And now the AP bolsters that claim by citing new sales trends that show AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, as well as Nirvana and Metallica have bumped the Bob Marleys and the Pink Floyds down on the still-selling-well classics list.
The most interesting numbers from the article are last year's sales tallies for the following albums, all of which Yahoo!/the AP jacked from Neilsen Soundscan:
AC/DC - Back in Black (1980): 440,000
Metallica - Black Album (1991): 275,000
Bon Jovi - Cross Road (1994): 324,000
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987): 124,000
Michael Jackson - Number Ones (2003): 162,000
Radiohead - Ok Computer (1997): 94,000
Nirvana - Nevermind (1991): 143,000
The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin (1999): 38,000
Among albums that sold at least 20,000 copies last year include U2 - The Joshua Tree, Dr. Dre - The Chronic, Beck - Odelay, Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Weezer - The Blue Album and The Pixies - Doolittle.
Other best-of or greatest hits collections that continue to sell well include releases by Garth Brooks, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tim McGraw, Creed, Queen, Tom Petty, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Def Leppard, Aerosmith and Lionel Richie.
On the other hand, sales for albums by ultra trendy mega-sellers like the Spice Girls, Bobby Brown, The Backstreet Boys, Ace of Base, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey have dropped significantly.
Some of the things that can give past albums a boost include current events (like a new album release), the death of an artist, a biopic, a reissue and obviously, a reunion.
In fact that last point is currently being driven home by the reunion of The Police, whose 1986 compilation, Every Breath You Take has already sold 107,000 copies this year, which doubles its 2006 total.
Take it away Refused:
