Black Sabbath :: Charts & Sales History

[Dane]

New Sabbath numbers! Thanks to Heh!

Black Sabbath

* Black Sabbath - 393,000
* Paranoid - 1,427,000
* Master of Reality - 352,000
* Vol. 4 - 260,000
* Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - 293,000
* Sabotage - 223,000
* We Sold Our Soul For Rock N' Roll - 1,135,000
(Guys, I also have a listing for something called We Sold Our Souls For Rent...any ideas?)
* Technical Ecstasy - 127,000
* Never Say Die! - 148,000
* Heaven and Hell - 315,000
* Live At Last - 33,000
* Greatest Hits - 323,000
* Mob Rules - 138,000
* Live Evil - 107,000
* Born Again - 37,000
* Seventh Star - 2,000
* The Eternal Idol - 18,000
* Headless Cross - 37,000
* TYR - 49,000
Dehumanizer - 211,000
Cross Purposes - 97,000
Cross Purposes (Video) - 18,000
Forbidden - 67,000
Under Wheels of Confusion - 13,000
Reunion - 50,000
Best of - 88,000
Past Lives - 108,000
Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978 - 88,000
Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978) - 26,000
Greatest Hits 1970-1978 - 182,000

50,000 for Reunion seems wrong. But a great list of numbers!

[Dane]

To bad Dio sales are so low these days. He's still making great albums, but they strugle to sell 50,000!

And the old ones have stopped selling too.
Here are some Dio sales, calculated sep03-dec06:

Dream Evil 4,000
Lock Up The Wolves 3,000
Strange Highways 1,000
Angry Machines 4,000
Magica 3,000
Killing The Dragon 8,000

Very low catalog sales for a 3-year-plus period! And "Killing the Dragon" was still pretty recent in Sep03 (released May02 + sp.ed. later that year).

"Holy Diver" has sold 16,000 since apr05, so that's a lot healthier, but still low compared to 492,000 from 1991-2005 (which is around 35K a year)! And it was even remastered and re-released in sep05!

As a fan I think he deserves much much better!

[Dane]

Soundscan sales for Dio!

* Holy Diver - 508,000
* The Last In Line - 166,000
* Sacred Heart - 42,000
* Sacred Heart (video) - 42,000
* Intermission - 11,000
* Dream Evil - 56,000
* Lock Up the Wolves - 49,000
Strange Highways - 75,000
Diamonds - Best of Dio - 13,000
Angry Machines - 40,000
Inferno: Last In Live - 51,000
Magica - 50,000
Killing the Dragon - 48,000
Master of the Moon - 32,000
Evil or Divine: Live In NYC - 11,000
Evil or Divine: Live In NYC (Video) - 33,000
Holy Diver: Live - 11,000
Holy Diver: Live (video) - 14,000
* Released before Soundscan.

Thanks! (could your alter ego be Kerry King's Pentagram? )

Interesting numbers. Holy Diver is the huge catalog seller here! Surprised "Sacred heart" has so poor catalog sales, well it never was my fave anyway. That would be "Dream Evil" (and HD of course). 32K for his latest studio release is diappointing...

I believe "Diamonds" is an import album, hence the low numbers for a compilation album.

[Dane]

Just Say Ozzy shipped 250,000. It was certified when EP's only needed 0.25m to go Gold.

Cheers - Basil

Ok. Thanks, when did RIAA change the level to 0.5M to go Gold?

The AC/DC EP "74 Jailbreak" from 1984 went Gold in 1990 (0.25M??) and then Platinum in 2001 (1M??). And it scanned less than 180K from 1991 to 2003....

From Jan 1st 1991 - EP's or Short-Form Albums only needed 250,000 to go Gold and 500,000 Platinum.

This lasted for 4 years until Dec 31st 1995.

So Jailbreak completely unaffected. In 1990 it was 0.5m and in 2001 1m - as for normal "full-length" albums.

Oh, I see. Didn't know that, thanks!

With 284,000 scans since 1991 and 13 weeks on BB200 in 1990 "Just Say Ozzy" would probably have been ready for Gold by now anyway...

[Priestfan]

Soundscan sales for Dio!

* Holy Diver - 508,000

* The Last In Line - 166,000

* Sacred Heart - 42,000

* Sacred Heart (video) - 42,000

* Intermission - 11,000

* Dream Evil - 56,000

* Lock Up the Wolves - 49,000

Strange Highways - 75,000

Diamonds - Best of Dio - 13,000

Angry Machines - 40,000

Inferno: Last In Live - 51,000

Magica - 50,000

Killing the Dragon - 48,000

Master of the Moon - 32,000

Evil or Divine: Live In NYC - 11,000

Evil or Divine: Live In NYC (Video) - 33,000

Holy Diver: Live - 11,000

Holy Diver: Live (video) - 14,000

* Released before Soundscan.

[Basil]

Just Say Ozzy shipped 250,000. It was certified when EP's only needed 0.25m to go Gold.

Cheers - Basil

Ok. Thanks, when did RIAA change the level to 0.5M to go Gold?

The AC/DC EP "74 Jailbreak" from 1984 went Gold in 1990 (0.25M??) and then Platinum in 2001 (1M??). And it scanned less than 180K from 1991 to 2003....

From Jan 1st 1991 - EP's or Short-Form Albums only needed 250,000 to go Gold and 500,000 Platinum.

This lasted for 4 years until Dec 31st 1995.

So Jailbreak completely unaffected. In 1990 it was 0.5m and in 2001 1m - as for normal "full-length" albums.

[Basil]

Great numbers. I saw them too at Sludge.

So are they posting soundscan again? They stopped for ages so I gave up looking.

[Dane]

Just Say Ozzy shipped 250,000. It was certified when EP's only needed 0.25m to go Gold.

Cheers - Basil

Ok. Thanks, when did RIAA change the level to 0.5M to go Gold?

The AC/DC EP "74 Jailbreak" from 1984 went Gold in 1990 (0.25M??) and then Platinum in 2001 (1M??). And it scanned less than 180K from 1991 to 2003....

[Dane]

Some more Sabbath numbers for you. More on the way:

Heaven And Hell: 314,000
Mob Rules: 137,000
Live Evil: 106,000
Dehumanizer: 211,000
Cross Purposes: 97,000
Forbidden: 67,000

Dio is my favourite Sabbath singer and I'm glad to see the Soundscan numbers for his era are pretty decent. The reunion next year should raise interest. And I'm looking forward to the 3 new songs too!

Great numbers. I saw them too at Sludge.
I would have thought numbers for "Dehumanizer" was a bit higher (1992 reunion album released during Soundscan Era). No chance for Gold then.
"Live Evil" should be close to Gold though. 106K since 1991 and a 1983 chart run of 12 weeks including 4 weeks in the top 40!

[Dane]

Germany

None of the Black Sabbath albums have been certified in Germany. Same for Dio.

The only work of Ozzy to have been certified is the single Dreamer, which went GOLD in 2002.

Seems strange. I read in the Deep Purple thread that "Black Sabbath" was the 7th bestselling album of 1970 in Germany and "Paranoid" was #9 in 1971.
Probably due to lazy Record Company.

...and the same approach for Germany

1970

01) Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
02) Easy Rider - Soundtrack
03) Hair - Soundtrack
04) Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin
05) In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly
06) In Rock - Deep Purple
07) Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
08) Abbey Road - Beatles
09) Benefit - Jethro Tull
10) Let It Bleed - Rolling Stones

1971

01) In Rock - Deep Purple
02) Abraxas - Santana
03) Pendulum - Creedence Clearwater Revival
04) Pearl - Janis Joplin
05) Sticky Fingers - Rolling Stones
06) Aqualung - Jethro Tull
07) Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
08) Led Zeppelin III - Led Zeppelin
09) Paranoid - Black Sabbath
10) Tarkus - Emerson, Lake & Palmer

[will231982]

Germany

None of the Black Sabbath albums have been certified in Germany. Same for Dio.

The only work of Ozzy to have been certified is the single Dreamer, which went GOLD in 2002.

[Basil]

Some more Sabbath numbers for you. More on the way:

Very nice indeed.

Many thanks Priestfan!

[Priestfan]

Some more Sabbath numbers for you. More on the way:

Heaven And Hell: 314,000
Mob Rules: 137,000
Live Evil: 106,000
Dehumanizer: 211,000
Cross Purposes: 97,000
Forbidden: 67,000

Dio is my favourite Sabbath singer and I'm glad to see the Soundscan numbers for his era are pretty decent. The reunion next year should raise interest. And I'm looking forward to the 3 new songs too!

[Basil]

I believe that version of "Mr Crowley" is now found in the box-set btw.

Turns out I was wrong, btw.

Yes, the box set was rubbish. Where was the duet with Lita Ford? They could have used live tracks with all 4 main guitarists, plus there must have been more studio alternate takes and so on. All rarities from B-sides should have been included.

Then they could have filled the 4CD's properly instead of including those dreadful covers.

Just Say Ozzy shipped 250,000. It was certified when EP's only needed 0.25m to go Gold.

Cheers - Basil

[Dane]

I believe that version of "Mr Crowley" is now found in the box-set btw.

Turns out I was wrong, btw.

[Kashmir75]

Thanks Basil.

Ozzy:

I'll update when I have more time.
You're right. I definately forgot to include "Just say Ozzy" (I thought an EP needed to ship 500K for Gold too?), I guess I was too much in a hurry. The other two I skipped, but considering they both charted maybe I shouldn't have. I know "Ten Commandments" was available in a limited period only, so no chance it'll ever reach gold I guess. I believe that version of "Mr Crowley" is now found in the box-set btw.


Sabbath:

"Live at Last" finally made it to the US in 2002 as part of the Double disc "Past Lives". And you're right (again) it is a shame nobody seems to care about the Tony Martin era stuff, "Headless Cross" & "Tyr" are great albums!

Headless Cross is one of the best albums I have ever heard. It strays a bit from Sabbaths traditional sound, but there lies its excellence. Songs like 'When Death Calls' and 'Nightwing' are simply amazing.

[Dane]

Thanks Basil.

Ozzy:

I'll update when I have more time.
You're right. I definately forgot to include "Just say Ozzy" (I thought an EP needed to ship 500K for Gold too?), I guess I was too much in a hurry. The other two I skipped, but considering they both charted maybe I shouldn't have. I know "Ten Commandments" was available in a limited period only, so no chance it'll ever reach gold I guess. I believe that version of "Mr Crowley" is now found in the box-set btw.


Sabbath:

"Live at Last" finally made it to the US in 2002 as part of the Double disc "Past Lives". And you're right (again) it is a shame nobody seems to care about the Tony Martin era stuff, "Headless Cross" & "Tyr" are great albums!

[Basil]

Good stuff Dane.

A few more scans

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - 278,000 feb 2005
Heaven and Hell - 277,000 jan 2004

Shame that some of the later albums like Tyr are so forgotten now - they contain some awesome riffs.

Weird that Live At Last never got a US release, though it wasn't all that good it charted at No.5 in the UK.

For Ozzy:-

The 1982 live EP Mr Crowley was classed (and charted) as a album - although only 3 tracks.

It's a must-have for fans because it contains the Definitive version of Mr Crowley recorded on an early UK tour with Randy Rhodes. Great version on Tribute, of course, but somehow lacks the sparkle of this killer live version.

More a proper album was

1990 Just Say Ozzy

This live effort was classed as a short form album and went Gold - 250,000 shipped. It has scanned 281,000

Also in 1990

Ten Commandments - which charted in the US but wasn't available for long.

Ozzy's great sales (every studio album Platinum) must be built on the fantastic guitarists he kept finding - Randy, Jake E Lee, Jake Holmes, Zakk. All brilliant. Plus a tight rhythm section of course.

[will231982]

Finland
Ozzy Osbourne

The Ozzman Cometh 27660 (2002) Gold
The Essential Ozzy Osbourne 16825 (2003) Gold

[Dane]

US

Dio

Key
year of US release
riaa shipment
year of last US certification
title
soundscan (since 1991)

Studio Albums
1983 1,000,000 1989 Holy Diver - 508,000 dec06
1984 1,000,000 1987 The Last In Line - 166,000 dec06
1985 500,000 1985 Sacred Heart - 42,000 dec06
1987 - none Dream Evil - 56,000 dec06
1990 - none Lock Up The Wolves - 49,000 dec06
1994 - none Strange Highways - 75,000 dec06
1996 - none Angry Machines - 40,000 dec06
2000 - none Magica - 50,000 dec06
2002 - none Killing The Dragon - 48,000 dec06
2004 - none Master Of The Moon - 32,000 dec06

Compilations
2000 500,000 2009 The Very Beast Of Dio - 531,000 feb09
2003 - none Stand Up And Shout: Anthology (2cd) - 48,000 dec06

Live Albums
1986 - none Intermission (EP) - 11,000 dec06
1998 - none Last In Live (2cd) - 51,000 dec06
2005 - none Evil Or Devine - 11,000 dec06
2006 - none Holy Diver Live (2cd) - 11,000 dec06


Total RIAA shipment is 3,000,000

This is one of my favorite artists. Ronnie James Dio has an amazing voice. Most Sabbath fans are either fans of Ozzy or Dio. I'm a fan of both (+ I like some of the Tony Martin stuff also).
But as it shows here Ozzy is without question the most commercially successful, both as a Sabbath singer and with his soloband.

Dio's commercial peak was in the mid 80's. Recent albums struggle to even chart on Billboard, let alone reach Gold. Dio's only chart week since 1994 was by "Killing the Dragon" at # 199 in 2002...

[Dane]

US

Ozzy Osbourne

Key
year of US release
riaa shipment
year of last US certification
title
soundscan (aug06)

Studio Albums
1980 4,000,000 1997 Blizzard Of Ozz - 1,218,000
1981 3,000,000 1994 Diary Of A Madman - 909,000
1983 3,000,000 2000 Bark At The Moon - 434,000
1986 2,000,000 1994 The Ultimate Sin - 541,000
1988 2,000,000 1997 No Rest For The Wicked - 818,000
1991 4,000,000 2000 No More Tears - 3,308,000
1995 2,000,000 1999 Ozzmosis - 1,649,000
2001 1,000,000 2003 Down To Earth - 912,000
2005 - none Under Cover - 58,000
2007 500,000 2007 Black Rain - 406,000 nov07

Compilations
1997 2,000,000 2001 The Ozzman Cometh - 1,994,000
2003 250,000 2005 Essential Ozzy Osbourne (2cd) - 660,000 jan08
2005 125,000 2005 Prince Of Darkness (4cd) - 102,000

Live Albums
1982 1,000,000 1992 Speak Of The Devil - 283,000
1987 2,000,000 1997 Tribute - 1,025,000
1990 250,000 1993 Just Say Ozzy (EP) - 284,000
1993 500,000 2000 Live And Loud (2cd) - 668,000
2002 - none Live At Budokan - 144,000

Total shipment is 27.625M.

Early versions of "The Ozzman Cometh" included a bonusdisc, but I don't think it's certified as a double.
The double disc "Essential" is definately ready for Platinum.

His recent covers album tanked (probably because it was in the boxset already) and his previous studio album "Down to earth" didn't do very well either considering the amount of publicity at the time (The Osbournes) and the hit single "Dreamer". I think he lost a lot of his old fanbase with that...

[Dane]

US

Black Sabbath

Key
year of US release
riaa shipment
year of last US certification
title
soundscan jan07

Studio Albums
1970 1,000,000 1986 Black Sabbath - 393,000
1971 4,000,000 1995 Paranoid - 1,682,000 mar14
1971 2,000,000 2001 Master Of Reality - 352,000
1972 1,000,000 1986 Vol. 4 - 260,000
1973 1,000,000 1986 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - 293,000
1975 500,000 1997 Sabotage - 223,000
1976 500,000 1997 technical Ecstasy - 127,000
1978 500,000 1997 Never Say Die - 148,000
1980 1,000,000 1986 - Heaven And Hell 315,000
1981 500,000 1986 Mob Rules - 138,000
1983 - none Born Again - 37,000
1986 - none Seventh Star - 2,000
1987 - none Eternal Idol - 18,000
1989 - none Headless Cross - 37,000
1990 - none Tyr - 49,000
1992 - none Dehumanizer - 211,000
1994 - none Cross Purposes - 97,000
1995 - none Forbidden - 67,000
2009 - none The Devil You Know* 70,000 aug09
2013 - none 13 360,000 apr14

Compilations
1976 2,000,000 2000 We Sold Our Soul For Rock N' Roll - 1,135,000
1980 - none Greatest Hits 323,000
2000 - none Best Of 88,000
2002 - none Symptom Of The Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978 (2cd) - 88,000
2004 - none Black Box: Complete Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978 (9cd) - 26,000
2006 - none Greatest Hits 1970-1978 392,000 mar09
2007 - none The Dio Years 143,000 may09

Live Albums
1980 - none Live at Last - 33,000
1982 - none Live Evil - 107,000
1998 500,000 1999 Reunion (2cd) 501,000
2002 - none Past Lives - 108,000
2007 - none Live From Radio City Music Hall* (2cd) - 6,000 (first week sales)

*as Heaven And Hell

Total shipment is 14.5M.

Except their Platinum 1998 live album "Reunion" none of their output of the past 25 years has been certifed!

The double Platinum "We Sold Our Soul For Rock N' Roll" was originally a 17-track 2LP. It was cut down to a 14-track CD, but a 2CD is available - maybe not in the US though.

The only three compilations to have charted in the US is the 1976 "We Sold Our Soul For Rock N' Roll", the 2006 "Greatest Hits 1970-1978" and 2007's "The Dio Years".