Number 1 Albums

Band on the Run -- Paul McCartney and Wings, April 13, 1974

Craig Rosen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:44:00 GMT

Apple 3415 Producer: Paul McCartney Track listing: Band on the Run / Jet / Bluebird / Mrs. Vandebilt / Let Me Roll It / Mamunia / No Words / Helen Wheels / Picasso's Last Words Drink to Me) / Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five April 13, 19744 weeks (nonconsecutive) With two albums under their belt -- 1971's Wild Life and 1973's Red Rose Speedway — Paul McCartney must have felt that he had hit his stride with his post-Beatles combo Wings. The band had just scored a number two hit with ...

Welcome

Craig Rosen — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Welcome to Number 1 Albums, the web version of The Billboard Book of Number One Albums, originally published in 1996 by Billboard Books/Watson-Guptill. A few quick notes to visitors…

You may notice that the dates begin in 1956. Obviously I haven’t been posting that long, but I thought it would be best to post using the actual dates that the albums went to Number One so that the titles appear in the proper chronological order. I plan to post all the albums featured in the book, 423 in total, ending with the Beatles Anthology 1 in 1995, and occasionally add entries ...

Working on a Dream – Bruce Springsteen, February 14, 2009

Craig Rosen — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:06:00 GMT

Columbia 41355 Producer: Brendan O’Brien Outlaw Pete / My Lucky Day / Working on a Dream / Queen of the Supermarket / What Love Can Do / This Life / Good Eye / Tomorrow Never Knows / Life Itself / Kingdom of Days / Surprise, Surprise / The Last Carnival / The Wrestler February 14, 2009 1 week It took the Boss -- with a couple of historic TV appearances -- to end Taylor Swift’s eight-week run ...

Fearless – Taylor Swift, November 29, 2008

Craig Rosen — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:54:00 GMT

Big Machine Records 200

Executive producer: Scott Borchetta

Track listing: Fearless / Fifteen / Love Story / Hey Stephen / White Horse / You Belong to Me / Breathe / Tell Me Why / You're Not Sorry / The Way I Loved You / Forever & Always / The Best Day / Change

November 29, 2008
8 weeks (non-consecutive)

Breaking up ...

Circus -- Britney Spears, December 20, 2008

Craig Rosen — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:53:00 GMT

Jive/Zomba 40387

Executive producers: Larry Rudolph, Theresa LaBarbera Whites

Track listing: Womanizer / Circus / Out from Under / Kill the Lights / Shattered Glass / If U Seek Amy / Usual You / Blur / MMM Papi / Mannequin / Lace and Leather / My Baby / Radar

December 20, 2008
1 week

Circus, Britney Spears' fifth chart-topping album, couldn't have been more aptly titled. Even before the ...

808s and Heartbreaks -- Kanye West, December 13, 2008

Craig Rosen — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Roc-A-Fella 1219802

Executive producers: Kanye West, Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua

Track listing: Say You Will / Welcome to the Heartbreak / Heartless / Amazing / Love Lockdown / Paranoid / RoboCop / Street Lights / Bad News / See You in My Nightmares / Coldest Winter

December 13, 2008
1 week

...

I Am…Sasha Fierce -- Beyonce, December 6, 2008

Craig Rosen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:58:00 GMT

Music World Music/Columbia 719492

Executive producers: Beyonce & Matthew Knowles

Track listing: If I Were a Boy / Halo / Disappear / Broken-Hearted Girl / Ave Maria / Satellites / Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) / Radio / Diva / Sweet Dreams / Video Phone

December 6, 2008
1 week
...

Twilight – Soundtrack, November 22, 2008

Craig Rosen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:02:00 GMT

Summit Entertainment/Chop Shop/Atlantic 515923

Executive producer: Livia Tortella

Track listing: Supermassive Black Hole [Muse] / Decode [Paramore] / Full Moon [Black Ghosts] / Leave Out All the Rest [Linkin Park] / Spotlight (Twilight Mix) [Mute Math] / Go All the Way (Into the Twilight) [Perry Farrell] / Tremble for My Beloved [Collective Soul] / I Caught Myself [Paramore] / Eyes on Fire [Blue Foundation] / Never Think [Rob Pattinson] / Flightless Bird, American Mouth [Iron & Wine] / Bella's Lullaby [Carter Burwell]

Black Ice -- AC/DC, November 8, 2008

Craig Rosen — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Columbia 88697 38378 2

Producer: Brendan O'Brien

Track listing: Rock N Roll Train / Skies on Fire / Big Jack / Anything Goes / War Machine / Smash 'N' Grab / Spolin' for a Fight / Wheels / Decibel / Stormy May Day / She Likes Rock N Roll / Money Made / Rock N Roll Dream / Rocking All the Way / Black Ice

...

Lucky Old Sun – Kenny Chesney, November 1, 2008

Craig Rosen — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:08:00 GMT

BNA 734553

Producers: Kenny Chesney, Buddy Cannon

Track listing: I'm Alive / Way Down Here / Boats / Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven / Down the Road / Spirit of a Storm / Ten with a Two / The Life / Key's in the Conch Shell / Nowhere to Go, Nowhere to Be / That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)

Paper Trail – T.I., October 18, 2008

Craig Rosen — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:34:00 GMT

Grand Hustle/Atlantic 512267

Executive producers: T.I.P., Jason Geter

Track listing: 56 Bars (Intro) / I'm Illy / Ready for Whatever / On Top of the World / Live Your Life / Whatever You Like / No Matter What / My Life Your Entertainment / Porn Star / Swing Ya Rag / Swagga Like Us / Slide Show / You Ain't Missin' Nothing / Dead and Gone

October 18, 2008
2 weeks

Nearly 40 years after Johnny Cash at San Quentin -- an album recorded at a California prison -- topped the chart, rapper T.I. scored his ...

Death Magnetic – Metallica, September 27, 2008

Craig Rosen — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Warner Bros. 508732

Producer: Rick Rubin

Track listing: That Was Just Your Life / The End of the Line / Brocken, Beat & Scarred / The Day That Never Comes / All Nightmare Long / Cyanide / The Unforgiven III / The Judas Kiss / Suicide & Redemption / My Apocalypse

September 27, 2008
3 weeks

It takes a mix of chutzpah and business savvy for an act to break from the norm of releasing an album on traditional Tuesday street date. Metallica is an act that has both.

In order to have a simultaneous international release date, ...

The Recession -- Young Jeezy, September 20, 2008

Craig Rosen — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:25:00 GMT

Def Jam

Executive producers: Demetrius Ellerbee and L.A. Reid

Track listing: The Recession (Intro) / Welcome Back / By the Way / Crazy World / What They Want / Amazin’ / Hustlaz Ambition / Who Dat / Don’t You Know / Circulate / Word Play / Vacation / Everything / Talkin’ It There / Don’t Do It / Put On / Get Allot / My President

September 20, 2008
1 week

Hip Hop is Dead, Nas proclaimed nearly two years earlier in the title of his own chart-topping album. His commentary on the genre was likely ...

All Hope is Gone -- Slipknot, September 13, 2008

Craig Rosen — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:04:00 GMT

Roadrunner 617938

Producer: Dave Fortman

Track listing: .Execute. / Gematria (The Killing Name) / Sulfur / Psychosocial / Dead Memories / Vendetta / Butcher’s Hook / Gehenna / This Cold Black / Wherein Lies Continue / Snuff / All Hope is Gone

September 13, 2008
1 week

The album chart has seen its share of chart-topping ghouls over the years, from Alice Cooper in the ‘70s to Marilyn Manson in the ‘90s and beyond, but none are perhaps more ghoulish than Slipknot.

Emerging from Des Moines, Iowa in 1995, Slipknot quickly made a name for itself ...

A Little Bit Longer -- Jonas Brothers, August 30, 2008

Craig Rosen — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:22:00 GMT

Hollywood 1944

Producer: John Fields

Track listing: BB Good / Burnin’ Up / Shelf / One Man Show / Lovebug / Tonight / Can’t Have You / Video Girl / Pushin’ Me Away / Sorry / Got Me Going Crazy / A Little Bit Longer

August 30, 2008
2 weeks

In spite of their relatively young age, the Jonas Brothers were no overnight sensations when their third album, A Little Bit Longer, debuted on top of The Billboard 200.

Nick, the youngest of the brothers, first gained notice at the age of six and performed on Broadway ...

Mamma Mia! – Original Soundtrack, August 23, 2008

Craig Rosen — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:36:00 GMT

Decca 011439

Executive producers: Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus

Track listing: Honey, Honey [Amanda Seyfried, Ashley Lilley &Rachel McDowall] / Money, Money, Money [Meryl Streep, Julie Walters & Christine Baranski] / Mamma Mia [Streep] / Dancing Queen [Streep, Walters & Baranski] / Our Last Summer [Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, Seyfried & Streep] / Lay All Your Love on Me [Dominic Cooper & Seyfried] / Super Trooper [Streep, Walters & Baranski] / Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) [Seyfried, Lilley & McDowall] The Name of the Game [Seyfried & Skarsgard] / Voulez-Vous [The Cast, Philip Michael, Baranski, Walters & Skarsgard] ...

Love on the Inside – Sugarland, August 16, 2008

Craig Rosen — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:13:00 GMT
Mercury Nashville 011273

Producer: Sugarland and Byron Gallimore

Track listing: All I Want to Do / It Happens / We Run / Joey / Love / Already Gone / Keep You / Take Me As I Am / What I’d Give / Steve Earle / Very Last Country Song / Fall Into Me (Bonus Track) / Operation: Working Vacation (Bonus Track) / Wishing (Bonus Track) / Life in a Northern Town [Live] (Bonus Track) / Come On Get Higher [Live] (Bonus Trac) All I Want to Do

August 16, 2008
1 week

For the Atlanta, Georgia-based ...

Breakout – Miley Cyrus, August 9, 2008

Craig Rosen — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:24:00 GMT

Hollywood 002129

Executive producer: Jason Morey

Track listing: Breakout / 7 Things / The Driveway / Girls Just Wanna Have Fun / Full Circle / Fly on the Wall / Bottom of the Ocean / Wake Up America / These Four Walls / Simple Song / Goodbye / See You Again

August 9, 2008
1 week

In pop music, a little controversy isn’t necessarily a bad thing, even if it involves a sexually provocative photo of an underage starlet. Just ask Miley Cyrus. Three months before the release of Breakout, her second album, the 15-year-old singer/actress ...

Untitled -- Nas, August 2, 2008

Craig Rosen — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:43:00 GMT

Def Jam 011505

Executive producers: Nasir “Nas” Jones, L.A. Reid

Track listing: Queens Get the Money / You Can’t Stop Us Now / Breathe / Make the World Go Round / Hero / America / Sly Fox / Testify / N.I.*.*.E.R. (The Slave and the Master) / Untitled / Fried Chicken / Project Roach / Y’all My Ni**as / We’re Not Alone/ Black President

August 2, 2008
1 week

Nas’s fifth Number One album had the potential to be one of the most controversial titles ever top the album chart. Originally, the New York-based rapper ...

Coldplay -- Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, July 5, 2008

Craig Rosen — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:40:00 GMT

Capitol 16886

Producers: Markus Dravs, Brian Eno and Rik Simpson

Track listing: Life in Technicolor / Cemeteries of London / Lost! / 42 / Lovers in Japan/ Reign of Love / Yes / Viva la Vida / Violet Hill / Strawberry Swing / Death and All His Friends

July 5, 2008
2 weeks

Coldplay had debuted on top of the album chart before. In 2005, X&Y opened at the summit. Yet when the British quartet did it for the second time with Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, it had to be sweeter. ...