Although their previous album was a huge success here in Australia and in certain parts of the world, people were certain that the RCHP moment was over due to it failing to produce a hit single for them. Fortunately, now that John Frusciante had re-joined the band by this point, their next album was a huge success for them both by spawning hit singles and by having high album sales like their breakthrough.
This is the second and final album to come from Savage Garden, it was equally as successful here in Australia as their debut was even if it wasn’t as successful internationally for the duo. Still the fact it was a massive worldwide success does leave you wondering why they went their separate ways once their world tour for the album came to an end, they’ve been vague about it but essentially it was to allow Darren to have a solo career.
Nowadays Moby is best known for that infamous diss that Eminem made towards him on “Without me,” however back in the day, he was by far the most successful DJ to make it big worldwide with his breakthrough album from the end of the 90’s. It took a while for this to take off for him, however he eventually found his audience by having most of the singles find their way into commercials.
It had been twenty years since Santana last troubled the charts with any of their material, here they are back in the mainstream with the help of some of the biggest names in music at the time which helped them achieve one of the biggest albums not just in their catalogue but of all time with their collaborations. This comeback helped them become one of the bigger bands of the 00’s as it wasn’t a one-off fluke for them.
This took its sweet time in finding success here in Australia for Creed, granted they went largely ignored here back in the day as opposed to in NZ and their native America where they found instant success with their debut album, however this second album still had to wait nearly two years after its initial release to finally become a best seller down under due to how long it’s big hit took to crossover here.
This was the debut album for Macy Grey, a vocalist who had been trying to make it in the industry for a decade before she finally did so with the lead single of this album. Regardless of what you think of her vocals (they annoy me personally) there’s no denying that they are unique and helped her stand out from the countless other RNB singers of the moment, although this only worked out for this one album.
Ahh Limp bizkit, there’s so many things you can say about these guys and very few have been positive over the years. This wasn’t their first album, but it was the album that made them a household name due to the lead single being surprisingly popular on Triple J around this time, I think it was due to how popular Korn was on the station given how both bands were from the nu metal genre.
This was the first album that Ricky Martin released entirely in English, I’m guessing to cash in off the surprise success he had the previous year with his FIFA world cup performance that became a chart topper for him here in Australia. This greatly benefitted from the Latin craze as the lead single became a Billboard chart topper for him, although his popularity would dwindle going into the new millennium.
This is where it all began for one of the more divisive pop stars of the new millennium, indeed Britney Spears isn’t what you’d call a powerhouse vocalist despite her songs being pop classics for two decades at this point. That said there’s a lot more love and respect for her in recent years than there was at the time as people would say some rather heinous things about her that I would rather not repeat on this site.
Although they achieved modest success with their previous album Dude ranch, it looked like that success wasn’t going to repeat for Blink 182 given how this album initially struggled to make it big upon its initial release here in Australia. Fortunately, the runaway success of them lampooning TRL (Total request live for the uninitiated) allowed the album to find massive success from those who despised the music program.
This was another successful album to come from Live in Australia, this time we have their second biggest album after Throwing copper which was able to pick up the lack of their previous album Secret samadhi just as the 90’s were coming to an end. That said their popularity would slowly begin to dwindle as the 00’s went on, not by a considerable margin but enough that it was noticeable.
One of the more popular teen dramas of the decade was Dawson’s creek, although I don’t think anyone was expecting its official soundtrack to be as successful as it was considering how the Beverly Hills 90210 soundtrack wasn’t a huge success earlier in the decade. I guess audiences connected with the themes of the show better than that classic, although that show has retained a stronger fanbase over the years.
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.
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.
One of the quirkier films from the 90’s was the British flick Notting hill, a film which sees Hugh Grant who plays a bookstore owner fall in love with Julia Roberts who plays a fictional version of a Hollywood actress (that isn’t herself.) The film was a critical and commercial success due to the British charm is showcases, and the soundtrack was also a huge success due to it matching the tone of the film.
These guys had really taken the world by storm when they released their debut album in the final year of the 90’s, they copied the formula that made Aqua have the biggest EDM album of the decade and added an extra gimmick of having a bus that played their music as the coolest place on earth. Naturally this all combined for a highly successful album that I’m sure many kids back in the day loved.
This is the debut album from Taxiride, a boy band who played their own instruments much like that of Hanson before them and 5 Seconds of summer after them given how the majority of their fanbase was teenage girls who were also fans of boy bands who didn’t play their own instruments. It was a massive success for the band due to a combination of their musical chops and their good looks.
I’m a bit surprised that the Chemical Brothers weren’t that popular here in Australia back in the day, particularly because they were an EDM duo who were adored by listeners of Triple J which seemed to be a winning combination for a dance group from the 90’s. At least they saw massive success here with this entry even if it took almost a year to find an audience with us Aussies.
This is another one of those greatest hits/studio album hybrids that was popular throughout the 90’s, although it was released right when the decade was coming to an end making it more popular in the 00’s. This was both the final chart-topping album of the 90’s down under as well as the first for the 00’s, suggesting that Celine Dion would have far more success going forward than she ended up having.
This was the third time that this greatest hits package became a success in Australia this decade, this time it was due to the success of the premiere of the Mamma Mia show on Broadway which completed the redemption arc of Abba’s back catalogue and made it cool to like them again.
Tom Jones had a massive comeback five years prior with his album the Lead and how to swing it, so naturally he was primed for another comeback with this album which is a covers album where he duets with some of the biggest names in music, much like Santana’s album from earlier on this list. This didn’t end up becoming a trend for artists who made it big in the twentieth century, but you’d think it would’ve.
What better way to cap off the twentieth century and begin the 21st century than with an album collecting all of your biggest hits in your career? We have this greatest hits package that set Cher up for a four decade of success given how productive she was throughout the 90’s with her singing and acting careers. Sadly, this would be her final success here even with a greatest hits album.
This was the second album from British boy band Five, it was released fairly late the 90’s and find most of its success in the early 00’s thanks to their cover of a Queen classic. It helped the British lads come in second place for the boy band wars behind Backstreet boys in most parts of the world, heck they even had one more album after they ended that achieved sound success.
Things were looking good for Human nature going into the new millennium, after all they were counting down the final months of the year with this album to see if they would indeed be one of the first new big starts of the 21st century. They were as although all of the album’s success began and ended this and the previous year, their next album would spawn their biggest hit in the form of “He don’t love you.”
The legends are true, Metallica did indeed once go on tour with a symphony orchestra which was so well received that they decided to release a live recording of the best parts of the tour which was an instant success just as the 90’s had come to an end. It would lead to a very rocky decade which had its highs (Death magnetic) and its lows (St anger.)
It looked like these guys wouldn’t have any success with their albums here in Australia, for the most part that’s true but they did see massive success with this greatest hits album around the time it was announced they would be going their separate ways this year. They’ve reunited since but with only a fraction of the success they had throughout the 90’s.
Given how he was now one of the biggest artists in the music industry, it feels natural that this album from Andrea Bocelli would be a huge success for him worldwide. Indeed, he would continue to find massive success well into the new millennium, proving that there were plenty of fans of what many would consider to be music for soccer mums.
This is where it all began for Kasey Chambers, a country artist from Australia who would go on to have massive success throughout the decade with her subsequent follow ups due to how unique her vocals are compared to the other Aussie pop divas of the moment. As with most debut albums, this had a bit of a climb to its success here due to her being a relative unknown when it was first released.
Given how it spawned two of the bigger hits of the year, it only makes sense that this soundtrack to the second Austin Powers flick would be a success as the decade was coming to an end worldwide. The film is hilarious as it parodies the (almost equally as ridiculous) James Bond films, specifically the earlier films from Sean Connery and Roger Moore to hilarious effect.
There were no signs of Korn’s popularity slowing down going into the new decade as their final album from the 90’s managed to become a massive hit as it was coming to an end. In fact, I’m surprised that their popularity died out this year considering how nu metal had taken over the mainstream, I guess fans had quickly discovered other offerings from the likes of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.
Pokémon was such an inescapable phenomenon that the 4kids dub of the first film became a huge box office success despite it being panned by critics for its poor dubbing which changes the storyline of the original film (as a member of team Digimon, this brings me great joy until I remember that Digimon the movie exists.) The soundtrack at least was well received due to the catchy teen pop that can be found on it.
While he never had much success here in Australia during his lifetime, this greatest hits package from 2pac nonetheless managed to become a huge success for him here proving that we Aussies wanted to atone for us ignoring his back catalogue this decade.
This was all set to be a modest success at best here in Australia upon its initial release, likely due to the novelty of a band who named themselves after a controversial prime minister wearing off as the 90’s was coming to an end. It received a massive boost in popularity when fan favourite “Blow up the pokies” became a massive radio smash which helped it become a huge sleeper hit for the band.
This had been an interesting decade for Wendy Matthews, she began as the lead singer of a supergroup before scoring two successful solo albums to her name before becoming yesterday’s news by the midpoint of the 90’s. Here she released a greatest hits package which became a success for her, this being the latest album of its kind to confirm that an artist’s work is secured in the nostalgia circuit.
She had a surprise hit the previous year with “Pash,” so it only makes sense that Kate Ceberano would close out the 90’s with a greatest hits package to remind her fans of her back catalogue. It was a huge success for her, although it didn’t do her career any favours going into the new millennium.
Gomez was another Brit pop band that was destined for great things this decade only to have their potential stolen by Coldplay once they broke through late in the year in their native UK, indeed this was more of a success here in Australia due to our indie scene being more prominent than the one in Britain which allowed it to find an audience that it failed to achieve in their homeland.
Well so much for the first Ally McBeal soundtrack being an inessential album, this came out around the time the A.V club declared it as such which goes to show just how wrong the publication was at suggesting the smoky jazz found on these albums wouldn’t connect with a (then) modern audience even if this was far less successful than the previous entry.
This live album from Andrea Bocelli and Korean composer Myung Whun Chung managed to capture the hearts of many audiences worldwide upon its initial release to guarantee its placement on this site of mine. The blind opera singer (I should mention that to explain why he always has his eyes closed) continued to find success well into the new millennium worldwide.
One of the most popular films of the decade was the first Matrix film, it took the concept of Alice in wonderland and placed it in an internet setting which blew the minds of audiences back in the day. It’s a bit dated now given how the internet has evolved, however it remains a favourite of audience to this day thanks to its creative concept as well as the soundtrack which was a huge success as well.
It looks like we Aussies wanted to have Jamiroquai be a one album wonder as this was seen as a massive disappointment compared to their previous effort, fortunately they would bounce back with their next album which would go on to be one of the biggest albums of the 00’s down under.
This was the debut album for one Alex Lloyd, an Australian indie folk singer/songwriter who initially struggled to find success with this entry the previous year likely due to it being pushed aside for a bunch of what I like to call “last hurrah” releases from the big names of the 90’s. It finally rose up the ranks this year likely due to Triple J placing the singles on their yearend list for 1999 to belatedly promote the album.
This was the penultimate album to be released from Rage against the machine as they would break up this year once they released their final album to allow the members to form a side project with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden known as Audioslave, basically it was an album about the state of Los Angeles at the end of the 90’s which many people found a lot of solace in given how righteous the band was on the album.
This is the final album that Regurgitator had any success within their career, they had a pretty good run during the second half of the decade, however it appears audiences had grown tired of their antics going into the new millennium as they found no success throughout the 00’s.
Given how immensely popular South Park was on TV during the late 90’s, the creators decided to release a theatrical film which was well received due to it being a musical that pokes fun at just about everything that wasn’t taboo back then (needless to say, it couldn’t be made nowadays.) The soundtrack was a decent success due to the success of the Chef aid soundtrack from earlier on this list.
This is technically the soundtrack to the TV series of the same name given how these kids were the stars of a TV show in addition to the second brainchild of Simon Fueller’s takeover the pop scene following his first success with the Spice girls (before they fired him for Spiceworld.) This was a massive success worldwide except for in America where kiddie pop didn’t have much crossover appeal from non-American artists.
