This is the final year from the 21st century on this list, the millennium was off to a good start thanks to the high abundance of quality rnb and hip hop making it big worldwide as well as teen pop being on its way out in favour of more personal ballads from older artists. I guess reality shows did have their foot in the door this year. However, that was only a big issue in the UK who were still dealing with mass piracy in their music scene at the time.
Although her previous album was a massive hit here in Australia, many consider this to be the comeback that Kylie needed given how it was the album that finally got her out of the one hit wonder bin over in America that she had been trapped in since her debut single from the late 80’s. Like many successful albums this decade, the singles largely took a back seat down under in favour of how big the album was.
This album was originally released in 1999 for Dido, it was a massive flop that went unnoticed worldwide until it was discovered by Eminem of all people who decided to sample the lead single for his song “Stan” which propelled its success for the English singer/songwriter. Although none of the singles were successful here in Australia, that didn’t prevent the album from being a massive success here.
It took a while for this second album from Kasey Chambers to take off here in Australia, however the surprise success of “Not pretty enough” allowed it to become a runaway success for the Australian country singer and even opened her up to an international market given how the song also did quite well in NZ. Sadly, her international success would be limited to what she achieved in NZ with that song.
This is the only album from Enrique Iglesias that was a best seller in Australia, mainly because the Latin crooner was more of a singles artist here and that his second English album was the only one to achieve massive success here thanks to its singles. Indeed, it only became a best seller down under once it spawned its second and third hits given how the lead single was a hit through its affiliation with 9/11.
It looked like Jamiroquai would be a one album wonder when Synkronized failed to become a massive hit for them by the end of the 90’s, however the band had other ideas when they released their first album from the 21st century which became a massive hit for them here in Australia and their native UK. Again, this is an album whose success clearly came at the expense of its singles which I remember being everywhere at the time.
Well, I didn’t think I’d be including one of Shaggy’s albums on this site, however there’s little denying that this fifth album form the Jamaican rapper was a massive success here in Australia even if its success was slightly delayed due to his music generally being released much later here than the rest of the world. As with much music delayed this year, it proved to be more successful down under than it was internationally.
This was the second album to come from Alex Lloyd following the success of his debut album from the start of the decade, it was far more successful than his earlier entry thanks to spawning a huge hit in the form of its lead single that became an even bigger hit in NZ at the expense of the album’s success over there. Sadly, this was his final successful album in his catalogue as his subsequent follow ups would flop later in the decade.
Even though this album’s title is a mere letter off from the name of his previous album, its contents couldn’t be any more different as we have a covers album where the former Take that member tries his hand at some of the biggest songs from the swing era of music. Fans naturally found much to love about this album as it was a massive success for the English crooner throughout the world.
Shrek is a film that changed the landscape of animation and comedy throughout the decade given how it deconstructed fairy-tale troupes that Disney had been relying on since its inception (to the point where the company now feels the need to copy this formula to predictably irritating results.) It was a massive success partially due to its soundtrack which of course was a massive hit here in Australia.
For the first ten years of its existence, Moulin Rouge was a critically acclaimed jukebox musical that heralded the return of musicals in the mainstream outside of animated features, although thanks to the internet of the 2010’s (specifically a certain review site that infamously trashed the film) it now has a more polarising reception as people feel the story to be too melodramatic to be taken seriously.
Coyote ugly is a film that remains divisive to this day, mainly because people either find it an inspirational story about how a songwriter made it big in the music industry or cliched to the point where they find it impossible to take seriously. I’m in the former category, although I’ll admit my love for the film mainly stems from the catchy numbers that are brought to life by Leann Rimes.
It took a while for this debut album from Alicia Keys to make it big here in Australia, likely due to the lead single not being among the biggest of the decade like it was internationally as well as RNB albums in general not doing so well down under over the years. It was eventually a smash hit this year thanks to the radio overplaying her other singles from the album, making audiences want to check out what the fuss was about.
This was the final album to be released during the lifetime of Maurice Gibb given how he would tragically pass away in 2003 which left the brothers Gibb as a duet until the death of Robin a decade later. It was a greatest hits package which overlooked their entire discography, meaning fans could see how they evolved over the years and not just a specific point in their catalogue.
This had a bit of a slow rise to its success here in Australia, mainly because it only became a success when the lead single was voted high on Triple J’s year end list for 2001 which in turn made it a success for System of a down. The band is considered one of the better nu metal acts of the decade along the likes of Linkin Park and Korn, mainly due to their later material seeing them get political.
This is the only other album I’ll be featuring from Destiny’s child on this site, mainly because their final album Destiny fulfilled was a bit too much of a sleeper hit later in the decade to qualify for this site, I’m afraid. Indeed, this penultimate album from the (now) trio also found itself bouncing in and out of popularity during its chart run due to its success mainly coming from the popularity of its singles.
They certainly had an amazing run with their first three albums, so a greatest hits package was inevitable from the Corrs which became a massive success for the family band upon its initial release even if it led to them struggling to retain their popularity moving forward in the decade.
This was an instant success for Nickelback here in Australia, likely because we Aussies wasted no time in making the lead single a huge success compared to the rest of the world where it needed to climb up the charts before it became a best seller worldwide. Their next three albums would be an even bigger success for them, likely because they all managed to spawn more than one hit for them down under.
This had a bit of a slow start to its success, likely because everyone felt that Nelly Furtado was going to be a one hit wonder with the lead single due to the album being more spiritually inclined than most of the competition this year. It finally became a massive success once the second single was released which set Nelly up for massive success that she only got from her third album later in the decade.
Although this was an instant success for Garbage upon its initial release, it didn’t become a best seller until the second single became a surprise hit here in Australia due to it being their most pop friendly track in their catalogue. It unfortunately didn’t do the band any favours with their next album which was a complete flop for them despite coming out at the height of alternative rock.
Ben Harper didn’t have much success here in Australia prior to this life album, even with heavy endorsement from Triple J and how inescapable he was in NZ, he didn’t bring in the big numbers like his main rival Lenny Kravitz did. The success of this album led to his next studio album being a massive success here two years later.
This was the sophomore album from Train after the failure of their debut album from the late 90’s, it became a worldwide smash thanks to its title track becoming a massive hit for them on the radio. Train is another band I never cared for; this is mainly due to Pat Monahan’s vocals always rubbing me the wrong way even back in the day. Of course, this leaves me in the minority as they have millions of fans worldwide.
One of the best rom coms of the decade (in my opinion of course) is Bridget Jones diary, a British film based on a + sized woman (played by the usually underweight Renee Zellweger) keeps a journal about her year where she navigates her day-to-day life in order to find the love of her life. It was a massive critical and commercial success which spawned a highly successful soundtrack to boot.
This was an excellent year for Faith Hill given how we’re still yet to get to her breakthrough album she had here in Australia, following its success, she released a greatest hits package which helped fans discover her 90’s material (given how Breathe was released in 1999) which also became a massive hit for her before she unfortunately faded into obscurity down under.
Much like her debut album from two years prior, this also had to work its way up the charts here in Australia as fans obviously weren’t expecting P!nk to go in a completely different direction from what she released at the start of the decade with this follow up. Sony did attempt to encourage fans to buy the album by not releasing “Just like a pill” as a single here, however that backfired as it was less successful here than it was internationally.
Following the success of their second album, Creed released their third album which continued their momentum thanks to the singles gaining a lot of airplay on the radio despite them underperforming on the singles charts (at least here in Australia they did.) For whatever reason, the band would go their separate ways later in the decade, likely for Scott Stapp to embark on a solo career.
Given how inexplicably popular Eminem was at the start of the decade, he was able to find success with his posse D12 who were a bit more on the vulgar side of hip hop as opposed to Eminem who was much more serious with his material (at least with his more popular albums he was.) Although neither of their albums reached the dizzying heights of Eminem’s own material, they were nonetheless quite popular back in the day.
You’d think that J-Lo would’ve had more success throughout the 00’s with her albums given how inescapably popular she was with her singles, indeed her second album was only a success upon its initial release given how it’s true popularity would come with the remix it received the following year thanks to two of those “remixes” (a term I use loosely in this case) being Billboard chart toppers for her.
This is the only successful album to come from Ja Rule here in Australia, although it’s worth noting that his follow up album the Last temptation did spawn multiple hit singles even if the album itself was a flop here. I’m guessing this made it big due to the rapper having a lot of buzz with his choruses which many have coined as the “thugs need love too” approach of having a female vocalist connect his verses about how much of a hard ass he is.
This is the sequel to the Immaculate collection that was released eleven years prior, naturally it collects all of Madonna’s biggest hits from 1990-2000 much like her first albums collecting her hits from 1983-1990. It appears that fans weren’t as impressed with her run throughout the 90’s as her run throughout the 80’s given how much less successful this was.
You have no idea how popular Ally McBeal was back in the day, it was so popular that it doesn’t even surprise me that the series was able to spawn another successful soundtrack which included songs performed by its co-star Robert Downey Jr (this is what he was doing before he became Iron man.)
This was released the previous year to mostly deafening silence here in Australia, likely because we Aussies weren’t quite ready to allow Usher to make it big here given that Craig David was already the prince of RNB as far as we were concerned. Of course, Usher eventually made his case that he should be the prince of RNB with the singles from this album which of course allowed it to become a success this year.
Well, he did manage to score two gigantic hits in Australia around this time, so why not have his feature length album be a massive success here as well? I’m sure the many fans of Bob the Builder were ecstatic to receive this for Christmas (it peaked during that season) however this didn’t lead to any future musical prospects for the animated construction worker.
This is the final appearance from Andrea Bocelli on this site, mainly because the opera singer got outclassed by many other classical artists throughout the decade such as Michael Bublé and Il Divo despite him still putting out new music to this day to a minimal fanbase.
From what I can gather, Save the last dance was meant to be the Flashdance of the 00’s which didn’t go over very well for the film given how the 80’s classic is only well remembered for its song sequences and soundtrack which is something this film failed to replicate throughout its runtime (I’ve seen it numerous times and can still barely remember anything about it.) At least the soundtrack was well received for what it’s worth.
This was one of three albums that Nikki Webster released following her performance at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympics, although most Australians like to pretend that her singing career only consisted of the lead single to this album given how you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who liked her music even back in the day. I personally think it gets too much hate even though I’m not a fan of it either.
This is the first appearance from one of the more well-respected Australian bands of the decade, again we have Triple J to thank for how Something for Kate (what a weird band name) managed to make it big in the mainstream to the point where I remember hearing their songs on the radio back in the day. Much like many other alternative bands of the decade, the trio were likely victims of digital piracy back in the day.
It may have been a while since Tracy Chapman had troubled the charts anywhere in the world, however it appears that audiences had fond memories of her work as this greatest hits album managed to become a huge success for her worldwide despite only two (maybe three depending on where you’re from) of her albums having any impact on the mainstream back in her day.
This didn’t even enter the charts for Nelly here in Australia until this year despite it being an initial success worldwide the previous year for the rapper, this was mainly because hip hop still had issues with crossing over down under which Nelly overcame when one of the tracks on the album became the theme to Scary movie 2. The success of this album led to him no longer having any issues finding success here.
This third album from Britney Spears also serves as the soundtrack to her first feature length film which was a film that was panned by critics and audiences alike for her poor acting as well as it being a cliched ridden road trip flick. At least the album was well received by fans given how few if any of the songs have anything to do with the film, after all the overall theme is about her wanting more independence in life which isn’t a theme present in the film.
There were no signs of 12th man slowing down in his catalogue as this was merely the latest album of his to find massive success upon its initial release, there’s not much more I can add to it as it continues the tradition of him impersonating cricket commentators which amused audiences during his time in the spotlight.
This managed to be a moderate success here in Australia this year despite R.E.M’s heyday being well and truly behind them by this point, this goes to show that even the off material of legends can be more successful in the 21st century than most up and coming artists combined.
This is another greatest hits package that Pink Floyd’s label released that became a worldwide success, proving that fans were still hungry for new material that they would have to wait for another decade before it finally came to them in 2014.
This was the third album to come from Tool as well as their second album to find massive worldwide success, likely because it came off the success that lead singer Maynard James Keenan had with his side project A perfect circle which was a band that didn’t reach the dizzying heights of his main band here in Australia unfortunately. Their next album wouldn’t come out for another four years due to him working with his side project.
This will be the final appearance from Travis on this site as the Scottish band failed to achieve any further success after this album anywhere in the world, although they at least got in one final hit in their native UK with its lead single after the success of Coldplay’s earlier entry on this list which I still believe is the reason why they didn’t have any further success after this album.
You have no idea how inescapable the Hampsterdance craze was here in Australia, it was so unavoidable that the album it spawned from managed to be a massive success here and that doesn’t even surprise me giving how it managed to spawn a second hit down under to boot.
Given how inescapable “I see you baby” was at the start of the decade (trust me it was EVERYWHERE on the radio) it only makes sense that the band behind that earworm would eventually have a successful album to their name which came with this album which all but confirmed that country music was out and EDM was in. It had a bit of a slow start to its success but eventually found its audience this year.
This is an updated version of the album of the same name from 1994, I’m not sure why this was released this year, however it seemed to pay off for the Eagles given that it was a modest success around the world even though the band had yet to release anything new since they reformed seven years prior.
Although their (then) most recent album was a bit of a commercial disappointment, that didn’t prevent Green day from releasing a greatest hits album which somewhat picked up the slack that Warning gave them. Even so, they really needed to rethink their strategy moving forward especially after they lost the master tapes of their new album they were working on, the result was their biggest album of their career.
Following the success of their previous album from the previous year, Blink 182 no longer had any issues with finding success with their subsequent follow ups here in Australia such as this album which proved to be their penultimate album from their original run together. It didn’t spawn any hits for the band; however, they didn’t need any at this point given how dedicated their fanbase was.
Remember when Disney used to be a magical company that told innovative stories with captivating music? This album from Michael Crawford may help jog those long distant memories as he collects several key songs from these movies and puts his own spin on them. Naturally it was a hit for the diehard Disney fans which at the time, overlapped with his own fanbase that stuck around from the 90’s.
This feels like an album that belongs on the compilation charts given how it has a group of songs that have no connection to each other, however ARIA seems to have allowed this to chart on their main charts which is why it’s able to appear on this list and not the seasonal compilations from the 100% hits or So fresh series.
Given how the lead single quickly became one of the biggest hits of the decade worldwide, it only makes sense that the album it came from would also be a huge success for the band in question. Lifehouse was on a roll this year as were a lot of rock bands who took influence from Pearl jam, although like Creed, their popularity would quickly dwindle the further into the 00’s we got.
It had been eight years since Billy Joel released a new album in his catalogue, heck it’s been nearly three decades (as of this writing) since River of dreams was released and that’s still the case to this day. It appears the kiwis were so desperate for new material that they made this greatest hits package a success for him in the hopes he would satisfy them and his fans worldwide with a new album.
This seemed like a good opportunity for Human Nature to release a greatest hits package given that their previous album had given them their biggest hit in the form of its lead single, although like most greatest hits albums, it proved to be a bit of a jinx for their later output which they overcame by reinventing themselves as a throwback group to the likes of Motown and swing later in the decade.
