality 80's R&B - Smooth 😎

[@charleyyoho4693]

Def Leopard-Hysteria I’m a huge fan of Pyromania. I purchased the vinyl version with my neighbor and wore it out on his turntable! BUT I cannot sit through a single session of Hysteria. I hate Animal, Armageddon It, Love Bites…everything is too poppy and so cookie cutter. What the hell happened to my DL?? I still try to this day and can’t get through it..just awful. Jason, I will say I enjoy Hybrid Theory, as it’s one of my favorite LP collections of all time!! Lol As for the Eagles, their music is such a bore (Witchy Woman, Lying Eyes, Desperado etc, ), but I do like the song One Of These Nights for some reason.. it’s got that creepy sound in the background that’s kinda creative. Don Henley sounds great, and the harmonies are spot on

[@roxannewalsh]

I did not know about that diamond class in the US until now, but I googled a list that had 92 albums listed. Less than 20 of them are acceptable and I think they are albums that took decades and never stopped selling (e.g. Led Zeppelin). The rest just shows what it shows in any other country in the world...you only get to the top when you sell albums to people who normally do not even buy albums (i.e. have no real interest in music). Good news for Joe, he would be happy with New Zealand's best selling albums because ABBA appears twice with The Best of ABBA (all time #1) and ABBA Gold (#7), and Meat Loaf at #5 would make him smile as well. But there is also Ed Sheeran (Divide) and Shania Twain. We only have platinum (i.e. 15.000 copies) and most albums that reach that level are those long running classics that generations buy over time (Rumours, Born in the USA, Beatles #1 hits) rather than such sudden success (except those two I mentioned). Not to forget Michael Buble's Christmas album and Hayley Westenra's Pure (you may never have heard of her.) The thing the charts do not tell is that probably the best selling artist of all time is...Cliff Richards, sorry Sir Cliff Richard.

[@davidellis5141]

I would imagine Split Enz / Crowded House have some high rated records 🤔

[@roxannewalsh]

@@davidellis5141 Both were much more successful in Australia. They mostly went gold here too - Crowded House was more successful than Split Enz. But you need to consider that in order to get such high sales in a very small market you need to cross over to a pop market that is much further from any rock than in the US. The only ones to do that were artists like Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen or Dire Straits - and those only ever with 1 album. This is like trying to sell a punk record in Nashville. Most people on the South Island listen to brass bands.

[@roxannewalsh]

PS - Whitney Houston's most successful albums here were the Bodyguard Soundtrack and Ultimate Collection. This is another particularity in my country - most best selling albums are collections because most people just want to have the hits and soundtracks to keep the memory of a movie they liked.

[@sherryraisbeck9547]

I bought Cracked rear View when it first came out..Love it!🤣....Totally agree on Kid Rock, definitely bottom barrel for me, as is Def Leppard. Fun episode guys!:)

[@skybluemarshall]

The first Eagle's greatest hits was released at the beginning of 76. Hotel California was released at the end of 76. The band had zero input on the track list. Don Henley did not approve of the inclusion of Desperado and Tequila Sunrise outside of the context of their albums. The band later criticized the album as just another way for the label to make money without having to pay for producing any new songs. The only positives for the band, other than making a ton of money in perpitude was that they said it gave them more time to work on Hotel California which they appreciated.

[@Twotontessie]

In this camp: Original Eagles greatest hits LP one of the best of that ilk there is. Still love it. It was a brilliant business move to buy time while they broke Walsh in and wrote and recorded HC. That’s what greatest hits and live albums were for! Buy time, make money, make people happy. What’s not to like?

[@theasphaltworld849]

I agree with pretty much all of the examples cited aside from two. Firstly, Phil Collins gets a bad rap from some people (especially regarding his solo material, and to be fair I find his solo work post-'89 to be lousy) however I don't think No Jacket Required is a bad album at all. Secondly, while I hated Hybrid Theory back when it was first released and all I felt Linkin Park represented (they felt to me like a deliberately calculated attempt to take the then-popular nu-metal sound and make it as shiny and radio friendly as possible), the first two Linkin Park albums grew on me eventually. Now I see them more as kinda nu-metal versions of Def Leppard's Hysteria in the sense that they were conceived as radio friendly unit shifters and they clearly worked over time - people still get a lot out of their more notable songs... and Chester, bless him (RIP), could actually sing - which I see more now as an asset rather than a flaw (as ridiculous as that sounds... there was a lot of "Linkin Park are a nu-metal boyband" talk flying around at the time)

[@theasphaltworld849]

You guys hit the nail on the head regarding Creed, Kid Rock and Nickelback... easily some of the worst music available at the time. Possibly ever.

[@Torthrodhel]

@@theasphaltworld849 your username is such an awesome song. :) Gotta be the full version with the radio channels and organ smashes at the end.

[@yankeehank1897]

Eagles Greatest Hits 1971-1975 did not include Hotel California because it was released in 1976. It did however include Take It To the Limit. I think the album sold so well because the album cover was so iconic and perhaps for most fans in the 70s, having a collection of Eagles hits was enough - they didn't need to buy all their LPs.

[@independenceltd.]

Speaking of GREAT Diamond-Selling Albums: RIP Meat Loaf. I can see Paradise by the dashboard light.

[@BeckyLStoutWriter]

I went to look at the list of all the diamond selling albums and I was surprised at how many greatest hits albums there. I mean, I guess it makes sense since people usually buy those when they're trying to get into a new artist. And also . . . SO MUCH GARTH BROOKS! 😲

[@mirasolbalaga5616]

Country is not my genre, but I can appreciate good country music. I don’t think Garth Brooks songs are that great. I just don’t get it. I did love Friends in Low Places and funny enough, his Billy Joel cover of Shameless. His other songs are just okay.

[@kylelooper2156]

The Santana Supernatural tour is still one of the best concerts I've ever seen. I still love the song Maria Maria. Some of the other songs haven't aged as well for me, but I will probably always love that song.

[@jamesegan2742]

A theme you all referred to in the Whitney week was how her albums were all put together by the record company in an overt effort to sell units, and not to reflect any of her artistry. The force at the record company was Clive Davis. And Clive used the same market-focused alchemy to fashion Supernatural for Santana, one of your disliked diamonds, a link to your artist of the week you failed to mention. It all just reflects the business side of commercial music, most of which is dreck. As Pink Floyd says, “We’re so happy we can hardly count”… the best line in Have A Cigar.

[@toonhkuitjes6382]

Still, Supernatural is a pretty good record not sure whence the condemnation by Kramz like with the Stranger. He’s just trying to get people to react but I’m not falling for it!

[@frodofraggins]

Jason's evil smile as Kramz details writing the music to a Creed song for school.

[@billslocum9819]

Lionel Ritchie's "Can't Slow Down" is up there in diamond-level for sales. Many big hits on it, like "Hello" and "All Night Long" (and "Penny Lover" and "Stuck On You" which was nearly as prominent on radio.) I don't hate Lionel Ritchie, not even for being better in Commodores, and he does have hits I enjoy, e. g. "You Are" and "Say You Say Me" but man is CSD a soft, sleepy, stale-sounding record. I never understood why it blew up in a year that had Michael Jackson, Phil Collins and Hall & Oates to pull in the AC/yacht/light soul audience.

[@toonhkuitjes6382]

I think Lionel Richie is great. There.

[@cheapcinemachannel4548]

@@toonhkuitjes6382 Gotta agree. He had a lot of memorable songs.

[@starry2006]

I'm sure it's his best album by some way, same as Thriller with Jackson. A lesser known track is The Only One.

[@toonhkuitjes6382]

@@matteg490 “There” in like “There, I said it”, “There it is for posterity”. You think these comments are going to be here forever by the way? In any case Say you, say me is a solid track. One of the best pop songs of the 80’s.

[@janpoelkamp4229]

@@toonhkuitjes6382 That bridge is hard to defend, though…

[@andrew10pd34]

Re. Kramzer’s fun fact - Here in the UK, one of the monthly magazines I buy largely for the CD of new music will no longer be doing them. They refer to “a massive global shortage of polycarbonate… and the increased closure of CD manufacturing plants in favour of vinyl pressing plants”. Just as well that I never got rid of my turntable - I’ll miss those monthly CDs though - they’re a great way of keeping at least vaguely in touch with new music. We don’t seem to have Diamond albums over here, so the top-selling album according to wiki is Queen’s Greatest Hits, 23x Platinum which is 6.75 million copies, with ABBA’s Gold at number 2. The rest of the top 5 are Sgt. Pepper, 21, and What’s The Story… at number 5, just 60k short of 5 million. The list goes down to 60, which is Automatic For The People, 2.35 million. Most of the stuff on the list that I don’t like or own is just bland rather than actively offensive - no Bowie, Zeppelin or Stones, but 2 each for Adele and Dido, and plenty of Take That. The 2 bands that did catch my eye as ones whose popularity I never understood were Keane and Snow Patrol - I thought they were both pretty dull.

[@davidellis5141]

Both Uncut & Mojo came with free 💿 back in the day.

[@andrew10pd34]

@@davidellis5141 The newest issue of Mojo doesn't have one, though they say it's just for this month, but Uncut does. I was quoting PROG above - not everyone's cup of tea I know, but I'll miss their CDs, because most of their selections over the years have been pretty decent, and some stuff I really like that I might never have heard otherwise.

[@davidellis5141]

@@andrew10pd34 I imagine that magazine is fired up for the upcoming Porcupine Tree album as am I.

[@andrew10pd34]

@@davidellis5141 Grace for Drowning is by far my favourite Steven Wilson. I have 3 or 4 PT albums which I need to re-visit - I liked them all but none ever fully sunk in - yet:)

[@davidellis5141]

@@andrew10pd34 Deadwing & Anasthesie (SP ? ) are my favorites. Pretty moody affairs.

[@Twotontessie]

For people from the 80s Collins wore us the fcxk out - he was everywhere you couldn’t shut him down. But the guy was talented and worked hard. Great drummer, producer, unlikely pop star and singer. He was badass - I think he earned it. He was not a manufactured fake.

[@roberthardin2133]

Garth Brooks has 4 diamond-selling albums. all of them in the key of UGH!

[@Twotontessie]

That’s good stuff … I don’t mind Garth but that’s pretty funny. I get the sentiment.

[@MyargonautsJason]

two that stand out from the list to me are - Matchbox 20's debut album from 1996... I can't remember any of the songs off this huge seller, and I count that as a good thing, and the fact that Garth Brooks has more albums on this list than anyone else with 7 ranging in sales from 10 million to 21 million. I'm not a country fan, so while I understand he's a somewhat charismatic performer, I will never understand his level of success.

[@rockingbirdey]

I actually did research on Yourself or Someone Like You because I was fascinated by how it sold so much yet besides two songs on the album that are still decently popular the rest of the album left no cultural impact. "Push" and "3 AM" were the big singles on the album and were huge radio hits on both pop radio and alternative rock and mainstream rock radio. However, they weren't released as physical singles, incentivising people to buy the album. It's a strategy record labels used frequently with rock music in the 90s, since rock for the most part is an album-genre The album's post-alternative sound is also of the time, but also influenced by 70s classic rock/album rock. So you appeal to the alternative rock and mainstream rock fans, as well as those who grew up with hard rock/classic rock from the 70s, and those who overlap. I could also see country fans liking the album too because of Rob Thomas' voice - I wouldn't be surprised if it came out that a lot of country fans in the 90s were also fans of post-grunge/alternative rock bands like Creed, Nickelback, Matchbox 20, etc. Country albums tend to sell big numbers since the 90s, even now country does well album sales wise. The album also benefited from Rob Thomas being featured on "Smooth" by Santana, which was the 2nd biggest hit of the 20th Century on the Hot 100, behind "The Twist". He co-wrote "Smooth". Plus, Thomas is a handsome guy, so I'm sure the exposure he got from that song and the music video got M20 some female fans.

[@haydnplus]

This just proves a point; you don’t always base how good a record is off of how well it sold or how high it charted on the Billboard.

[@themusiccritic3196]

What the hell, Kramzer? Tell people not to subscribe? No! This is the best channel on KZbin! Stop mocking yourself! STOP IT!

[@rockingbirdey]

Their Greatest Hits does contain "Take It to the Limit", Joe. I have the album on vinyl. It's the third track on Side two. The album actually works pretty well as a cohesive listen - I wasn't around in the 70s but it does seem to accurately capture the vibe of mellow, chill early-to-mid-70s country/soft rock. The reason why it sold so much is because all you need from the Eagles is that album (complies all their hits off their previous albums which lets be honest who cares about the album tracks) and Hotel California (which has three of their best songs on it and is often considered their best album). Eagles shrewdly captured all the rock and country fans with their sound, making it acceptable for both sides.

[@MrJohnBurger-JB]

Bingo. The Eagles were a different band when Bernie Leadon left and Joe Walsh joined - they became more rock'n'roll. I started buying albums (and getting them for Christmas) in 1977. Eagles GH and Hotel California were 2 of the first 10 I got, and our family played them constantly. Other early purchases - Rumours, Fleetwood Mac "White," Songs in the Key of Life, Ole ELO (a GH album), ELO's A New World Record. Those first five were all huge, and we caught ELO as it started blowing up.

[@davidbeckman7925]

Excellent comment... Except there are a healthy handful of strong deep album cuts on On The Border & One of These Nights & Desperado. 🎵👍

[@billkeon880]

Hootie is the absolute worst. When ever I look at you I go blind….because you are ugly like Medusa….? A pretty girl doesn’t make you go blind. What embarrassing lyrics, and they don’t realize. Most plain generic music ever. Billy Joel is pretty decent, at least he has chord changes, clever lyrics, good melodies…good stuff. Kram must have had a traumatic experience while Joel was playing in the background

[@stevemcgill355]

It's disheartening that so many painfully mediocre albums (movies, books, TV shows) go on to phenomenal commercial success but it's always been that way. Appealing to the lowest common denominator is just good business.

[@curly_wyn]

It’s funny that Jason mentions Cracked Rear View as a baffling diamond-seller. I agree, especially with how it’s so plain and generic and bland and vanilla and boring. BUT, August and Everything After is the exact same thing. It’s the same kind of music and the same kind of album and vibe and lyrics..it’s just the same, and yet you guys do love that one! ;)

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Not the same. You are wrong.

[@kbv3263]

As a Beatles fan, Beatles 1 diamond sales is unbelievable given everyone have most of them.

[@claymccoy]

A lot of Beatles fans are collectors...

[@sharjesm]

Hybrid Theory is pure diamond!

[@awrogers3013]

There’s nothing I can do.I can’t help myself. I hate the Eagles too. What is it that so many people find repulsive? Why it’s Don “expert witness expert “ Henley. I just want Don Henley to know HE DIDNT get away with it.

[@cbctail4029]

In Canada, Diamond status is one million copies sold. Looking at the list, I was pleasantly surprised to see Fully Completely by the Tragically Hip. Give it a listen, gentlemen.

[@brentcooley935]

CDs first superseded vinyl in sales in 1988.

[@justsignmeup911]

Claiming Eagles Greatest Hits was the first best-of album released when the band was active, when another guy has Endless Summer on his wall...

[@Shah-of-the-Shinebox]

I still buy CDs and I buy tons of vinyl

[@brandonleblanc955]

Pretty hard to argue most of these. The Eagles thing was addressed in other comments--that GH album predated the later hits, but by that time it had sold a gazillion copies already. Albums like the first two Whitney Houston and Phil Collins's No Jacket are a product of the time--if you had a lot of hits from one record, the record sold accordingly because that' really how you were able to get those songs. Most of these albums were also very successful because of the zeitgeist. I think you guys hit it spot on about Hootie being huge because of the timing. Supernatural got a huge boost because of Rob Thomas being so big at the time. One album that's sold more than ten million worldwide that I never understood was Peter Frampton's Comes Alive. It's not that it's awful, but is it good enough to justify the sales?

[@janpoelkamp4229]

PF Comes Alive has a very specific vibe. Easy goin’ rock music with enough of an edge to lure the true music lovers in. The somewhat tinny mix adds a lot of atmosphere as well. A lightning in a bottle album.

[@bobsmith3217]

Frampton Comes Alive was a "Hey man" album that got played at a lot of parties and filled up a lot of FM rock radio time.

[@179rich]

"Take It to the Limit" was actually on that first Eagles Greatest Hits album and "Hotel California" leads off the second one.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Yeah I blew it. - Joe

[@179rich]

@@TastesLikeMusic Even when you blow it, you're adorable, so we'll give you a pass.

[@donb9860]

Diamond selling albums I would never ever want to listen to (and weren't talked about), let alone buy would be: Kenny G - Breathless Garth Brooks - Self Titled, No Fences, Sevens, and Ropin' the Wind (who the hell buys this guys shit, much better country artist around, much) *NSYNC - 'N Sync and No Strings Attached Backstreet Boys - Self Titled and Millenium Some others I wouldn't buy, but have a song or two I get why people would.

[@porkins74]

So much fail here lol. Hotel Ca is ‘76. It wasn’t made yet. And Kram, comparing Billy Joel to Creed? Lol. Keep on rocking guys! Always enjoy the shows.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Yeah that’s my point. They hadn’t earned a greatest hits album yet. - Joe

[@rickpaul4216]

I'm not a fan, but "Greatest Hits 1971-75" was released before "Hotel California." That's why so many hits are not on it. They released later compilations. If you have a marginal interest in the Eagles you can get away with this record and “Hotel California,”

[@edgustafson]

Do I lose my TLM street cred if I admit to owning that Hootie & The Blowfish album back in the day? I think that came out when I was like a freshman in college, and it kind of seemed in the same vein as like the Gin Blossoms or Counting Crows. I think those bands have definitely held up better, but Cracked Rear View was huge around that time.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Nah. If you only knew some of the CDs I owned back in the day, we’d probably have to shut the channel down. -Jason

[@TastesLikeMusic]

I still like that album a lot - kram. Plus you are a model commenter to us.

[@edgustafson]

@@TastesLikeMusic We'll see how you guys feel after my controversial Blur opinions next week.

[@davidellis5141]

@@edgustafson Modern Life Is Rubbish 🗑

[@edgustafson]

@@davidellis5141 Not in my top 5. 😮

[@aweekback1]

I love you guys!!!!! Thank you

[@MIchaelMiii]

Cassette sales were up too!

[@ExileOnMyStreet]

Eagles Greatest Hits does contain Take it to the Limit but not anything from Hotel California because it was released prior to that album. It's a near-perfect summation of their first 4 records for people who only enjoy the hits.

[@179rich]

Hootie is like Huey Lewis - populist, totally unthreatening. Like Jason said, kinda plain. No wonder they sold tons of records.

[@michelewiese48]

Really like this comment! But Huey is worse!

[@someguy7424]

I remember Darius Rucker saying in a VH1 interview that he liked Huey Lewis and the News. No surprise there.

[@ianrobinson4200]

Here in NZ, I don't believe the diamond certification exists, but if it did it would be sales of 150,000. Weirdly, the biggest selling non-greatest hits album here is Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits which I don't think is even diamond in the US, great album though. Yeah, when I look at the list of diamond albums in the US and take out the greatest albums (can't really count them because by definition they are stronger collections of songs than most actual albums) most of them range from bad to mediocre tbh. Purple Rain for me is the best of the diamond albums...

[@mirasolbalaga5616]

I’ve just discovered your channel a few days ago, and have been seriously addicted to it. Really enjoy your SOTY series, but I had to click on this video just to share, with my fellow music lovers, my hate for Kid Rock 😀. I never was a fan of his music, ugh, and glad that I don’t share his political views, either. I thought Nickleback sucked before it was fashionable to hate them, so I don’t really hate them, much.

[@bawoman]

Guys when are you doing David Bowie? Love to hear your different opinions about his stuff/

[@TastesLikeMusic]

In about 2 weeks. Blur this week, the. The Darkness, then Bowie

[@bawoman]

@@TastesLikeMusic woohoo awesome!!

[@trickygoose2]

@@TastesLikeMusic It's like the winter of Britain!

[@seawave34]

Falling into you...Celine Dion..Garth Brooks ..any of them

[@mwcool87]

As much as I hate Kid Rock's current musical and political direction, Devil Without A Cause was a banger beginning to end.

[@remyroland2424]

Kid Rock is in the right side of history. Stop believing what the Democrats are telling you.

[@rockingbirdey]

For me, I looked at all the Diamond certified albums and honest there isn't really any album on the list I disliked. At worst, I think some are just average. But I'm really surprised by some of the albums that did go Diamond. Cracked Rear View is one of them. Also, Yourself or Someone Like You. It's a decent album and the singles are great, but it's very much a singles+filler album. The fact it shipped 12 million units is insane to me, because you never hear any of the album tracks on radio when a lot of Diamond-certified rock albums you'll hear some album cuts. I'm Australian and the album sold went 10x Platinum here. I wasn't born until late-'98 so I missed the Matchbox 20 craze. I am pleasantly surprised to see Back in Black by AC/DC and Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf so high.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Matchbox 20 and Hootie are the anomalies. - Joe

[@scottlynchdc]

I really enjoy the videos and this community but do not understand the hatred for Billy Joel, the Eagles or Dave Matthews. These acts have sold millions of records and have large dedicated fan bases. While you may prefer other music, you cannot deny these acts have made an impact on music and culture.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

I mean I really like all of those bands, but not everyone is going to love everything. - Joe

[@garethjenkins6273]

I have no hatred for the acts you have mentioned. They are all so bland and insipid that it is impossible to raise an emotional response.

[@rupertx_x1613]

Just looking at the us diamond albums. My pick… anything by Garth Crooks. 2nd place anything by Adele..

[@rickjensen74]

I’m relieved that Jason didn’t mention The Joshua Tree. I don’t think there’s a single song on there that he likes.

[@TheLocalZeroChannel]

Wow, the highest selling Beatles record that isn't a complilation is the White Album, just outselling Abbey Road. That surprises me.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

White album is 2 records so it counts as double for each unit sold. - Joe

[@TheLocalZeroChannel]

@@TastesLikeMusic Ah.... that explains it.

[@gavinreid2741]

In the UK the top selling album by The Beatles is Sgt Peppers.

[@trickygoose2]

Sgt Pepper is still the biggest selling studio album ever in the UK.

[@markreilly7052]

My vote is for Slippery When Wet. I've hated it for 35 years.

[@fizzyfuzz5878]

Hybrid Theory had super ahead of it's time production/instrumentals that are still very interesting and original to this day. You can't say those songs aren't insanely catchy. To put it side by side with Creed and Kid Rock is so wrong, people actually unironically loved LP then and still to this day

[@burmajones803]

No hating from me on this one. Too easy? Perhaps. Surprised at the Stones Hot Rocks being on the list, tho' I owned a CD copy long ago. Double CD, in fact. (CDs buddy! the now undervalued format. I'm gathering them up at basement prices now. Just call me the Billy Beane of music collecting.)

[@billkeon880]

You should do another March Badness with new contenders that were missed

[@TastesLikeMusic]

It’s a distinct possibility.

[@billkeon880]

@@TastesLikeMusic good

[@kenzoby8300]

Don’t understand the hate for Billy Joel Stranger.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

It’s insane. - Joe

[@matteg490]

Srager has some good songs. Joel has a self-righteous contempt for others and congratulates himself in many songs for seeking flaws in everything. Our Holden Caulfield. He has a contempt for the supposed phoniness or inauthenticity of other people as opposed to the great authenticity of himself. His music is usually so sappy and tiresome “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.” is about Hollywood's phoniness. So is The Entertainer. If I like these song I wouldn't bother critiquing him / Geez who would have imagined a world of phoniness? Billy never get tired of showing us how phony the phonies of this phony world are? Could someone let Billy know he’s phoning his phoniness in? Isn’t there something phony about his hysteria over phoniness? I’m not saying, by the way, that contempt can’t make for great art. Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street,” for example, is one of the most contemptuous songs ever written, but it redeems itself through its black-humored eloquence and it's a great tune. Billy is not up for that task without sound smug. He seems like a chameleon who could fit into an music genre, especially the Borscht belt; I guess that takes talent and is not so bad. She's Always a Woman to Me is a rip off of Dylan's "Just Like a Woman” which is smug itself. Billy's woman “hides like a child” where Dylan’s “breaks just like a little girl.” B.J.’s woman also: is prone to “casual lies,” “steals like a thief,” “takes care of herself,” and “carelessly cuts you and laughs …” Recycling every misogynist cliché in the book. Not that I think Billy thinks this way. Who knows? And if I liked his songs and melodies, I'd never write about him. But his music is sappy and begs to be loved. His songs often have a smug attitude and his music is mediocre . I dislike him just the way he was. Other bad songs are Second Wind and I Go to Extremes . And sure "Only the good die young" is a great song

[@Carback27]

Sorry, I would have commented sooner, but I smashed my screen when Joe said Britney's first album was overrated. You broke my heart.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Sorry Typical. I still love the singles though. - Joe

[@steventalavera2381]

Hysteria is Def Leppard on the downslope. Should’ve been 5-6 million

[@oppothumbs1]

I dont know them well but Hysteria with Foolin, Photograph, Rock of Ages is much better than Hysteria's Pour some sugar on it.

[@t-swizzle8102]

@@oppothumbs1 You see the problem there, right?

[@Ianmackable]

There's a simple reason the Eagles album doesn't include Hotel California, Take it to the Limit, Lyin' Eyes et al: it came out a year before the Hotel California album existed.

[@trickygoose2]

What is weird is that the best-selling album of all-time in America is a greatest hits that excludes a significant number of a band's most well-known songs. I can understand it selling a huge amount in the first few years after it was released in 1976. What seems odd to me is that in the last 40 years or so, a compilation that covers the whole of the group's heyday hasn't usurped it as the one to have. Here in the UK, the biggest selling album of all-time is Queen's Greatest Hits, which only covers up to 1980. However, this period includes pretty much all their best-loved songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, We are the Champions, Somebody to Love and Killer Queen. Their Volume 2 Greatest Hits is still the 10th biggest-selling album ever in the UK.

[@Ianmackable]

@@trickygoose2 In the Eagles' case it could be partly explained by the fact that gazillions of people also bought Hotel California. So if you've got that album and the 71-75 comp, all that's really left is The Long Run, which kind of sucks execpt for one Timothy Schmit, and the comeback album, which no one has listened to more than once. By the way, I was wrong in saying that Take it to the Limit is on Hotel California. It's on One of These Nights, and thus made it onto the 71-75 hits album. Uh, I was also wrong about Lyin' Eyes. I should have said New Kid in Town.

[@ronrubicon1593]

Creed's "What if?" is an awesome song. GTFO.

[@alexm2930]

I hate most of Kid Rick’s stuff but I still love Devil Without A Cause.

[@Kylea1979]

Well, at least after that Kid Rock became a Devil Without a Clue.

[@alexm2930]

@@Kylea1979 Hey that's a good name for an album.

[@mdav30]

I am the only person alive who thinks Rockstar is actually not a terrible song. Credit to the band for making fun of themselves. Catchy lyrics.

[@curly_wyn]

They were not making fun of themselves. Trust me, they were completely serious when they made that shit!

[@markgatica12]

Guys, time travel had not yet been invented in 1976. Eagles Greatest Hits was released in February 1976. Hotel California came out in December 1976. Do the math. (And it does contain Take It To The Limit). And Elton John's Greatest Hits came out in 1974. Pretty sure he had a few more records after that.

[@themediumcheese]

Best thumbnail of 2022

[@jasonrobert4384]

I think RollingStone's rehashed annual Top500 makes the list. Pretty much covers the subject.

[@Kylea1979]

Take it to the Limit was on that Eagles Greatest Hits album.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Yeah I blew it. - Joe

[@siltom1962]

Isn't Take It To the Limit ON Their Greatest Hits? 🤔

[@jamgrieve]

BRC's Some Gave All has Diamond status here in Canada, but only TWO Led Zeppelin albums have Diamond status. I'm not mad, just confused. I guess one million units is a lot in Canada. It's 10 million in the US. Bigger population, so I guess that makes sense.

[@179rich]

Speaking of Creed and Kid Rock at the same time, if memory serves, there's a rather infamous photo of Kid Rock and Scott Stapp sitting side by side on a couch getting head from groupies.

[@EitherEndofAugust]

That is a truly horrific image.

[@EmoBearRights]

Groupies need better standards.

[@keithhanisek2465]

"Man i hate the Eagles!...". Dude I could not agree more

[@jordanpratt9384]

Thank you for the linkin park.When I was in college everyone loved it and I have never got it.....at all.There are people who genuinely think that hybrid theory is the greatest album of all time.

[@michelewiese48]

@Jordan Pratt- I don’t get it either!

[@Vanessa.P]

I bought it when it came out because I liked "One Step Closer" but I didn't like the rest of it. I actually sold it to a kid in my biology class shortly after I bought it. It just wasn't for me.

[@michelewiese48]

Vanessa, Girl you know it’s true!

[@rockingbirdey]

I love Hybrid Theory (even if you don't like it you can't deny how unique it is in terms of how it blends electronica, hip hop, alt-rock, pop rock and alt-metal) but anyone who says it's the greatest album of all time is crazy. Lyrically the album has not aged well with very mediocre and borderline laughable lines.

[@michelewiese48]

@Zach - I’m a big fan of mental health awareness and most nerds, just not Linkin Park. 😊

[@janpoelkamp4229]

Somehow I think Kramzer brought this up first. In defense of The Eagles, I think GH was released before Hotel California.

[@briancox8518]

As much as I like the 70s Doobie brothers the Michael Mcdonald period sucks 76 to 81 Agree with you on santana supernatural sucks and iam a huge santana fan can you consider doing a review of there albums

[@bengalgangster]

the 1st greatest hits i had was elton john 74 maybe

[@independenceltd.]

1. Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975). Cuz a lot of it makes you want to hurl. 2. Michael Jackson - Thriller. 1/2 the sales were schools buying it for kids so they could get on the news. Pop music for 5yr olds. 3. Garth Brooks - Double Live. As if one weren't enough. 4. Hootie & the Blowfish - Cracked Rear View. The women who liked this are now all old, single winos who don't have custody of their kids. The guys who liked it are watching those kids, cuz they thought it was cool that "they" both liked Hootie. 5. Garth Brooks - No Fences. Almost solely responsible for the "country music" of today. Dreck. 6. Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard (Original Soundtrack Album). Most who bought this have still not heard of Dolly Parton. 7. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill. The Hootie crowd, but as edgy as a butter knife. Isn't it ironic... 8. Metallica - When thrash decided they wanted to be Def Leppard. And not the good Def Leppard. 9. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA. Bored in the USA. 10. Def Leppard - Hysteria. Half the guitar rock that was on MTV could be blamed on this flaming pile of poofy air.

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Mostly wrong!

[@independenceltd.]

@@TastesLikeMusic -_-

[@michaelmiller7160]

Good list of the bad.

[@burmajones803]

Mark it Dude! Force Ghost's lengthiest post is abt the diamond albums we love to hate. The phantom steps out of the shadows, briefly.

[@roxannewalsh]

Albums sell in those large numbers only if they find customers who normally do not buy records or not many. The grandmother buying a gift for the kids, the school for the library etc. Those best sellers are in collections of 50 LPs or less, among 2 Christmas albums, a sampler of "Greatest Heavy Metal Ballads", The Hits of 1986, a compilation of Classic artists, and an Abba album. Many people who buy them do not even listen to them that much, they may not have touched them for years until they decide they go to the next garage sale. You do not get diamond albums because you sell music or quality, at that stage you just sell product. Such albums appear in all kind of shops (not just record shops) in the weeks before Christmas or Valentine's Day. They land in shopping carts beside the Crackers and Ice Cream.

[@Jerlwayne]

LOL I’m kinda embarrassed for you guys hating on Eagles 71-75 for not including Hotel California etc. It came out before HC was released and encapsulated all their hits to date. Hate the Eagles or that album if you want, but at least have good reasons 🤷

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Yeah... But people keep buying it after 75, even though it's not a very good greatest hits collection - kram

[@Jerlwayne]

@@TastesLikeMusic LOL whatever that album kicks ass still to this day. Best selling US album of all time. I remember the 70s and the Eagles ruled for good reason.

[@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479]

Remember, a double album such as eagles greatest hits is recorded as 2 album sales, so it's kind of deceiving. Reality is that it's sold half of what they say.. Same with that country singer dood who releases 6 album sets etc and gets nominated for highest selling albums.. Bit of a scam tbh

[@JeffreyPearson]

You're correct about double albums misleadingly counting as two album sales. That said, Eagles Greatest Hits isn't a double; all 10 songs fit on one LP. They did eventually release a GH Vol 2, but that's a separate album entirely.

[@ThePhysicalillusion]

I feel like one of those 92 albums should be considered the absolute worst of all time on the grounds of how many ears it’s infected. Maybe one of these days I will listen to all of them - my guess is I’ll probably hate Kenny G the most.

[@bengalgangster]

here goes im not picking boy bands or single pop stars , all albums i dont hate but just dont care for cracked rear view/ hootie and the blowfish hi infidelity/ reo speedwagon [ i liked this band until this sellout] eliminator/ zz top [ god did i hate this when it came out] dookie / green day [ no thanx] yourself or someone like you/ matchbox 20 i looked at 2 sites and the number of diamond albums differed i saw 92 , 120, and now 96 Go bengals!! santana no no no !!!

[@davidellis5141]

Titans are the weakest # 1 seed in many years. They are very beatable. Good 👍 Luck.

[@LisaTedescoVC]

Who Dey!

[@bengalgangster]

@@LisaTedescoVC WHO DEY !

[@bengalgangster]

@@davidellis5141 thanxs Dude!!

[@davidellis5141]

@@LisaTedescoVC Go Bengals 🐅 !

[@Vanessa.P]

Diamond selling in Canada is one million so Double Diamond (two million) is our top rank it seems and those are a lot of the same ones as the top US ones. I have a lot of the same worst written down. Devil Without a Cause is not Kid Rock's first album which I only know because another KZbinr did a track by track review of his debut and it is horrendously bad. The filler on Britney Spears' debut is not good, "Email My Heart" is so unintentionally hilarious.

[@phillipanderson7398]

How many individual diamond selling albums are there ? There can't be that many- can there ?

[@TastesLikeMusic]

92-ish

[@billkeon880]

Any Hootie album should be on March Badness. It’s Cheese Wiz, plain manufactured goup. Just terrible. Also Joe, Whitney and Phil Collins (plus Huey Lewis) were favourites of the Christian Bale psycho character on the film American Psycho. You need to listen to New Day Rising to clean out all the mental and aural cholesterol from these albums

[@TastesLikeMusic]

Nothing wrong with Hootie. Probably take all of his albums over New Day Rising. - Joe

[@billkeon880]

@@TastesLikeMusic Nickelback light

[@pauldaniels2019]

Eagles Greatest Hits came out before One of These Nights and Hotel Cali

[@ArmandoMPR]

I can’t believe how many records the Eagles have sold. Hotel California is so meh. The tracklist on that album is so funny, every subsequent song is worse than the last one. It’s so fitting that “The Last Resort” ends the album.

[@kylewoolsey6635]

Never understood the Green Day hype. The singer needs to blow his nose. Also, nobody wanted to touch the Titanic soundtrack? Awful! I'm with you on Hootie, Hammer, and Kid Rock.

[@shauncullen3989]

Kid Rock is obnoxious but Devil is a good album and his best. No way it gets one star.

[@threestringsomg]

Kramzer are you saying I'm no longer out of date or uncool for buying CDs and shitting on Spotify?.....🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🤟🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 That's very cool to know🤔😎

[@steverok67]

Good job, guys. Discussing popular things that suck is one of my favorite pastimes, so this was entertaining. While I agree with Kramzer that Billy Joel's music has not aged well, and, while I can't stand him now, there is no way you can put The Stranger at the same level as some of the crap you listed. Also, good job taking No Jacket Required off the list. Far from his best album, but not nearly as low as most of the dreck in this category. Personally, I find Adele's voice and songs to be completely overbearing and irritating,, so she would make my list.

[@ursula3438]

Even if you hated Billy Joel, you shouldn't give "The Stranger" less than 4.5 stars. Billy Joel might have been uncool, he might have been overplayed on the radio for the last 40 years, he might have been too commercial, but he is an incredible musician. Mediocre musicians don't come up with parts like the intro to "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)" and they don't get covered by the likes of a Fred Hersch or a Brad Mehldau.

[@whenfatkillsfat803]

Billy Joel was great when Phil Ramone produced his albums. It's downhill after that.

[@steverok67]

@@whenfatkillsfat803 The Bridge was an awful album, which he produced. Innocent Man has not aged too well either.

[@michelewiese48]

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves” - Carl Jung

[@keithmarus8554]

Awww come on men- Kid Rock’s 98 opus is a drop dead classic! So diverse and clever. His stuff lately is crap though.