For information about how to use this forum please check out forum help and policies.
Quote
DandelionPowdermanQuote
stanloveQuote
DandelionPowdermanQuote
Turner68Quote
LieBQuote
DandelionPowderman
The Stones were a live band and Led Zep were both...
I disagree, I think it's the other way around. Or, I guess both were both. Led Zep's albums were ambitious, but they didn't put much more than a four piece band on their albums, whereas the Stones created dense soundscapes with many instruments, sounds, musicians, etc. The great difference between Sympathy for the Devil on Beggars and Ya-Ya's, or between Angie on Goats and Brussels Affair is one of the reasons I think they're so enjoyable to listen to and discover.
Someone should get a you a copy of Physical Graffiti.
True.
Since we're talking sales here, LieB, I think it's safe to say that Zeppelin both sold more studio albums and concert tickets than the Stones did in the 70s.
Then again, only the Stones lasted...
Zeppelin sold more concert tickets in the 70s because they toured more often. The Stones were the bigger attraction when they did tour. I know Zeppelin in the cause of myth making always went around telling everyone they were the bigger attraction but it wasn't true. I am always surprised how often Zeppelin fans repeat it like a reflex.
Well, you can't accuse me for being a big fan
But the last time we discussed this, someone showed numbers from individual 70s tours that surpassed the Stones's numbers.
Quote
Turner68Quote
DandelionPowdermanQuote
stanloveQuote
DandelionPowdermanQuote
Turner68Quote
LieBQuote
DandelionPowderman
The Stones were a live band and Led Zep were both...
I disagree, I think it's the other way around. Or, I guess both were both. Led Zep's albums were ambitious, but they didn't put much more than a four piece band on their albums, whereas the Stones created dense soundscapes with many instruments, sounds, musicians, etc. The great difference between Sympathy for the Devil on Beggars and Ya-Ya's, or between Angie on Goats and Brussels Affair is one of the reasons I think they're so enjoyable to listen to and discover.
Someone should get a you a copy of Physical Graffiti.
True.
Since we're talking sales here, LieB, I think it's safe to say that Zeppelin both sold more studio albums and concert tickets than the Stones did in the 70s.
Then again, only the Stones lasted...
Zeppelin sold more concert tickets in the 70s because they toured more often. The Stones were the bigger attraction when they did tour. I know Zeppelin in the cause of myth making always went around telling everyone they were the bigger attraction but it wasn't true. I am always surprised how often Zeppelin fans repeat it like a reflex.
Well, you can't accuse me for being a big fan
But the last time we discussed this, someone showed numbers from individual 70s tours that surpassed the Stones's numbers.
Led Zeppelin created stadium rock. They were the band that finally broke the Beatles' Shea Stadium attendance record when they played to 56,000 fans at Tampa Stadium, and in 1977 they set a world record for attendance at an indoor stadium by playing for 76,000 in the Pontiac Silverdome.
Their 1973 tour grossed much more than the Stones 1981 tour if you adjust for inflation.
I think the Stones are much better and history will remember them as true groundbreakers second only for the Beatles. But Led Zeppelin was bigger than the Stones in the 1970s in every possible way.
Quote
DandelionPowdermanQuote
stanloveQuote
DandelionPowdermanQuote
Turner68Quote
LieBQuote
DandelionPowderman
The Stones were a live band and Led Zep were both...
I disagree, I think it's the other way around. Or, I guess both were both. Led Zep's albums were ambitious, but they didn't put much more than a four piece band on their albums, whereas the Stones created dense soundscapes with many instruments, sounds, musicians, etc. The great difference between Sympathy for the Devil on Beggars and Ya-Ya's, or between Angie on Goats and Brussels Affair is one of the reasons I think they're so enjoyable to listen to and discover.
Someone should get a you a copy of Physical Graffiti.
True.
Since we're talking sales here, LieB, I think it's safe to say that Zeppelin both sold more studio albums and concert tickets than the Stones did in the 70s.
Then again, only the Stones lasted...
Zeppelin sold more concert tickets in the 70s because they toured more often. The Stones were the bigger attraction when they did tour. I know Zeppelin in the cause of myth making always went around telling everyone they were the bigger attraction but it wasn't true. I am always surprised how often Zeppelin fans repeat it like a reflex.
Well, you can't accuse me for being a big fan
But the last time we discussed this, someone showed numbers from individual 70s tours that surpassed the Stones's numbers.
Quote
JJHMick
Now come on, remember your earliest pre-high school Mathematics class before making up theories: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin (even less) or Pink Floyd have maybe a maximum of 10 long players to take into consideration as big sellers.
200 or even 300 million divided through 10?!
A mark of 20 million copies sold was maybe reached by Saturday Night Fever first and then by Thriller (and even he didn't get close to that figure another time) and both were way after or at the end of the bands mentioned. I remember Mark Knopfler saying to be in doubt whether he has delivered quality with Brothers In Arms at 8 millions sold.
There might be a boom in the 80s with replacing vinyl collections with cds but I'm sure Led Zep didn't participate that much in that whereas the Stones were an active recording act still.
Album sales peaked in the 80s and 90s but there rarely was a record with more than 10 million copies still.
I'm not even sure whether early Beatles albums have fared well in reissues - as they are simply of bad quality except the really outstanding quality of the singles.
The main figures are due to samplers with nill on Led Zep's or Pink Floyd's side (live records can be neglected here).
Do you count in singles sales in those millions?
This is a bit like the statistics on the wealth handled here one or two weeks ago. In that case, I never really read something about calculations on how much one makes in dividends (money earning money), only some silly additions (without which tax paid) of income.
Quote
JJHMick
Thank you, pricepittsburgh, that'll be a lot of calculations to be done - as figures for Gold, Platinum and so on changed from decade to decade and differ from country to country.
Quote
JJHMick
Now come on, remember your earliest pre-high school Mathematics class before making up theories: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin (even less) or Pink Floyd have maybe a maximum of 10 long players to take into consideration as big sellers.
200 or even 300 million divided through 10?!
A mark of 20 million copies sold was maybe reached by Saturday Night Fever first and then by Thriller (and even he didn't get close to that figure another time) and both were way after or at the end of the bands mentioned. I remember Mark Knopfler saying to be in doubt whether he has delivered quality with Brothers In Arms at 8 millions sold.
There might be a boom in the 80s with replacing vinyl collections with cds but I'm sure Led Zep didn't participate that much in that whereas the Stones were an active recording act still.
Album sales peaked in the 80s and 90s but there rarely was a record with more than 10 million copies still.
I'm not even sure whether early Beatles albums have fared well in reissues - as they are simply of bad quality except the really outstanding quality of the singles.
The main figures are due to samplers with nill on Led Zep's or Pink Floyd's side (live records can be neglected here).
Do you count in singles sales in those millions?
This is a bit like the statistics on the wealth handled here one or two weeks ago. In that case, I never really read something about calculations on how much one makes in dividends (money earning money), only some silly additions (without which tax paid) of income.
Quote
Rokyfan
So the whole premise of this thread is that sales reflect quality?
(Does anyone find it surprising that the Stones overall record sales fall so short". . ." )
When I look at who outsold the Stones in (pick any year, pretty much) I come to the conclusion that popularity and quality are unrelated. So, it is not surprising.
Quote
Rokyfan
So the whole premise of this thread is that sales reflect quality?
(Does anyone find it surprising that the Stones overall record sales fall so short". . ." )
When I look at who outsold the Stones in (pick any year, pretty much) I come to the conclusion that popularity and quality are unrelated. So, it is not surprising.
Quote
georgelicks
While I have no "theories", some actual facts should help clear up the misinformation you have been told or read.
First, let's talk about the U.S. for example:
Soundscan has recorded the Stones have outsold Led Zeppelin in total album sales 1991-2013:
The Beatles - 56m
Pink Floyd - 35m
U2 - 33m
Elvis Presley - 30m
Aerosmith - 29m
AC/DC - 27m
Rolling Stones - 26m
Led Zeppelin - 25m
Second, the Rolling Stones have sold more digital singles than Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd have sold albums. The Stones had sold over 6,000,000 songs digitally between 2006-2008 only in the U.S according to Soundscan. Paint It Black was named best selling song of the 1960's in 2007 with 400,000 copies sold and now must be close (or over to) 2.000,000 copies. Sympathy for the Devil is approaching 1,500,000 digital sales and Gimme Shelter has sold over 1,000.000 too.
Third, the Stones were always promoted as a singles band, which were bought by the millions, far surpassing Floyd or Zeppelin. All those millions of singles aren't included on album sales lists.
Fourth, the Stones have more compilation albums than they have studio albums, while Zeppelin and Floyd have one or two, which cuts down album sales. Take for example one of the most popular songs of the Stones: Brown Sugar. The single sold well over 500,000 copies in U.S. upon relase. Then it was on Sticky Fingers, which has sold around 3.500,000-4.000,000 copies. Then only 6 months later it was on Hot Rocks, which sold 7-8 millions more. Then it was on Made in the Shade, which sold well over 1,000,000 copies. Then it was on Rewind, which sold over 500,000 copies. Then it was London Years, which sold almost 1,000,000 copies even with triple counting. THEN it was on Forty Licks which sold almost 3,000,000 copies, THEN it was on Jump Back which has sold nearly 2,000,000 copies by Soundscan, THEN it was on GRRR! which has sold nearly 300,000 copies and then we have the live albums too, it's on Love You Live (over a million copies sold), Flashpoint (another million) and Live Licks/Shine a Light/Hyde Park Live (close to 500,000 copies combined). Add all that up and you get close to 23,000,000 copies of Brown Sugar sold in the U.S. alone! This doesn't even include the digital sales of Brown Sugar!
And last, people like Stones SONGS, not the albums they are on, as reflected above. They have no album that was an entity unto itself such as The Wall, ZEP IV or DSOTH. People buy whatever has the songs they want. Hot Rocks itself has probably sold at or beyond the 10,000,000 copy mark (about 60,000-70,000 copies this year alone so far), even when not counting it double as the RIAA might (this is debatable as it was released on a SINGLE (not double) 8 track tape and a SINGLE cassette for many years).
Hope that helps ease our minds.
Quote
treaclefingers
A lot of the Beatles subsequent sales had to do with people sheepishly replacing the albums they'd burned after the Lennon bigger than Jesus comment.
Quote
Turner68Quote
DandelionPowdermanQuote
stanloveQuote
DandelionPowdermanQuote
Turner68Quote
LieBQuote
DandelionPowderman
The Stones were a live band and Led Zep were both...
I disagree, I think it's the other way around. Or, I guess both were both. Led Zep's albums were ambitious, but they didn't put much more than a four piece band on their albums, whereas the Stones created dense soundscapes with many instruments, sounds, musicians, etc. The great difference between Sympathy for the Devil on Beggars and Ya-Ya's, or between Angie on Goats and Brussels Affair is one of the reasons I think they're so enjoyable to listen to and discover.
Someone should get a you a copy of Physical Graffiti.
True.
Since we're talking sales here, LieB, I think it's safe to say that Zeppelin both sold more studio albums and concert tickets than the Stones did in the 70s.
Then again, only the Stones lasted...
Zeppelin sold more concert tickets in the 70s because they toured more often. The Stones were the bigger attraction when they did tour. I know Zeppelin in the cause of myth making always went around telling everyone they were the bigger attraction but it wasn't true. I am always surprised how often Zeppelin fans repeat it like a reflex.
Well, you can't accuse me for being a big fan
But the last time we discussed this, someone showed numbers from individual 70s tours that surpassed the Stones's numbers.
Led Zeppelin created stadium rock. They were the band that finally broke the Beatles' Shea Stadium attendance record when they played to 56,000 fans at Tampa Stadium, and in 1977 they set a world record for attendance at an indoor stadium by playing for 76,000 in the Pontiac Silverdome.
Their 1973 tour grossed much more than the Stones 1981 tour if you adjust for inflation.
I think the Stones are much better and history will remember them as true groundbreakers second only for the Beatles. But Led Zeppelin was bigger than the Stones in the 1970s in every possible way.
Quote
georgelicks
While I have no "theories", some actual facts should help clear up the misinformation you have been told or read.
First, let's talk about the U.S. for example:
Soundscan has recorded the Stones have outsold Led Zeppelin in total album sales 1991-2013:
The Beatles - 56m
Pink Floyd - 35m
U2 - 33m
Elvis Presley - 30m
Aerosmith - 29m
AC/DC - 27m
Rolling Stones - 26m
Led Zeppelin - 25m
Second, the Rolling Stones have sold more digital singles than Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd have sold albums. The Stones had sold over 6,000,000 songs digitally between 2006-2008 only in the U.S according to Soundscan. Paint It Black was named best selling song of the 1960's in 2007 with 400,000 copies sold and now must be close (or over to) 2.000,000 copies. Sympathy for the Devil is approaching 1,500,000 digital sales and Gimme Shelter has sold over 1,000.000 too.
Third, the Stones were always promoted as a singles band, which were bought by the millions, far surpassing Floyd or Zeppelin. All those millions of singles aren't included on album sales lists.
Fourth, the Stones have more compilation albums than they have studio albums, while Zeppelin and Floyd have one or two, which cuts down album sales. Take for example one of the most popular songs of the Stones: Brown Sugar. The single sold well over 500,000 copies in U.S. upon relase. Then it was on Sticky Fingers, which has sold around 3.500,000-4.000,000 copies. Then only 6 months later it was on Hot Rocks, which sold 7-8 millions more. Then it was on Made in the Shade, which sold well over 1,000,000 copies. Then it was on Rewind, which sold over 500,000 copies. Then it was London Years, which sold almost 1,000,000 copies even with triple counting. THEN it was on Forty Licks which sold almost 3,000,000 copies, THEN it was on Jump Back which has sold nearly 2,000,000 copies by Soundscan, THEN it was on GRRR! which has sold nearly 300,000 copies and then we have the live albums too, it's on Love You Live (over a million copies sold), Flashpoint (another million) and Live Licks/Shine a Light/Hyde Park Live (close to 500,000 copies combined). Add all that up and you get close to 23,000,000 copies of Brown Sugar sold in the U.S. alone! This doesn't even include the digital sales of Brown Sugar!
And last, people like Stones SONGS, not the albums they are on, as reflected above. They have no album that was an entity unto itself such as The Wall, ZEP IV or DSOTH. People buy whatever has the songs they want. Hot Rocks itself has probably sold at or beyond the 10,000,000 copy mark (about 60,000-70,000 copies this year alone so far), even when not counting it double as the RIAA might (this is debatable as it was released on a SINGLE (not double) 8 track tape and a SINGLE cassette for many years).
Hope that helps ease our minds.
Quote
stanlove
THis is actually what I am talking about with the Zeppelin myth. The Zeppelin 1973 tour grossed more then the Stones 1981 tour? What..Not even close.
The Stones 1975 tour blew Zeppelin 1973 or 1975 tours away in terms of gross. I have never understood these claims from Zeppelin people. The Stones charged more per ticket and played bigger crowds in 1975 then Zeppelin did in 1973 or 1975. Yes somehow Zeppelin people always claim they out grossed the Stones per concert. How is that possible? Sometimes I think Zeppelin people are just not that good at math.
Quote
georgelicks
Let's take another Stones classic as Satisfaction:
The single: 1,5 m
Out Of Our Heads: 1,5 m
Big Hits: 3 m
Got Live If You Want It: 1 m
Hot Rocks: 8-10 m
Still Life: 1 m
Singles Collection: 1 m
Flashpoint: 1 m
40 Licks: 3 m
Grrr: 0,3 m
Live licks/SAL/Hyde Park: 0,5 m
Digital single: 0,7 m (as of 2013)
Total: 22-24 million copies sold in the U.S
Quote
2120WolfQuote
treaclefingers
A lot of the Beatles subsequent sales had to do with people sheepishly replacing the albums they'd burned after the Lennon bigger than Jesus comment.
That was mainly in the south...those people never recovered they are still burning crosses and fighting the cival war. My guess is none of them ever bought another album of any kind. How many do you think they really burned ??? a couple thousand maybe ???
Quote
JJHMick
Georgelicks the Deus ex Machina! Why starting a discussion? Why coming to the brink of being impolite to each other though we are fans of the same thing(s). It only needs Georgelicks (any "Eurosales"/Other continents expert around here?!): He explains the world to us. And makes us smile. The Stones fan is a digital native? I am really surprised.
Ok, next criteria: Almost all bands mentioned here have (that includes Abba or Queen) have a total period of creativity of about 10 years - then they dissolved. Ours have more than 50 years with a net sum of... well let Charlie answer it on an earlier Occasion '20 years of Rolling Stones? 10 years of working, 10 years hanging around'. That makes at least a net of 25 years. More than the others anyway...
Regarding live comparisons: I think the Stones always have been first to do big and unique tours. Say, 1975 first US tour stadiums only, 1982 first Europe tour stadiums only. The first to have played MSG something like a week or 10 times Tokyo Dome.
Is there no place for Michael Jackson in the statistics? He must have had some records in recording records?