Agreed. 21 is bigger than any Shania album. That's undebatable.

It sold another 1.99M through Sony BMG and ~3M through Columbia House. 21 is not as big as COO in the U.S.

In terms of sales? no.

album sales were much much higher in late 90's, 11,5 million in the 2010's is much bigger than 15 million in 98.
COO is obviously one of the biggest albums of all time, both US and WW, but 21's figures are easily more impressive imo.

She should use her power for good and perform the entire album E•MO•TION so that two great females can slay side by side

But 21 was released during an Era where album sales have declined. Adjusted I would assume it is way bigger than Shania's albums. It's up there with Thriller.

21 is definitely not bigger than Come On Over..

The Woman In Me, I'd agree with.

I stan Shania but the sales of 2011-2012 aren't the same of 1997-1999.

And no actual reputable organization (SoundScan, Billboard, every other official chart on the planet) counts those club 'sales' for obvious reasons



https://web.archive.org/web/20040804...h/homepage.jsp

exactly, there's a reason nielsen doesn't count those

BMG's sales totals are legitimate. However, they haven't really been significant enough to affect certifications since 2005. Come On Over outsold Metallica's The Black Album (1991) by over 1.5 million. This is why COO is the biggest selling CD of the SoundScan Era, even though Metallica outsold Twain at Soundscan retailers by 700k.

And don't consider me biased toward Country and/or Shania (though I am a fan) -- I really like Metallica, and the band is truly one of Active Rock's founding fathers. I'd rather listen to Metallica than Twain 80% of the time. Active Rock is my favorite format, followed by Alternative and Country.

BMG sales count toward certifications, but they are not sold through SoundScan methods. That's why COO is certified for 20 million while TBA is certified for 16 million (though it should probably be certified for 17 million). So COO has sold 17.5-18 million since its 1997 release, and TBA has sold 16.5-17 million since its release in 1991, right at the beginning of the SoundScan era.

IDK, music clubs were a thing back then, why wouldn't their sales count? I get why it doesn't fit the model of Soundscan but it was a way people were really consuming music at the time.

Come On Over was so massive ultimately, maybe 25 is dominating the market more right now but there's more than way for an album to be a gigantic success. COO had such longevity:

Fred Bronson, who authored Billboard's "Chart Beat" column for many years (from 1994 until BB laid off Bronson and ended the column in that form) answered a question from a reader about BMG music sales. Bronson said the sales were legitimate, but weren't sold in a way that SoundScan could tabulate the numbers.

That's why Bronson said the RIAA counted them toward certifications, but there wasn't a way for BB to add the sales into the BB 200. BMG often reported to the RIAA once a month or so, so actually adding the sales at the time BMG reported them would've counted as 4-5 weeks of sales (giving the titles an inflated total).

We can agree to disagree.

yeah that's a sick longevity but remember this regarding 21:
it has had 84 weeks inside top 10 (shares the record with born in the USA)
it had its best week week 52(?), with a MASSIVE 730k
it has never left BB top200, after something like 255 weeks
it will sell over 400k its fifth year of release
it topped the year-rnd album charts both 2011 and 2012, only the second artist ever to do that, after MJ with Thriller
it spawned 3 number one hits, but Adele only promoted 2 singles properly before dissapearing
it won 7 grammys (iirc)
it's the best selling digital album ever
it never had a re-release or, again iirc, never even really got discounted
and lastly of course, album sales in the 2010's are like third of what sales were back in the late 90's!


i truly dont wanna diminish COO and its out of this world success, but enlighten facts that imo make 21 a more sucessful and "bigger" album than COO.
it really only is Thriller that i can say still is bigger than 21, but to be brutally honest, if Adele would die suddenly, 21 would end up with numbers equal to COO.

Before this thread turns into a Come on Over vs. 21 situation, please can I direct you to this still open thread on the exact same topic:

http://atrl.net/forums/showthread.ph...61363#30861363

That doesn't mean the sales shouldn't count. lol

21 is the biggest album of all time in the US, BB > everyone here.

WW is undeniably Thriller > 21 > everyone else, so I don't get the discussion.