the biggest seling album of all time is now officially 'the eagles- their greatest hits' why?

The most interesting / galling part about the Eagles GH - Amazon has the list price @ $18.98. Amazon's selling it for $5 less, sure, but no doubt other places (in malls) are happy to push it out @ list. You'd think supply & demand would kick in eventually, after one billion million copies sold.

Why the heck should people continue buying a compilation album that has long since become obsolete by other compilations also including the groups' later material?

1 - You can hear "The Eagles Greatest Hits" anytime you want by turning on your local Clear Channel boomer-pander fm frequency.

2 - They suck anyway.

I THINK those figures are worldwide sales, not just USA. But if that's the case, then yeah, it IS surprising to find so many non-USA sales. Here in Canada, though, every little retail outlet, if it has ANY Eagles at all, will have Greatest Hits. This thread has more on the issue:

Top 10 CDs You Can Find in Any Shitty Mall Record Store from Now Until The Earth Falls Into The Sun

(Dunno how to create a proper link, sorry)

1. Eagles are an band that is totally inoffensive without ever seeming lite, so they're soft enough to please just about anyone without making them a shameful purchase.

2. Eagles are also a band that many, many people like but very, very few people love, so a greatest hits is often enough for their semi-fans

3. Their hits are more or less evenly spread out across their first half-dozen albums, so no one non-hits purchase will satisfy people skimming tracklistings in the Eagles rack.

But the only reasons I can think of that have to do with why Vol. 1 is the best seller and not any of their other hits albums:

4. It was released only a couple years into the band's career--I might be mistaken about this, but wasn't that fairly out of the ordinary back in the 70s? These days it happens all the time, but it seems like back then bands would have to be around for a good long while before being deemed comp-worthy. Like I said, I could be wrong, that's just the general impression that I got, and it would help explain the initial sales boom.

5. It was released just before Hotel California, arguably the best and most popular of the band's albums, and also probably the one that brought them something of a new audience, being harder-edged than the rest of the band's material. So everyone that got into the band via HC would want a recap on what the band had done thusfar, hence Vol. 1.

6. This might be a bit of a stretch, but once again as to why Vol. 1 instead of something more recent and thorough, it has that instant cover recognition--far more instantly recognizable than any of the other Eagles albums or greatest hits. So once again, while skimming the Eagles rack at the record store, people are most likely to pick out Vol. 1.

Wait a sec - I SWEAR "Hotel California" was on the Greatest Hits. I even checked out Amazon to make sure? Am I blind?

Anyway, if you're going to blow $18 on an Eagles CD, you should get the live reunion disc (the one w/ the deviled ham logo on the front), as it features A) a lot more songs, B) a lot more Joe Walsh, C) a lot more from ESPN anchor Chris Berman's favorite bassist, Timothy B. Schmidt (falsetOOOOOOOOOOO!) and D) NEWish songs, including a righteous wrong-headed slab of dad-rockin' timeshare-swappin' indignance from Mr. Deadhead Sticker, Don Henley.

Let's go back around 10 years for our answers here. During the big "Record Club Controversy" of the mid-1990s, it was revealed that in the previous, I dunno, five years let's say, the Eagles sales on their greatest hits had doubled (something like 8 million copies), largely due to the deeply discounted "special introductory offers" the clubs had. So you've got sales from people re-buying an album on CD to account for them.

Around the time of HIStory, despite the fact the previous year and a half of bad news for Michael, there were predictions of strong sales for the album due to the greatest hits portion, because only 6% (or something ridiculously low) of Thriller's sales were on CD. The next ten years negative press coverage have not helped Michael's case as a sales force, whereas the Eagles still go on tour every few years to high ticket prices and probably spike their sales accordingly.

I guess so. '71-'75 was released in '76, HC was a '77. Check AMG.

1. Take It Easy
2. Witchy Woman
3. Lyin' Eyes
4. Already Gone
5. Desperado
6. One Of These Nights
7. Tequila Sunrise
8. Take It To The Limit
9. Peaceful, Easy Feeling
10. Best Of My Love

8 of those 10, I could sing the chorus, sorta. (Yeah, yeah, get in line.)

I'd say at least five of them are good.

You'd think the record company (Sony?) would just make both Greatest Hits CDs mid-level priced (since I THINK they've recouped their investment on the things) (unless the music clubs got to their wallets something fierce), then release a souped-up 2-disc retrospective w/ more stuff on it, & just roll in the dough like Demi Moore.

I can sing all those choruses too, and I like at least half of them. I think part of appreciating The Eagles is accepting that they're total assholes and all of their songs are from the POV of total assholes -- and as such, they're pretty convincing.

xpost:
And yeah, "Seven Bridges Road" is abominable.

Top-Selling Record Albums of All Time

As Geir said, the Eagles are only leading in US sales. Worldwide, it's still MJ by a mile.