The 100 best-selling vinyl albums of the 2010s
Just 20 years ago, vinyl was dead.
At its nadir in 2006, fewer than one million units were sold in the States. The format looked to be as much of a bygone relic as the Atari in the world of video games. But, by 2010, sales had risen sharply to 2.8m, then in 2015, they were at 11.9m, and by the close of the 2010s, they had skyrocketed to 27.5m. So, what was it about the slump of 2006 that made us all think vinyl was a format well worth saving?
What was is about the angular fringes and jeans so tight you could count the change in a pauper’s pocket that prompted the ‘06 uptick of vinyl? Well, the simple explanation posited by plenty of studies is that just as music finally became fully digital, old formats acquired a symbolic value. Vinyl went from an obsolete inconvenience to an authentic piece of art.
But also, on a more personal level, there seemed irksome feeling in the backwash of a digital upload. I remember all too well in the days of my youth uploading songs onto an iPod, with limited space and only a matter of time before an incoming phone call from an auntie wiped out the dial-up internet. With those incumbent restrictions, you had to cull the fat on a record and stick to the singles.
Simultaneously, with a world of music now at your finger tips, you could read for free about revolutions that full-lenght LPs brought about in bygone years. You would read quotes from heroes waxing lyrical impact of concept albums, and suddenly, uploading just your four favourite songs from a cool new band’s favourite record felt a bit icky.
Artists seemed to respond to this trend, too. Huge hits in 2006, like Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, had a vague concept running throughout. Return to Cookie Mountain offered no easy skips. And I distinctly remember the sight of David Letterman holding a new vinyl aloft to introduce a band and thinking, ‘They look cool’ in a Tumblr-coming age where aesthetic was very important.
But from the touch of something tactile to the sense of tangible ownership, beyond the myriad reasons for the mighty rise of vinyl, what were we buying? Well, in 2020, the 100 best-selling vinyl records in the UK for the previous decade were revealed by the Official Charts. The results were a noted mixed bag of trends, classics, and various oddities in between.
Rumours, the now-iconic 1977 record by Fleetwood Mac, takes top spot after it was re-released numerous times on various different coloured exclusive packages (and perhaps more importantly, Stevie Nicks’ collaboration with Harry Styles introduced it to a new generation).
Amy Winehouse and Back To Black came in second spot – a record that, in many ways, felt out of step with the digital age when it first boomed upon release in 2006, anyway. The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd was in at number three, typifying the public craving for a long-form listen to a concept with plenty of meat. And a Guardians Of The Galaxy soundtrack sits alongside The Stone Roses in filling the top five.
Surprisingly, however, amid the unstoppable boom of the 2010 vinyl craze, only four records inside the top 20 were actually released within the decade. Once again, studies have shown that this trend has proven to be a constant throughout the modern life cycle of vinyl. In short, the cheap convenience of streaming takes care of discovery, while vinyl consumption pertains more to building a lasting catalogue.
In essence, you buy what you already know and love to further cherish it rather than racing towards an expense only for it to take up a regrettable spot on your shelf thereafter. We’re careful about what we purchase for both economic and sentimental reasons when it comes to vinyl, and you can’t really go wrong with something like Rumours.
With that in mind, it should come as little surprise that the likes of David Bowie, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Prince and more all make multiple appearances within the list. See the full results, below.
The 100 best selling vinyl albums of the decade
- Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
- Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
- Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon
- Original Soundtrack – Guardians Of The Galaxy – Awesome Mix 1
- The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
- Arctic Monkeys – Am
- Oasis – What’s The Story Morning Glory
- The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
- Nirvana – Nevermind
- Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend
- Queen – Greatest Hits
- The Beatles – Abbey Road
- Oasis – Definitely Maybe
- Ed Sheeran – Divide
- David Bowie – Blackstar
- Nirvana – Unplugged In New York
- David Bowie – Legacy
- Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m
- Led Zeppelin – Four Symbols
- Prince & The Revolution – Purple Rain – Ost
- Original Soundtrack – Pulp Fiction
- Liam Gallagher – As You Were
- Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
- Adele – 25
- Smiths – Hatful Of Hollow
- David Bowie – The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
- Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
- Motion Picture Cast Recording – The Greatest Showman
- Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction
- Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
- Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
- Fleetwood Mac – Greatest Hits
- Royal Blood – Royal Blood
- Eagles – Hotel California
- Rag’n’bone Man – Human
- Pink Floyd – The Wall
- Foo Fighters – Greatest Hits
- Ed Sheeran – X
- Radiohead – Ok Computer
- Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
- Elo – All Over The World – The Very Best Of
- Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin
- David Bowie – Hunky Dory
- The Beatles – The Beatles
- Original Soundtrack – Guardians Of The Galaxy – Awesome Mix 2
- Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin 2
- Noel Gallagher’s High Flying – Who Built The Moon
- Clash – London Calling
- Killers – Hot Fuss
- AC/DC – Back In Black
- George Ezra – Staying At Tamara’s
- The 1975 – I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So
- The Doors – The Doors
- The Beatles – Revolver
- Catfish & The Bottlemen – The Balcony
- Abba – Gold – Greatest Hits
- Green Day – American Idiot
- NWA – Straight Outta Compton
- Queen – Greatest Hits Ii
- The 1975 – The 1975
- Jeff Wayne – The War Of The Worlds
- Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
- Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks
- Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
- Coldplay – A Head Full Of Dreams
- Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
- Adele – 21
- Tame Impala – Currents
- Catfish & The Bottlemen – The Ride
- Liam Gallagher – Why Me? Why Not?
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
- Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
- Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
- Michael Jackson – Thriller
- Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?
- The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
- Nirvana – In Utero
- Blondie – Parallel Lines
- Jeff Buckley – Grace
- The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St.
- Ed Sheeran – +
- David Bowie – Changesonebowie
- The Stone Roses – The Very Best Of
- The Verve – Urban Hymns
- Sam Smith – The Thrill Of It All
- Florence & The Machine – Lungs
- U2 – U218 Singles
- Various Artists – Now That’s What I Call Christmas
- Original Soundtrack – Baby Driver
- David Bowie – Aladdin Sane
- The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico
- Radiohead – In Rainbows
- David Bowie – Nothing Has Changed – The Very Best Of
- Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin 3
- Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell
- Lewis Capaldi – Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent
- Wu-tang Clan – Enter The Wu-tang (36 Chambers)
- Elo – Out Of The Blue
- Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
- Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory
