Top of the heap -You'll never guess who has the best-selling album, & why (Eagles)

The Beatles, right? "The White Album," no doubt, or "Sgt. Pepper's," or one of the hits collections.

The Eagles and their little pop masterpieces, that's who. The "top this" distinction of the most copies of one album title ever sold in the United States - 29 million and counting - belongs to "The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975."

And that compilation doesn't even contain "Hotel California," an iconic song from that era of rock history. No, it's 29 million copies of the "Tequila Sunrise" sound over 30 years of sales, the hits album featuring the carefully honed soft rock of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "Lyin' Eyes."

The collective rock wisdom of America finds it hard to take it easy on this sore point. Yes, the Eagles perfected a California vibe that soothed the nation in the mid-1970s.

"That's just insane," spluttered Paul Green, founder of the School of Rock in Philadelphia. "That must have been a lot of people buying it for a penny from that record club in TV Guide," he said with a laugh. "Being a philosophy graduate, I'd have to call that an 'argument ad populum.' It's ponderous, to say the least."

"That's just not right," echoed Steve Waksman, a professor of music at Smith College and a longtime rock music collector. Acknowledging himself to be a purist when it comes to "albums," Waksman argues that hits collections don't deserve to be on top of the sales list, which was compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America - better to purchase "Hotel California" from 1976, with its grittier vision of success and a consistent sound reflecting the band's creative peak.

"Still, there's no shame in owning it," Waksman said, perhaps realizing 29 million people make a good-sized lynch mob. "To me it's always more interesting to think about why people like something, rather than dismiss it out of hand."

So what exactly is it about "71-75" that propelled it slowly but surely past Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (27 million, No.2 all-time), "Led Zeppelin IV" (23 million, No.3), Pink Floyd's "The Wall" (23 million, No.4) and AC/DC's "Back in Black" (21 million, No.5)?

Why are the Beatles, who have sold more from their complete album catalogue than any other act in history, stuck at No.9 on the single-album list with "The Beatles"?

Why does Elvis not show up until No.117, with his Christmas album, for crying out loud?

What in Mick Jagger's name is Billy Joel doing with his greatest hits at No.6 all-time, at 21 million copies? How did the "The Bodyguard" soundtrack wind up at No. 12? Whatever happened to Hootie & the Blowfish? Did the 16 million copies of "Cracked Rear View" (No. 16) fall on them?

And will any current artist ever climb those heights to take the Eagles to the limit?

The Eagles sold 18 million copies of the hits album in the first 18 months after release, in February 1976. Not all the songs were huge radio hits, a fact industry observers call the "huh?" factor. "Peaceful Easy Feeling" peaked at No.22 on the Billboard chart, "Take It Easy" at No.12, "Witchy Woman" at No.9.

"I think it's a deceptively simple equation: Well-crafted, well-played songs with memorable melodies and decent lyrics," said the Eagle who has enjoyed a huge solo career. "Easier said than done, especially these days."

Another explanation is that America loves rock and country - especially country, Waksman said. There are many more country music stations than classic rock stations these days. The top 20 all-time album list is heavily populated by such crossover country as Garth Brooks and Shania Twain, Waksman noted.

"Rock and country are the common denominators on the list, and with the Eagles you have both of that going on," Waksman said. "The early Eagles in particular were a real hybrid, with folk, rock, country and singer-songwriter elements. They made that mix in a very distinctive way, and that can appeal to a broad base of listeners."

factors: The Eagles' rarely-matched vocal harmonies, and catchy pop hooks in the songs. "That was calculated on their part," he said, "but that doesn't make it any less effective."

Admirers and neutral observers alike also point to the band's mythology, whether conscious or spontaneous. The band members' pictures appeared on only one album cover - 1973's "Desperado." Though the Eagles have enjoyed multiple reunion and farewell tours, and leaders Don Henley and Glenn Frey have had their share of the media spotlight, they're not in the constant tabloid high beams focused on Jagger, Jackson or any of the Beatles.

"They haven't been on the cover of People talking about addiction or divorce," said one marketer who has worked with the Eagles. "There's a mystique there."

The Western iconography helps, too, Waksman said. The hits cover features an arid animal skull; their second album was "Desperado"; their third "On the Border." They shared the California sound with Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Neil Young.

"They were living an alternative lifestyle that didn't contradict their desire to go for the gold," Waksman said. "They were hippies, but they weren't San Francisco hippies. They were laid back in a different way."

America is dominated by people who are country or think they're country, Green said. "Once you get outside of the cities, it's Texarkana," he said. "I'm actually surprised Shania's not closer to No.1. The biggest tour this year is Tim McGraw."

Once people start looking at the list, they find all kinds of patterns. (Go to riaa.com/gp/bestsellers/topalbums.asp).

Disappointed as he is by the presence of Billy Joel ("he represents pop at its most mundane"), Waksman actually believes the top 20 list "rocks harder" than he would have guessed. With Zeppelin in an admirable No.3 spot, followed quickly by Floyd, AC/DC, Boston, Guns 'N Roses, Santana and Springsteen, "It's great for hard rock to be up that high."

Ironically, Waksman said, the list puts the lie to the heavy metal "counterculture."

"Clearly by this list it's not counterculture. There's nothing non-mainstream about it." Many rock industry observers believe the Eagles, Jackson, Led Zeppelin and the others at the top of the list are safe from future assaults by contemporary artists. Albums simply aren't selling in the mass volumes of the previous three decades; these days, the No.1 album in a given year usually sells 5 million or 6 million copies.

FM radio is now divided into narrower niches, and many music fans download only the singles they want from a popular new release. Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson argues in his new book, "The Long Tail," that so-called blockbusters in many fields, from music to movies, are a thing of the past.

Anderson traces the peak of music sales to the late 1990s and record-setting boy bands like 'NSync: "Twenty one of the all-time top 100 albums were released in the five-year period between 1996 and 2000," Anderson writes. "The next five years produced only two," Norah Jones at No.79 and OutKast at No.91.

Green agrees, concluding that the older bands at the top of the album sales list can relax and enjoy their ride.

"There is absolutely no chance" they will get unseated the way the music business works now, Green said.

"It's like Cy Young's pitching records. They'll never be touched, because of the times."

Staff writer Michael Booth can be reached at 303-820-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com.

"Waksman argues that hits collections don't deserve to be on top of the sales list, which was compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America - better to purchase "Hotel California" from 1976, with its grittier vision of success and a consistent sound reflecting the band's creative peak."

This has got to be one of the most idiotic statements I have ever heard. We are not talking about greatest albums using a music content scale (standards may vary). This is about sales. RECORD SALES.

Of course, the reason is simple and none of these idiots can figure it out. People mellow with age. Everybody bought this album as well as the rest of the bands' albums on the list when they first came out. We were young and loved to rock. Now, we have become older and have kids of our own and we are replacing those lost albums with CDs. Of course, with age, we (not all but the majority) have mellowed our tastes and the Eagles falls right in line with what we want to hear. The "Best of" albums have the most popular songs from these bands all wrapped into one relatively cheap package.

I also disagree with Hotel California comment. If I had updated my Eageles "Best of" CD, I would have included Try and Love Again before Hotel California but the rest of the album is average Eagles.

I repurchased 71-75 for Lyin' Eyes, Desperado, Peaceful Easy Feeling, .....Hell, I like the whole dang album.

The real barometer should be to find out just how many people, to this day, stop daily in Winslow, Arizona to stand on the corner and belt out Take It Easy.

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