This is my biggest project yet! I've decided to rank all the biggest songs and albums to make it big here in Australia by how well they did on our charts from 1970 to 2009. The reason I'm not including the 2010's and beyond is because let's face it, I want this list to be a celebration of all the biggest and best songs to appeal to us Aussies and I feel that the vast majority of songs and albums that made it big after 2009 won't have the lasting cultural impact that even amid level hit from 1973 still has decades later. I'll be including stats from both the ARIA AND AMR charts meaning that all singles from mid-1988 onwards as well as albums that charted between mid-1988 and late 1998 will have two entries on this list to showcase how well they did on each chart (you'll know the difference when an entry has THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY rather than my commentary on it.) One final thing, this will be presented as a countdown, meaning that I'm breaking tradition by having each entry be more successful than the last as opposed to the opposite like every other list on this site.
#1300
You know a band has been overexposed when their back catalogue becomes a massive success years after its initial release, here's the debut album of Bay city rollers to help fans discover their back catalogue they missed out on two years prior.
#1299
With all of the love their back catalogue has received thanks to the disco backlash finally being seen as the bigoted mistake that it always was, it seems that the Brothers Gibb were prime for a comeback which is exactly what they achieved with this album which saw them continue the adult contemporary approach they had with their previous comeback ESP to massive success. This would lead to a highly successful live album the following year.
#1298
This is another album that was released the previous year to deafening silence for the artist in question only to then gain a bunch of steam this year due to a popular single making it big, in this case we have the second album from Good Charlotte who scored a massive breakthrough here in Australia with the album's second single which allowed it to become a massive hit throughout the year for the punk band.
#1297
This albums placement on this list may surprise my American readers considering this is one of the most successful albums of all time over there, however it wasn't nearly that big here in Australia despite how well the songs permeated on radio here. The album was still a huge success thanks to the vocals of Darius Rucker as well as heartland rock always having a welcomed presence in our music scene.
#1296
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1295
Oh, wow do I remember hearing this nonstop in every commercial at the time of its release, I'm guessing this is how it managed to become such a huge hit for the Potbelleez as the Australian indie band didn't have much support from Triple J at the time which is odd because you'd think the station would promote their music. This was big enough to gain minor success over in NZ shortly after it stormed our charts.
#1294
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1293
The last time anyone cared about Alice Cooper was back in the late 70's when he tried to appeal to a more mainstream market with his adult contemporary ballads, fast forward a decade and we're here with his glam rock album from the height of hair metal which got him back in the mainstream worldwide except for his native America. I guess his fellow Americans felt he was already too old to rock with the younger crowd.
#1292
This was the first of many soundtracks to come from Glee, it was predictably a success here in Australia given how the show was a cultural phenomenon upon its premiere this year.
#1291
This was originally released in 1985 to deafening silence, likely because we didn't need another greatest hits package from the Doors since they were well and truly broken up since 1971. It regained some popularity in 1991 following the release of the biopic named after them, although it was only two years later that it became a huge success here likely because it was released on CD for the first time.
#1290
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1289
This had a bit of a slow start to its success, likely because everyone felt that Nelly Furtado was going to be a one hit wonder with the lead single due to the album being more spiritually inclined than most of the competition this year. It finally became a massive success once the second single was released which set Nelly up for massive success that she only got from her third album later in the decade.
#1288
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1287
This was originally released as Marie Marie to deafening silence, likely due to it missing that instantly catchy track that would become the title track of Shaking's breakthrough album. Indeed, he would see massive success this decade in his native UK as recently as 1987, although in Australia his success would only last him another year before we moved on from the rockabilly revival trend.
#1286
Well at least this live show from Tower Philadelphia was a massive success for David Bowie in Australia, I guess it allowed his next album to be a moderate success which isn't much comfort given that album had a Billboard chart topper for him that failed to become a success here in Australia.
#1285
This was the Cure's biggest album here in Australia, sure they always had some degree of popularity here thanks to their multiple appearances on Countdown, but they never took our mainstream by storm save for this album which spawned their biggest hit as well as their 1992 effort Wish. It wasn't even the lead single which is why the album was a hit twice as it rebounded once the big hit became as such.
#1284
This was an instant success for Nickelback here in Australia, likely because we Aussies wasted no time in making the lead single a huge success compared to the rest of the world where it needed to climb up the charts before it became a best seller worldwide. Their next three albums would be an even bigger success for them, likely because they all managed to spawn more than one hit for them down under.
#1283
This had a slow start to its success here in Australia, mainly because it was released right when the digital charts were finally incorporated onto the main charts which meant that fans had to slowly discover what these guys had to offer on this album. Once they did, they made it a huge success even if they unfortunately didn't stick around for any of their subsequent albums.
#1282
This was released exclusively in Japan the previous year for reasons I can't seem to fathom, I know that Kylie going indie was a strange phenomenon, but she had already done that with her previous album, and it went over well with audiences. In any case she released it internationally this year where it was a huge success for her despite lacking that obvious hit single, although considering how well it did with Triple J listeners, I don't think she minded too much.
#1281
There were a lot of successful disco albums this decade, one of the more prominent ones comes from this trio of women (who weren't actually a family) based on the success of their one and only hit they scored throughout the world. While they never saw the success of the likes of Donna Summer or Gloria Gaynor, they did leave their impact on the disco scene as their big hit continues to light up dance floors to this day.
#1280
It looked like that Pete Murray's debut album would only be a moderate success when it was released the previous year, however it become an overnight success this year thanks to the second single becoming a massive surprise hit for the Australian folk singer this year. I'm willing to bet if digital sales were legal this year, it would've easily been the biggest hit of the year given its ubiquity on the radio.
#1279
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1278
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1277
While he wasn't able to find another hit single going into the new millennium, John Farnham nonetheless managed to retain his popularity with his albums at least during the first half of the decade. I'm not sure why he chose to title this album what it is, perhaps it's a reference to how many years he had been in the music industry as it was indeed around 33 years by this point.
#1276
While they were plenty successful throughout the 90's, the Foo Fighters were inescapable throughout the 00's starting with this album which was (at the time) their most successful thanks to rock music being at the forefront of the music scene along with RNB and hip hop this decade. They would have more success as the decade went on and even survive well into the 2010's when the genre became out of vogue.
#1275
This would be an album that would see massive success this decade in multiple droves, the first was from this year when it along with many other albums was released on CD for the first time. The more prominent way this got popular was when its sequel was finally released later in the decade.
#1274
This didn't seem to last as long on our digital charts as it did on our physical charts, although at least it was a success on our digital storefront likely due to how big "Love generation" was. That song won't be reappearing on this list mainly because it came out months prior to when ARIA began tracking digital sales.
#1273
It had been seven years since Tracy Chapman troubled the charts with her debut single "Fast car," so to see her back in the spotlight with this led single to her fourth album was a bit of a welcome surprise given how well she adapted to the changing sounds of folk music from these two albums. Unfortunately, this comeback was short lived as she once again fell into obscurity after this dropped out of the charts.
#1272
This was all set the become a flop for Green day given how it didn't create much buzz for the trio despite coming off of two successful albums from earlier in the decade, however one of the songs on here was chosen to play over the series finale of Seinfeld which boosted the albums popularity almost a year after its initial release. It did them no favours in retaining a fanbase which resulted in their popularity dwindling in the 00's.
#1271
These guys had been active throughout the entire decade and yet it was only their third album which made them a household name in Australia, I'm guessing it was due to the lead single which featured a very creepy video depicting what I assume is a CGI baby experiencing its first thoughts in what I'm guessing is the mother's fetus. Whatever the case, this album was a massive success for the duo and one that put them on the map of both the alternative and EDM scenes.
#1270
There was a good chance that Newton Faulkner was going to be the British folk singer of choice going into the 2010's, however Ed Sheeran stole that thunder away from him just like Adele took away any chances of either Duffy or Leona Lewis from being the British pop diva of that decade.
#1269
You know prog had taken over the Australian charts in the early 70's when Emerson Lake and Palmer managed to score two entries on this list. This is their first which was by far the bigger of the two, although it was released mere months prior to their other entry still to come on this list.
#1268
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1267
This is the earliest entry from Deep Purple I'll be featuring on this site, it was a massive hit this year and likely would've been as such had Countdown premiered earlier in the year due to how well their final two albums (from their initial run that is) did during the shows launch.
#1266
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1265
This is an interesting entry for Dutch singer Whigfield, namely because she achieved massive success earlier in the decade in the UK with songs such as "Saturday night" and yet this didn't even touch the UK charts despite it being a huge hit in Australia. I guess the Brits had moved on from her style of Europop and EDM in favour of other European artists who failed to find success here in Australia.
#1264
Although "Creep" was a minor success for these girls in Australia when it came out, it was this third single from their sophomore album which finally broke them through into the mainstream down under albeit months after it was already an international success for them. This is a self-empowerment anthem from the trio, one they themselves should've headed from given what was in store for them next.
#1263
Although it was a hit here in Australia, Avril's second album was a huge commercial disappointment due to critics feeling like it was more of the same as her debut album. She took this criticism to heart and did a 180 with her third album which is the type of music that I'm sure her younger self would've been opposed to given how it was clearly meant to appeal to the fanbases of Disney era Britney and Christina.
#1262
You have no idea how inescapable the Riverdance phenomenon was throughout the decade, I'm sure the Corrs owe all of their success here in Australia and eventually around the world to how popular this show was given how Celtic music had always struggled for mainstream popularity over the years. Leave it to Bill Whelan to create a show that was so adorned by audiences that it became synonymous with the decade.
#1261
This was a greatest hits package from Kenny Rogers that was released exclusively here in Australia and NZ, as such it was a huge hit for the country legend in both countries and even prompted him to give us a slightly altered version of his international greatest hits package the following year when he topped the charts with "Lady" on Billboard. This was one way of beginning the 80's and a positive one at that.
#1260
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1259
Peter Blakely was the original lead singer for the Rockmelons, you likely didn't know that as he had already left the band when they broke through with their singles from their album Tales from the city. Fortunately for him, he found success with his own album two years later which he named after the popular pie shop chain throughout Sydney, although he would sadly be a one album wonder.
#1258
This is another song that had more than one version become popular back in the day, as such it has a much lower placement on this list than you would otherwise expect given how the album version of this track proved to be more popular back in the day than the single version.
#1257
While this wasn't her debut album, this was the album which not only launched the career for Enya but also the popularity of new age music as the genre would go on to be a massive success throughout the 90's. This is the only album from her to spawn a huge worldwide hit in the form of its lead single, which no doubt helped other bands and artists like Enigma and Deep Forest find massive success.
#1256
By far the most successful 2d animated film, the Lion king is often considered to be a masterpiece thanks to its groundbreaking animation and its story about a prince reclaiming his throne after being gaslight into giving it up to his abusive uncle (OK this is essentially the story of Hamlet made for kids.) The soundtrack is also skillfully done by Elton John and composers Tim Rice and Hans Zimmer.
#1255
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1254
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1253
This was a bit of a stumble for Led zeppelin back in the day, this is despite the fact that the lead single was a minor success here in Australia which means it was able to chart as opposed to "Stairway to heaven" from their earlier entry on this list.
#1252
It looked like that these two would find more success with each album they released, after all this was more successful than their previous album and their next two albums would be bigger than the rest of their catalogue combined respectively. They weren't able to score a big hit here in Australia off this album which is strange because the third single is one of their more well-known hits.
#1251
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1250
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1249
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1248
This wasn't released as a single here in Australia until a full year after its initial release worldwide, I'm guessing we Aussies didn't want to hear Robbie Williams sing about his complicated feelings towards God but changed our minds around the time he released his swing album. This would be the first of many songs from him to explore his complicated relationship with religion.
#1247
This was the second of three hits that 3oh!3 had in most parts of the world, the first was "Don't trust me" which was a song that was originally uploaded to YouTube before it was picked up as a single several months later and their third hit was a collaboration with Kesha during the height of the club boom. Here they collaborate with Katy Perry for a song that I'm sure most people have forgotten even exists.
#1246
This came from an album that was released two years prior from Crazy town, it's the black sheep of the album given how it was more of a rap rock track similar to what RHCP were doing (it even has a riff from one of their songs) as opposed to the rest of the album which was in the nu metal category. It was a surprise hit for the band likely due to the novelty of it being a love ballad from such a rough looking band.
#1245
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1244
George Benson was one of the bigger musicians of colour to emerge from this decade, this jazz album of his being one of many successful albums he managed to achieve worldwide throughout his career. I'm not sure how he managed to find an audience in Australia when so many of his contemporaries failed to do so.
#1243
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1242
Following the success of their previous album, R.E.M went back to the studio to release what's often considered their magnum opus as it contains many of their most iconic songs. It's by far their most successful album even if it had a bit of a slow start to its success here in Australia, in fact this only became a best seller when the third single became a huge success half a year after its release.
#1241
She was one of the biggest celebrities of the decade, so of course this greatest hits package from Barbra Streisand would be a success for her worldwide upon its initial release. Her popularity would continue to grow in the 80's as she would score her next album would be the biggest of her career, and indeed her film career would also flourish.
#1240
This is the last song to be released that was initially denied access to our main charts due to lacking a physical release, naturally this meant the song would be much more popular on our digital charts than our main charts as many of its contemporaries at the time were able to chart without a physical release.
#1239
This was the second single from Good charlotte's third album Good morning revival, it also remains as their biggest hit in Australia likely due to it being released at the height of emo rock as well as benefitting from strong digital sales which is something that could've boosted the success of their material from earlier in the decade. The band would release one more album in 2010 before going on hiatus while Joel Madden became a judge on the Voice Australia.
#1238
This is the only entry from Akon where he's the lead artist, I guess he wasn't considered very popular on our digital storefront back in the day as the success he had in Australia mostly came from physical sales. None of his other songs as a lead artist even cracked the top twenty on those charts to give you an idea of how unpopular he was on the format.
#1237
Again, we have an entry from early 2006 that I'm sure would've been much higher on this list had ARIA bothered to track digital sales from when it was first released, as is, it was still a massive success for TV rock suggesting the bulk of its popularity came from the digital storefront as well as physical sales.
#1236
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1235
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1234
This was a hit single twice throughout most parts of the world, although this time we're going to be looking at the remix to one of the more popular tracks to come out of the 70's seventeen years after its initial release. Given that this decade was filled with remixes of older songs, it makes sense that this was among the more successful tracks here in Australia given it was good for nostalgia and the dance floors.
#1233
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1232
This was the debut single from one of the more promising RNB stars to emerge from the UK this decade, heck this even managed to crossover to America, that's how much crossover appeal Gabrielle had with this number. While I can see her voice annoying people with how raspy it is, I have to say that I'm in love with it on this track as it works wonders with the production and especially the lyrics.
#1231
Another trend that was out of control during the first half of the decade was the return of older artists on the charts, by far the most successful was Perry Como who scored two massive hits from the album named after this entry we're looking at. Naturally this was another trend that Countdown dealt with when it premiered on our TV a year after this was released.
#1230
Ahh yes, the feminist anthem to end all other feminist anthems, made years before anyone from the fourth wave of feminism was born to boot. If you can believe it, Helen received backlash when this won her a Grammy back in the day due to her referring to God as a woman, let's just say we've come a long way since then if suggesting that God wasn't a man was enough to upset people.
#1229
It would seem odd that Santana would still be popular by the end of the decade only to fade into obscurity going into the 80's, until you remember that MTV launched in 1981 which naturally caused the mainstream to sideline these guys until the late 90's worldwide. Even so, they achieved massive success with their penultimate album of the decade here in Australia which makes this transition rather jarring.
#1228
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1227
Robbie Williams was at the height of his popularity when he released this live album from his concert at Knebworth, which is an annual festival held in the English city of the same name that began tradition in the 70's. From what I can gather, this recording is the most successful to come from the show as far as merchandising is concerned.
#1226
This was the last successful album that ELO released in their discography, I'm guessing because they weren't able to adapt with the MTV era despite making multiple attempts throughout the decade. Here they revert back to their prog roots which I'm sure many of their older fans appreciated seeing as though their last two albums saw them experiment with disco.
#1225
Again, there were no signs of Deep purple slowing down in the mainstream even if they seemed to be a victim of overexposure when this first came out, it's possible that they would've failed to retain their popularity here during the second half of the decade without Countdown pushing them aside because of said overexposure.
#1224
Named after a song Sting rerecorded for this greatest hits package, this album was a success following the confirmation that the trio had broken up for good to allow Sting to pursue his solo career that saw many highs and lows over the years. Indeed, the new version of the title track was a modest success for him proving that fans wanted to hear more from the trio but had to accept that wasn't going to happen.
#1223
This is where it all began for Chris Martin and company, and like most debut albums, it had a bit of a climb to its success here in Australia due to the failure of its lead single. The second single was what got it off the ground worldwide which allowed it to become the success that it was, although the best was still yet to come for the band as their subsequent follow-ups did much better throughout the decade.
#1222
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1221
Even though she scored a massive hit at the start of the decade with "I need your body," Tina Arena was sadly in danger of being dismissed as an Australian knockoff of Paula Abdul when she released her debut album to commercial failure. She took this criticism to heart with her second album which saw her move away from the dance pop of her earlier work and more towards RNB which proved to be a success for her.
#1220
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1219
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1218
This was originally a hit for Brenton Wood in 1967, so it makes sense that Peter Andre would make this his debut single given how he clearly wanted to make a name for himself in the music industry following his loss in a dance competition to Wade Robson and thus him missing out on the chance to meet MJ. I guess Peter got the last laugh as he managed to achieve quite a number of hits worldwide.
#1217
This was originally released on Bob Seger's 1978 album Stranger in town to deafening silence, probably because Bob was considered to be a bit ahead of his time as his popularity didn't shine outside his native America until this was featured in the Tom Cruise flick Risky business (specifically that famous scene where he dances to it in his underwear.) For some reason, this finally became a hit four years after that film in Australia, presumably through the strength of his other big hit this year "Shakedown."
#1216
Well, I guess this wasn't a huge departure from her earlier work as the production does make it fit with the likes of "I'm like a bird" even if the subject matter is about her moving on from a toxic relationship rather than finding her spirituality. Depending on where in the world you're from, this was either the third single from her album or the fourth and final single as the album cycle was different in each country.
#1215
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1214
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1213
I don't know what's stranger, the fact that Sister Janet mead wasn't the first woman of the cloth to find a massive worldwide hit (that honour going to Sœur Sourire from a decade prior) or that she did so with a rock and roll cover of the Lord's prayer. OK so calling this rock and roll is a stretch as this is more of a pop rock track given that it successfully retains the melody of the religious hymn in this rendition.
#1212
This was the only hit that Ross Ryan had in his career, although he made many other attempts to score a hit with his other less gimmicky songs in his career to little avail. Indeed, this song was only a hit due to the novelty of it being the standout track from his album based around the mythological Greek flying horse.
#1211
Well, this is a song that has novelty written all over it, admittedly the reggae craze of this year was a bit of a silly one that was meant to be uplifting to the increasingly troubled times the world was facing this decade, however I don't think many people have ever been able to take this track seriously due to its silly lyrics and campy tone. If you can believe it, these guys were among the most successful artists of the decade in NZ.
#1210
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1209
If you're not a fan of this track then fear not, neither were the presenters of Countdown back in the day as they hilariously referred to this song as "glad to be dead" whenever they found themselves talking about it. As much as I'd like to talk about Patrick Hernandez, the real story to be found here is that this song has backing vocals from the future queen of pop herself Madonna, technically making this her first chart topper in several countries.
#1208
If there was one band who promoted the idea of diversity in the mainstream better than anyone else in the music industry, Culture club would be that band as everything about them (right down to their inception as a band) was built for the purpose of making the world a better place through acceptance of other people. It helps that the music throughout their discography was generally fun like their biggest hit.
#1207
Coyote ugly gets a bit of a bad rep these days, mainly because people don't find it campy enough to be a so bad it's good film whilst also finding it to be too tired and cliched to be a genuinely good film. I personally like it mainly for its uplifting story about a songwriter finding success in the music industry, this theme song from the film being one of the songs she wrote in universe and what transitioned Leann Rimes from country to pop music.
#1206
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1205
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of what many consider to be the greatest album of all time, MJ decided to release Thriller with some additional remixes from musicians of the moment to ensure that it would stand the test of time no matter what would happen to him (he was still alive when it was released after all.) Indeed, the album has stood the test of time given how the original recharted once he died.
#1204
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#1203
It had been almost an entire decade since we last heard from these guys, admittedly one of their members did tragically pass away in the time they were absent from our mainstream so it's not like they were too interested in being household names throughout the 80's. They closed out the decade with this comeback album which seemed to pick up their momentum where it left off with their 1980 effort Planet Claire.
#1202
Chris Brown is someone who greatly benefitted on our digital charts back in the day, although Jordin Sparks was also quite popular on that format meaning that both were equally as instrumental to this duet being a huge success on our digital charts back in the day in addition to its success as a physical single.
#1201
I mentioned that this song did alright thanks to its physical sales here in Australia, however I think we can all agree its placement on this list is a much better representation of how popular it was for RHCP back in the day given that it came from a highly successful album and was flogged on the radios.
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