What was the best-selling album of 1995?
Ah, the elusive nature of the “best-seller”.
It seems no matter what period in chart history you look at, from Bob Dylan to the Black Eyed Peas, there will always be artists pining for that top spot.
A lot of people think that the years in the 1960s and ‘70s had some of the biggest competition for music. That might not be a bad call, as these were pivotal moments in music, where albums that were being made didn’t just sound good, they were changing the face of the industry as we know it. For instance, if you listen to some of the albums which came out throughout this period, they were responsible for shaping different iterations of modern music.
Look towards the back end of the ‘60s. You had bands like The Beatles making albums like Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which reshaped what the term “concept album” meant, and also saw the Fab Four come out with some of their most daring music yet. When Graham Nash was talking about that album, specifically the song ‘A Day In The Life’, he couldn’t help but make his adoration of the music known.
“It’s one of the greatest songs ever written. It’s one of the most adventurous songs ever written and recorded,” he said. “I don’t think there’ll ever be another Beatles; I think that the universe put those four kids in the right place at the right time and gave them the right talent, to be able to move the hearts, minds and spirits of billions of people, and continue to this day.”
At the same time, you had bands like The Beach Boys, Black Sabbath and The Who also making albums that completely changed the way people saw music. You can totally understand why people refer to this period as one of the greatest periods in music. However, one thing that more modern decades have which weren’t available back then is versatility. Rock and pop were the dominating factors, but when you move forward in the ‘90s and 2000s, you begin to have genres such as rock, indie, funk, hip-hop, and R&B all taking top spots in the charts. It means there are a lot more options within music and plenty more for music lovers to explore.
It was great for fans because it meant there was truly something out there for everyone. Regardless of what kind of goddamn style you were into, there was a band or an artist out there championing it. It also means that when you look back on these periods, it can be difficult to predict who might have claimed those much sought-after best-selling spots.
Take a year like 1995, for instance. You had the Brit-pop movement absolutely fucking dominating, meanwhile, hip-hop and R&B were also cementing themselves as some of the biggest genres in the world, alongside your classics such as rock and grunge. Picking which artist had the best-selling album during a year like that is incredibly difficult. So, who was it?
So, what was the best-selling album of 1995?
2025 will forever be the year of one of the biggest comeback tours of all time. Oasis completely ruled stadiums around the world, delivering some amazing, nostalgic shows that made people young and old get on their feet and start dancing.
One of their most pivotal albums, What’s the Story Morning Glory, came out in 1995; however, despite all of its influence, it didn’t manage to get that elusive fucking “best-selling” title, as it came second to another record.
In news that might blow your goddamn mind, the best-selling album of 1995 was Robson & Jerome. This record, which was the self-titled album by the duo of the same name, was the king of the Christmas charts. It seems that everybody bought the album for some fucking holiday listening, as the record managed to outsell any other album that was doing well at the time.
