If we were going purely by chart runs, this was the biggest album of the decade in Australia due to how it seemed like this would never leave our charts from its initial release. It was a huge comeback for P!nk following the commercial disappointment of her third album Try this which suggested that her time in the spotlight would come to an end in 2004. That obviously wasn’t the case as she’s still going strong to this day.
It took him a while to follow-up his solo debut, however once JT dropped his second album, it had confirmed him as the superstar of the decade given how inescapable the singles were as well as all of the critical acclaim it received. Whereas there was only a four-year gap between his debut and sophomore album, fans would have to wait for seven years before he released album number three.
Although their album A song is a city was a huge success for Eskimo Joe, it was their third album which finally made them a household name thanks to its title track becoming one of the biggest hits of the decade thanks to its dominance on the digital charts upon its initial release. It helped the alternative band go from a mere fan favourite from listeners of Triple J to one of Australia’s biggest names in music.
This solo outing from Fergie took its sweet time in becoming a success here in Australia, likely due to fans initially being put off by the first few singles as they seemed to suggest this was little more than a novelty album from the sole female member of BEP. They eventually came around on it once the fourth single became a massive worldwide hit for her, although there’s still a polarising reception to it to this day.
It seemed like Nelly Furtado’s popularity had come to an end when she released her second album Folklore earlier in the decade, I guess people felt it was more of the same from the Canadian singer/songwriter which resulted in its commercial failure. She decided to shake things up with her third album by recruiting Timbaland which saw her sound be more urban which proved to be a massive success for her worldwide.
As divisive as her first solo album was from her long-time fans, it no doubt won her a bunch of new fans who were likely the people who made her second album a success as the long-time fans (me included) really don’t care much for this album due to her doubling down on its camp factor. Still, there’s plenty to enjoy on this album which is why it was a massive hit for her, the same can’t be said for her 2010’s material.
These guys had been active for twelve years before they found any success with their fourth album, in fact this was all set to become yet another flop for the Scottish band until “Chasing cars” became a surprise hit on the digital charts worldwide. Due to a contrived rule regarding songs not charting without a physical release here in Australia, the song didn’t chart until long after its popularity died out down under.
Even though her previous album remains her most successful to date, many critics felt that it was a crass display of Christina’s public image which led to her rethinking how she was going to continue to mature away from her time with Disney. This led to her making a throwback double album which incorporates many styles from the first half of the twentieth century that led to her scoring a massive success with it.
This is one of those albums that was way more successful than its placement on this list would otherwise suggest, mainly because these guys were among the first to truly benefit from the digital charts here in Australia which sadly hadn’t accommodated albums which meant this album only reached the upper echelons of our charts whenever one of their singles crossed over to the mainstream.
Given that they were cancelled earlier in the decade for essentially saying what the rest of the world was thinking of George Bush Jr (I agree that said cancellation was completely unfair) the Dixie Chicks were able to complete their redemption ark by releasing this album which essentially has them stand their ground with what they had to say with its lead single. Naturally it was a massive hit for them now that people could criticise the American president without any fear.
Chris Isaak hadn’t troubled the charts since 1999 when “Baby did a bad bad thing” became a surprise hit due to it being chosen as the theme to Eyes wide shut, the success of this greatest hits album suggests that fans might not want new material from the crooner, however they still vibe to his older material, making him a legacy artist by this point in time.
This was another instant success for RHCP, and one that spawned them a genuine hit as the lead single managed to become a massive success thanks to its presence on the digital charts worldwide. This would be the final successful album from the band given how their next album wouldn’t come out for another five years, they really did like taking their time with releasing new material throughout their career.
People feel this is a lesser retread of the Killer’s debut album (I disagree and actually prefer this album) as a result, it wasn’t quite as successful as Hot fuss even though this did spawn them a genuine hit on the charts (thanks to digital sales being legal by this point.) This is an album that saw massive international success for the band despite it underperforming for them in their homeland for the reason I just brought up.
Following the eventual sleeper success of their debut album, Evermore managed to find little issues with finding a mainstream audience with their sophomore album even though they for some reason lost the support they had from Triple J when it was initially released. Although the album itself was a massive success here for the band, the singles were among the first to heavily benefit from digital sales which likely further fuelled its success.
This had a slow start to its success here in Australia, mainly because it was released right when the digital charts were finally incorporated onto the main charts which meant that fans had to slowly discover what these guys had to offer on this album. Once they did, they made it a huge success even if they unfortunately didn’t stick around for any of their subsequent albums.
There were no signs of Human nature slowing down as within a year of reinventing themselves, they released their second Motown cover album which also proved to be a massive success for the former boy band. Their mileage would continue well into the 2010’s as they would find massive success with each of their albums for the next decade until audiences finally grew tired of them.
While we all know Disney for their animated films (as well as those awful live action remakes that few if anyone seems to like) the company is also known for its teen dramas mostly from the 00’s with the High school musical trilogy probably being their most lucrative project behind only the Hannah Montana craze. This was the soundtrack to the first film which proved to be a massive success with the teen demographic of the day.
This was the first successful album that Rihanna had anywhere in the world, although I’m not sure why her debut from the previous year was a flop worldwide given how it spawned two of the bigger hits of the midpoint of the decade. In any case, this was the first stepping stone towards her eventual chart dominance she would acquire by the end of the decade thanks to how inescapable the singles were.
This was the third greatest hits package from U2 within a decade of each other, although this time it collects songs from their entire catalogue which I guess explains its success as fans likely didn’t want to buy two separate albums to have all of their must own songs in their catalogue when this came out.
For whatever reason, Australian Idol decided to only release live albums of the contestants from here on out which is why we have this collection of songs that Damien Leith sung during his run on the fourth season of the show. His debut album is still to come on this site; however, it didn’t bring in the numbers like his time on the show would suggest.
This is another album that sat on shelves largely ignored until the singles were discovered on the digital storefronts this year, well actually they were discovered the previous year but didn’t become a success here in Australia until this year. Although this was the Fray’s biggest album down under, they did score a chart topper with the lead single to their next album right when the decade was coming to an end.
This was all set to becoming another flop for Westlife given how the Irish boy band hadn’t had any success here since their cover of “Uptown girl” from earlier in the decade, however it spawned a massive hit with its lead single that for whatever reason, took its sweet time in becoming as such which finally led to this album being a success for them despite the noticeable absence of Brian McFadden.
This was another album that was very successful here in Australia that would’ve appeared much higher on this list had it been more of an immediate success rather than a sleeper hit, then again, the fact this debut album from Brendan Urie and company did managed to become a hit when it did is impressive considering how many of their contemporaries had to wait until the digital era began before they found success here.
There was a lot of hype going into Evanescence’s third album given how inescapably popular their second album was earlier in the decade, alas though it was a success upon its initial release, fans quickly grew to dislike this follow up largely due to them feeling like the magic from their earlier release was nowhere to be found on this album. The band has released new material since this came out to deafening silence.
This seems like a shoe in for this list given how immensely popular that Gnarls Barkley were back in the day thanks to the lead single of this album, indeed even us Aussies couldn’t resist the funk grooves this album had to offer from the duo as it became a massive hit on our charts this year. Sadly, this love didn’t stick around for their second album which was a massive flop for them worldwide.
Here’s that album I was referring to earlier on this list that ruined Robbie William’s career, it’s his foray into hip hop which fans didn’t appreciate that much despite it being a commercial success for him. I’m not even sure why it was a success if I’m being honest as you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who can say anything positive about it.
This is the final studio album that the 12th man has released in his career, that doesn’t mean he was no longer popular as he’s released two greatest hits albums that were plenty successful in the 2010’s, rather it appears he wanted to end things on a high note and not continue to see diminishing returns with new material in the following decade.
Another Beatles compilation album, this one having the theme of love (hence its name) that was presented in a way that was meant to be one long track as opposed to a bunch of individual songs mashed together.
They had moderate success earlier in the decade with their debut album here in Australia, however I doubt fans were expecting the second album from the Scissor sisters to be a huge success here even if the lead single was a runaway hit for the band around the time of its release. Of course, it turned out that the song was more popular than the album it came from given how it was one of the biggest of the decade.
There was this animated film made this year that was apparently based on a picture book series made from the forties that was a massive commercial success this year (I haven’t seen it because…… well I was fourteen at the time, I was into edgier stuff.) One part of the film that was particularly well received was its soundtrack from Jack Johnson which became a massive hit for the folk singer worldwide.
One of the most critically acclaimed films of the decade was Walk the line, a biopic about Johnny Cash who had only died two years prior to the film’s release which depicted the life of the country singer warts and all. It was a massive commercial success thanks to the performances of the two leads which of course meant the soundtrack would also be a success shortly after its release.
While it does seem odd that this album managed to be more successful than any of the members solo work combined, the fact remains that they scored one of the biggest hits of the decade with their debut single which no doubt led to much fanfare with said album which eventually dropped late the previous year for the supergroup. They wouldn’t have much luck with their second album which caused them to break up.
This is the final successful album that Ben Harper had anywhere in the world, I’m guessing because audiences were becoming more nostalgic for older music and were no longer being satisfied with throwback artists emulating the success of older artists. Given how he was trying to be the (then) modern Jimi Hendrix, it makes sense that audiences would overlook him in favour of the genuine article.
For thirteen years, this was the final album to come from Tool given how lead singer Maynard James Keenan was juggling his career between this band and A perfect circle who had briefly broken up two years prior presumably to allow him to work on this album but eventually reunited in 2010. For what it’s worth, it would take twelve years for that band to release a new album, meaning he hadn’t released new music in that time.
There were no signs of these guys slowing down here in Australia, OK there were some signs given how this was nowhere near as successful as their previous two albums here, however it was obvious they still had a massive fanbase who likely comprised of a lot of the other entries on this list given how popular classical music had become at this point in time.
This is the last solo album that Kasey Chambers had success with here in Australia as her next few albums would be collaborations with her husband Shane Nicholson, it’s also the final album to spawn a hit single for her albeit a minor hit given how it failed to appear on the singles list for this year.
This was a modest success for the Living end this year, although I maintain that it should’ve been a massive success for them this year given how I firmly believe they were done dirty by digital piracy even this far into the new millennium. Indeed, had they delayed this album by just a few months, it could’ve easily been among the most popular albums of the decade thanks to legal digital downloads.
This is the last album that Ronan Keating released that can be considered mainstream music, after this he would reinvent himself as a crooner similar to the likes of Michael Bublé and what Human Nature had become, making him yet another former teen idol to transition into making music for our mothers.
OK so I’m throwing a curveball with this final entry on my list as this was obviously originally released three years prior for Lily Allen where it was a minor success for her here in Australia. ARIA does have this listed on their yearend list likely due to the success of her earlier entry on this list, however I feel this is more of them making up for failing to have this on their 2006 and 2007 lists than anything else.
Following a string of failed singles and albums where he tried to become a teen idol, the son of Jimmy Barnes David Campbell decided to reinvent himself as a throwback artist where he covered swing tunes from the first half of the twentieth century that saw massive success for the son of the Cold chisel frontman. It was a niche that helped him find further success with his subsequent follow ups.
We have another entry from Pearl jam to feature on this site, it was a hit purely through their artist momentum as at this point, their fanbase had been reduced to those who felt that the Foo fighters needed some competition with these guys being the best to fill in that role.
We have one final entry to showcase from Andre Bocelli on this site, although it’s worth noting that the blind opera singer continued to find middling success even in recent years, suggesting that his fanbase may be much smaller than it once was, but is dedicated regardless.
One of the first bands to make it big thanks to social media was the Arctic Monkeys, specifically it was due to them posting their songs on Myspace which eventually gained the attention of their label who signed them based on how well they did on that site. This was the album they put together following them being signed which was an instant success around the world thanks to their online notoriety.
Given the success of the biopic that we looked at earlier on this list, it only makes sense that fans of Johnny Cash (or rather the film given that it portrayed him warts and all) would check out his back catalogue which they did with this greatest hits package that was conveniently released around this time to allow fans to do just that.
This was the first of many successful country albums to come from Lee Kernaghan now that Australian country music was becoming more mainstream on our charts, I didn’t realise country fans were among those who got their music through illegal downloads during the first half of the decade as it appears it was through downloads that these albums were the most popular.
