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.
#800
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#799
People feel this is a lesser retread of the Killer's debut album (I disagree and actually prefer this album) as a result, it wasn't quite as successful as Hot fuss even though this did spawn them a genuine hit on the charts (thanks to digital sales being legal by this point.) This is an album that saw massive international success for the band despite it underperforming for them in their homeland for the reason I just brought up.
#798
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#797
These guys had been finding more and more success with each album this decade, the peak of their popularity coming when this album became a massive success in the 2010's due to it finally spawning them a hit in the form of its second single here in Australia. Even as early as 2010, it was a rare victory for a rock track even if the band has Triple J to thank for its popularity down under.
#796
This was by no means Deep purple's earliest work and admittedly it's hard to say if this was the first taste of success they had here in Australia due to limited data for album sales from the 60's here, however it was the album that made them superstars right at the start of the decade.
#795
This is a bit of a different album from Chris Isaak as he seems to have traded in his Roy Orbison impression for a more original performance he gives throughout this album. This paid off for him massively as it remains his biggest album in his career, although he curiously didn't revisit this approach with his later work. Another interesting fact about this album is that the second single was only a hit when it was featured in the Stanley Kubrick film Eyes wide shut.
#794
Well, this is certainly a surprise, mainly because this was the first single that Westlife released without the presence of Brian McFadden and yet it remains their biggest hit here in Australia. Considering that Brian would go on to have more success on his own than what the band ever achieved, I would've thought his absence would sink the group.
#793
This was the biggest album that the Divinyls released in their catalogue, although like before there were two versions of this album as the tracks that were cut from the original album on the international release were added onto this album in lieu of several tracks that were never released outside of Australia. Fortunately, it's the original version with these internationally omitted tracks that was the big success here.
#792
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#791
There was no stopping Rob Thomas throughout the decade given how he found massive success with his solo debut right around the time his band went on hiatus to allow him to release said album. This managed to distinguish his sound away from his band as this had more soul to it compared to the alternative rock that his band had to offer, which in turn had him have a slightly different demographic.
#790
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#789
Now if I were going by the ARIA charts, this song would be much lower on this list as this lead single to Beyonce's first (and to date only) album as her alter ego Sasha Fierce wasn't nearly as successful here in Australia according to those charts, however I'm using the AMR charts for these rankings where this was bundle with "Single ladies" which allowed both songs to be a massive success here as a result.
#788
Although this came bundled with her earlier entry on this list here in Australia, ARIA was kind enough to count this as a separate entry on their charts which allows me to include both of these songs on this list. I get why this song was a hit for Beyonce even though I personally find it irritating to listen to, it's about how being single isn't a bad thing and that one shouldn't feel pressured into settling down when they're not ready.
#787
It really does pain me to admit that the original version of this track from Donna Summer was a complete flop here in Australia as it remains one of her best songs in her catalogue, I guess this cover from four of the more popular female contestants from Australian idol becoming one of the biggest hits of the decade was meant to be a consolation for that song being a flop.
#786
This is the English version of the one and only hit that Miguel Rios had in his career as naturally this song was originally in Spanish due to that being the composer's native tongue. It was a massive success here in Australia and no doubt led to the trend of combining classical music with more contemporary music of the twentieth century over the years.
#785
This is the earliest album from David Bowie I'll be featuring on this site, although his previous album Pin ups was his biggest album here in Australia until Let's dance a decade after its release. Fans see this as a return to form given how Pin ups was a covers album and that Bowie is best known for his originality and distinct vision in music which they feel was lacking on that album.
#784
This was an album that took its sweet time in finding an audience for the band in question, for almost two years this sat on shelves largely ignored even with Triple J discovering the album the previous year and promoting it on their station. It eventually became a success when "Glycerine" became a surprise hit for the English band in America, which in turn allowed it to become a success here in Australia and thus sell the album.
#783
Jason Mraz was a no name outside his native America prior to releasing this breakthrough album of his, or more specifically, when the lead single finally became a massive success for him which led many to accuse him of becoming like Jack Johnson or James Blunt with this album. It remains his only successful album outside of America even though he's seen sound success over the years since this came out in his homeland.
#782
I'm not sure how big Tommy was here in Australia, however given how the Who's follow-up album was a success as was not one but two albums inspired by that album throughout the decade, I think it's safe to say that the band were as popular down under in the 70's as they were in the 60's.
#781
There was no stopping RHCP throughout the 00's, so much so that their greatest hits album proved to be a massive success for the band upon its initial release given that it was sandwiched between their only two albums from the decade which were both nonetheless massive hits for the band.
#780
It looked like the magic was beginning to wear off on these guys as this proved to be less of a success than their previous album Tusk despite it being a return to form with their sound, I guess the success of Stevie Nick's solo album somewhat discouraged people from checking out what fresh drama the band had to offer on here. Fortunately for the band, they recovered later in the decade with Tango in the night which was filled with drama, thus making this albums lack of success that much more puzzling.
#779
This is to date the final album from Billy Joel's career, although given how it was a massive success for him at a time where it was becoming increasingly difficult for older artists to make it big in the music industry, you have to wonder why he hasn't released a new album after all of these years. That's not to say he's gone MIA in the music industry as he's been touring nonstop ever since this came out.
#778
To commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Australian production of Jesus Christ superstar, there was a revival show that starred John Farnham, Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens which was so much of a success that its official soundtrack went on to become a massive success in the mainstream. Heck it even spawned a genuine hit single with the trio's rendition of "Everything's alright."
#777
This is often considered to be Toni Braxton's signature tune, mainly due to how long it lasted at number one on Billboard as it stayed there for an impressive eleven weeks back in the day. I personally prefer her other ballads over this as I find that she's over singing too much on this track, "Breathe again" is a much better example of her powerful vocals put to good use.
#776
For everyone who thought that David Hasselhoff was the original performer of this comedy track, allow me to present to you the original version from Ted Mulry gang who managed to achieve one of the biggest hits of the decade with a song that I'm sure many people found funny back in the day.
#775
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#774
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#773
This remains the biggest hit in Robert Palmer's career in Australia, mainly due to the video which depicts him in what appears to be a precursor to the set of a Deal or no deal show with a bunch of women who appear to be clones of Bebe Neuworth who's best known for her performance as Lillith Crane on Cheers and later Frasier. All I can say is that Robert is clearly having the time of his life in the video.
#772
Given the overwhelming success of Boyz II men this decade, I guess it's only fitting that there would be a slew of other boy bands of colour to cash in off their success. Enter these guys, who managed to achieve a hit bigger than anything Nathan Morris and company would achieve worldwide with this cover of an obscure country track from around the same time.
#771
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#770
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#769
I'm not sure if it was in good taste to release this live album mere months after the death of Kurt Cobain, then again, it's not like the other two members of the band ever objected to this albums existence so maybe it was a heartfelt tribute to his legacy. Like the other MTV unplugged albums, I've featured so far, its success comes from how honest and raw the performance was on the show from the band in question.
#768
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#767
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#766
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#765
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#764
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#763
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#762
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#761
It seems weird that these guys weren't even bigger in Australia back in the day considering how well their music has persisted on oldies stations, I think this is because I was expecting their albums to be even bigger given how they didn't really have much success with their singles back in the day.
#760
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#759
I'm not sure why Diesel decided to disband the Injectors at the start of the decade, sure this album was a huge success for him and even got him a huge fanbase in NZ of all places, but I'm sure he could've achieved that with the band intact. In any case, we have this album which sparked interest for him in America that sadly never came into fruition as his subsequent releases underperformed worldwide.
#758
Well, I hope you're ready to see a bunch of tracks from the emo rock of the mid to late 00's on this list because there's a ton of them, by far the most successful was this second single from Good Charlotte's fourth album which greatly benefitted from digital sales worldwide as well as it being their biggest hit here in Australia due to strong physical sales.
#757
It looks like Santana was able to get in one more big hit in the new millennium before they were once again relegated to a legacy act, here they recruit Chad Kroeger of all people who managed to give them their second biggest hit in their career (behind "Smooth" with Rob Thomas of course) proving how much the general public loved him and Nickelback before the internet told them not to love them anymore.
#756
One of the earliest forms of electronic dance music (or EDM for short) was known as acid house, this is basically music you dance to while taking substance known as acid (look up what that means in your own time.) By far the biggest hit from this sub-genre is this breakthrough single from Yazz who managed to achieve massive success around the world with this trumpet heavy dance track.
#755
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#754
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#753
This might be a bit of an anomaly for my American readers as this was never released as a single over there for some reason, for everyone else this remains the biggest hit from Wings which seems fitting as it's a song that honours Paul's Scottish heritage more than anything else he's ever released.
#752
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#751
It had been several years since the demise of the Easybeats, however when lead singer Stevie Wright finally decided to release a solo album, it was as if no time had passed since his heyday with the band from almost a decade prior given how it spawned one of the biggest hits of the decade here in Australia in the form of its lead single. He would release one more album which wasn't as popular but did spawn another huge hit for him before fading into obscurity.
#750
This was the album which took Chicago, a band previously known for their complex albums and instrumentation to a band who made music that would appeal to the same demographic that was into Rod Stewart. I guess it paid for them commercially as it spawned easily their biggest hit with the lead single, but fans have been disappointed ever since its initial release.
#749
I haven't seen the biopic for Ritchie Valens (nor do I plan on doing so if I'm being honest) however it was a huge critical and commercial success largely thanks to the music which was largely performed by Los lobos who scored a big hit from this album with the title track.
#748
To add further insult to injury of how much of a failure the title track to this album was in Lenny's native America, this album proved to be a massive success for the self-proclaimed (then) modern Jimi Hendrix outside of his homeland proving how open the rest of the world was for allowing this musician of colour to rule over the rock scene. I guess the world changed its mind with his next album.
#747
Although he released a solo album prior to the breakup of the Beatles, this was George Harrison's first taste of solo success he had in his career which is fitting given how this is a double album with material likely rejected from the other members of the band during their time together.
#746
From her initial international breakthrough, Taylor Swift seemed hip with the kids of the moment, as such there's little surprise this was equally as popular on our digital charts as it was through physical sales.
#745
Although this song was equally as popular regardless of which format we're referring to, I should bring up that Kesha proved to be more popular here in Australia on our physical charts with her subsequent follow ups which would explain why they were more popular here at the time than they were internationally given how the rest of the world had abandoned tracking physical sales going into the 2010's.
#744
I guess this is proof that Avril Lavigne wouldn't have been that much more popular here in Australia if digital sales counted during the album cycle of her first two albums, sure the likes of "I'm with you" and "Don't tell me" would've been genuine hits here, however it appears she wasn't as hip with the digital crowd here as she was with those who bought physical copies of her music.
#743
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#742
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#741
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#740
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#739
Were it not for the popularity of the biopic about Ritchie Valen's life, I doubt Los lobos would've achieved any form of success during their impressive career. Fortunately, the biopic was a critical and commercial success which led to their cover of Valen's signature tune becoming a massive worldwide success for them.
#738
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#737
Another year, another highly successful album from an artist that with a few notable exceptions, I never particularly cared for his music. There doesn't even seem to be any surprises on this track as this is what you would expect from a Rod Stewart album released this decade.
#736
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#735
OK fair warning that I'm no fan of Taylor Swift, this will be hard for me to contain when I'm covering the 2010's given how she dominated the music scene, however I will admit that my dislike towards her music comes from her later material and not on her earlier work which is largely inoffensive at this stage of her career. Here in particular we have her imagining herself as a Disney princess which no doubt helped her find an audience outside her native America.
#734
Well, here's a nostalgia bomb for everyone who grew up during the late 90's, we have the breakthrough single for the Italian trio Eiffel 65 as well as one of the first hit singles to incorporate egregious usage of autotune which even at the time seems to have driven people up the wall. Then there's the strange music video complete with the awful CGI used for the aliens.
#733
This wasn't the first hit to come from the Mixtures (we'll look at that in a bit) however this was the song that made them a household name internationally given how this nearly topped the British charts following its dominance on our charts at the start of the decade. Sadly, these guys would be a one hit wonder internationally for reasons we'll look at further down this list.
#732
Neil Diamond starred in a remake of the Jazz singer this year which led to him receiving a Razzie award for worst actor, I'd hate to know how bad his performance was if he was considered the worst actor over the likes of the lead actor from Xanadu, the guy from Flash Gordon and Caitlyn Jenner in You can't stop the music (pre transition that is.) At least the soundtrack was well received and even a huge success.
#731
This was another album that only became a success thanks to the singles performing well on the Triple J year end list, as such it allowed both the singles and the album to be a massive success for the Australian duo Empire of the sun which helped them become a mainstream success just as the decade was coming to an end. They remain a one album wonder due to the 2010's being unkind to them like other rock bands from this list.
#730
This was the third album to come from Silverchair, a band whose members were still teenagers by this stage and yet were among the most successful Australian bands of all time thanks to heavy endorsement from Triple J and other indie publications. Their popularity would continue to grow in the 00's, however the boys wouldn't be able to handle their fame very well which would result in a lot of personal turmoil.
#729
Following the success of their second album, the Backstreet boys continued their dominance in the boy band wars with their third album which proved to be a huge success for them as the decade was coming to an end. Indeed, the theme of this album was that it would be the album of the future, hence why they called it Millennium as they feel this would stand the test of time for the next thousand years.
#728
This took a while to take off worldwide due to how long it took for the boys to be confirmed as the real deal, after all this was back in the day before boy bands had any real presence in the mainstream. Once they scored their third hit here in Australia, the album was able to take off and possibly prepare us for the boy band wars of the 90's. They may have bowed out before the wars begun but their impact is noted.
#727
This is another album whose position on this list is misleading to how successful it was, mainly because it was another sleeper hit who only achieved best seller status when the third single became a hit. It was their second and final nu metal album as the band would reinvent themselves with each subsequent album to avoid being typecasted in one branch of rock music to commercially diminishing returns.
#726
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#725
Given how Kylie Minogue was still one of the most popular artists in the music industry by this point in time, it only makes sense that her greatest hits package would be a massive hit during the midpoint of the decade even if it proved to be a kiss of death to her popularity in the future.
#724
It took a while for Missy Higgins to follow up her debut album, so much so that Delta Goodrem was in the process of releasing her third album when this finally saw the light of day which would explain why it wasn't nearly as successful as her main rival's discography. That said, it was still a massive hit for her given how much support she had from her fans and the radio.
#723
This was only a modest success for Margaret in her native NZ, I'm guessing in favour of allowing the lead single to be one of the biggest hits of its era but also likely due to her being overexposed by the time she went solo. As we Aussies hadn't heard of her band Peking man, we were unfamiliar with how stunning of a vocalist she was, which likely explains how this was so much bigger over here as this was our introduction to her music.
#722
This was a surprise hit for the Offspring in Australia, mainly because this flopped in their native America as did most of their catalogue unfortunately. I guess you can thank Triple J for heavily promoting this and the album it came from which resulted in both becoming some of the biggest hits of the decade down under, that and the track itself is catchy as hell set to lyrics that resonated with audiences.
#721
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#720
This was the debut album from Noiseworks, a band that had NZ teen idol Jon Stevens as their lead singer several years after the hits dried up for him in his homeland. This was a huge hit for the band here in Australia as well as a minor hit in his native NZ, I'm guessing the kiwis weren't as impressed by his foray towards pub rock as us Aussies were which would explain his lack of success at home.
#719
Well, here's an album that I'm going to have trouble being nice to, basically everything people have said about Nickelback I think of Simple Plan which I'll leave at that in terms of how I feel about them. Naturally they were a massive deal back in the day, specifically with their second album which was a massive success for them thanks to how big its singles were.
#718
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#717
Although these guys had been releasing new albums throughout the entire decade, this was the first album of theirs since Dark room to spawn a hit single in the form of the albums second single. Indeed, this album was set to flop like the rest of their catalogue this decade until "We gotta get out of this place" became a surprise hit for them which in turn boosted the sales of the album it came from.
#716
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#715
This was the second greatest hits album that Cold chisel released following their breakup from seven years prior to its release, I never understood why labels would release greatest hits albums from bands and artist who haven't released any new material since their previous greatest hits album. I guess this was a success so here we are talking about it.
#714
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#713
Although "You make me feel like dancing" is often regarded as the big hit from Leo Sayer's third album, it was actually this ballad that proved to be his biggest hit this decade and would've been his biggest hit overall were it not for his cover of "More than I can say" from the start of the following decade. Indeed, Leo's biggest hits are his ballads and not his more upbeat tracks.
#712
Even though there was a perfectly acceptable reason as to why George Michael hadn't released a new album since the start of the decade, the fact that he was able to successfully return to the mainstream with this album that was initially proposed as a sequel to that album should tell you how loyal his fanbase was back in the day. Indeed, several of the tracks on here were meant for Listen without prejudice vol 2 but were recontextualised for this album as George no longer cared about his public image.
#711
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#710
This was released just before Freddie Mercury's death, while it was always going to be a huge success since it came out exactly a decade after their first greatest hits package, the fact this is forever tied into the death of the legendary frontman likely factored into its huge success back in the day.
#709
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#708
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#707
While this wasn't the debut single from Vanessa Amorosi (that honour goes to "Have a look") it was the song which made her a household name given how it was considered to be the unofficial anthem for the 2000 Sydney Olympics with how inescapable it was upon its initial release. This resulted in the song being a huge success over in NZ and even sparked interest for Vanessa throughout Europe.
#706
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#705
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#704
This was originally released earlier in the decade as a part of Sony's lucrative Essential collections, it was only a modest success back in the day due to these being little more than albums to assist modern audiences in finding out where to start their journey of becoming fans of the artists in question. It became a massive hit this year thanks to MJ's untimely death and everyone celebrating his life achievements.
#703
I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise, I'm sure he's a decent person in real life (provided he's not talking about Scientology) but I've just never gotten into any of his performances. One of his better films is Top gun which at least has a lot of flash imagery to distract from the meandering romance he has with the Amish woman from Witness. The soundtrack helps make it a better film due to the song choices used in the scenes.
#702
(THIS IS THE ARIA ENTRY)
#701
This was the final chart topper the fab four had here in Australia, it was guaranteed to be a success given how they were still on top of the world as far as their success was concerned even if there were tons of behind-the-scenes drama which made their breakup inevitable. For me, this feels like "Hey Jude" part II musically, suggesting that this felt more like a contractual obligation than anything (although I'm not a Beatles fan so take that with a grain of salt.)
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