As this was the final year of the second millennium (our current millennium began in 2001) it only makes sense that the theme of celebrating music from the past would continue this year, although there was much less emphasis on the 90s given how the big names of that decade were largely absent this year by comparison. Teen pop was still huge which of course I’m biased towards due to nostalgia, there was also a higher emphasis of the “were in the future” theme that cropped up in the late 90s as well as the counterculture argument of “and the world is still shit” it competed with.
Given how Robbie Williams was already one of the biggest names in music entering the 00’s in NZ, it only makes sense that his third solo album would be an instant success over there as opposed to here where it needed the runaway success of one of its singles to become as such. His popularity over there would line up with how big it was over here with his subsequent material later in the decade.
This had more of an immediate success for Craig David in NZ than it did here in Australia, I’m guessing because the kiwis already went through an entire decade of RNB as opposed to us Aussies being more into EDM around the time this was initially released in the southern hemisphere. Of course, the album was a massive success in both countries thanks to how inescapable the singles were.
Much like in Australia, this album from Limp Bizkit proved to be their magnum opus in NZ despite being panned by critics for its vulgar content (trust me, if you don’t already know what the title is referring to, you’re better off for not knowing.) Also like in Australia, their next album would be a huge commercial disappointment despite it containing their biggest hit with its lead single.
While this breakthrough album from Eminem proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, it appears to have come at the expense of hit spawning a hit over there like it did over here as none of the singles managed to catch on in their mainstream for some reason. He wouldn’t have this conundrum with his next album which saw massive success with its singles in addition to it being a best seller.
Well at least the kiwis managed to make this album a success upon its initial release, although this seemed to come at the expense of the album spawning a hit for Nelly over there given how “Ride wit me” was released as a single several months prior to it ever being associated with Scary movie 2 like it was here in Australia. I’m guessing this is what led to him having more success here overall than he did over there.
The boy bands might’ve been over by the time Westlife released their second album, however that didn’t prevent the Irish fivesome from finding worldwide success with said album given how it was a massive hit for them over in NZ. I guess it did briefly chart here in Australia as the Irish lads did have sound success with their debut album here, however it was inconsequential compared to their success internationally.
I guess the kiwis were finally willing to give these guys some well-deserved hits from this album as this managed to be the only album from the Corrs that managed to spawn hits for them over there despite their previous two albums being a massive success each for them throughout the 90’s whilst failing to do so. This did lead to them scoring a hit off their greatest hits album over there that wasn’t as such over here.
Normally it’s us Aussies that are into EDM albums and the kiwis are the ones that overlook them; however, it appears that the opposite is the case with this entry as they quickly gravitated towards this album upon its initial release as opposed to us Aussies who only made it a minor sleeper hit about a year after its initial release over here.
This was a massive success for the Vengaboys over in NZ, likely because of the unwritten rule of allowing Dutch artists inescapable success being reinstated going into the new millennium which the band had some help in doing so with their debut from the previous year. Naturally they were all set up for massive success over there which they threw away by going their separate ways in 2002.
Even though Destiny’s child achieved minor success in NZ with their first album and even the lead single to this album, it’s likely this sophomore release from the group would’ve fallen into obscurity were it not for the controversy that happened with the rollout of its second single. Basically its success over there was likely the same as it was over here in that there was drama involving the members of the group.
It was inevitable that this greatest hits package from Lenny Kravitz would be more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia given how he managed to somewhat retain his popularity throughout the 90’s over there rather consistently, indeed the bonus track from the album became a massive hit for him over there as opposed to it merely being a sleeper hit at best over here.
I’m guessing this albums success here in Australia came due to it being an even bigger success over in NZ months prior to it crossing over here, although I’m not sure why it was more successful over there as neither of the singles became a success (despite me having vivid memories of them being overplayed back in the day.) I guess this was a success over there due to Faith being considered the new Shania Twain by the kiwis.
Unlike in Australia where Anastacia had plenty of success with her first three albums, in NZ she only had success with her debut off the strength of its lead single which sadly left her a one album wonder as the kiwis for some reason didn’t bother checking out her subsequent follow ups like we Aussies did. At least this was still a massive success for her over there unlike in her native America where she went unnoticed.
Although these guys never found much success with their singles over in NZ (at least compared to here in Australia they didn’t) I don’t think they would’ve minded so much given how massively popular each of their albums were during their time in the spotlight. Even though this failed to spawn a hit for them over there, its popularity happened the same time that the lead single became a hit over here.
You have no idea how much love the kiwis have for UB40 over the years, heck I wouldn’t be surprise if that love hasn’t diminished given how they still occasionally chart over there with new material and the odd greatest hits package.
This had the same level of success in NZ as it did here in Australia, proving once again that pulling a song from the shelves doesn’t encourage any sales from the album in question as that’s something that happened here in Australia with the title track and not over in NZ this year. This would be her last successful album over there until Circus from the other side of the decade.
As per tradition, Simon and Garfunkel were able to enter a new decade with a highly successful greatest hits package over in NZ proving once more how much the kiwis loved their back catalogue from the 60’s. Indeed, this was the duo’s most successful album in this regard to the point where they didn’t bother releasing another album over there once the 2010’s had begun.
This was originally released in 1998 to deafening silence for David Gray, I’m guessing because folk rock wasn’t very popular in his native UK during the late 90’s which seemed to be all about teen pop and nostalgia baiting from the twentieth century. It was given a second chance likely due to there being a sudden rise in more down to earth music entering the 21st century.
Much like the rest of the world, this greatest hits package from the Beatles was a massive success in NZ around the twentieth anniversary of John Lennon’s tragic murder. I don’t have much more to add to this entry as its success over there was for the exact same reason it was over here.
Nowadays most people think of the Russian producer whenever they hear the name Zed (even though his name is spelt as Zedd) back in the day however, that was the name of a NZ alternative rock band who scored massive success with their debut album given how they were able to score a string of hits (some bigger than others) off the album before fading into obscurity as the decade went on.
I think this was meant to be NZ’s equivalent of the Main event concert that John Farnham, Olivia Newton John and Anthony Warlow gave back in 1998, I can’t think of another reason why two 80’s legends would collaborate with a (then) up and coming pop star if it wasn’t for charity after all. Whatever the reason for this concert, it proved to be a massive success for the trio as did this live album.
I guess the kiwis were more interested in listening to Eric Clapton collaborate with B.B King his year than we Aussies were as this proved to be far more successful over there than it was over here this year. It’s partially a covers album given how the duo take their hand on some blues classics as well as some (at the time) never before seen tracks from King’s vault.
I guess this was a success from Carl Doy due to the kiwi’s feeling nostalgia for the once popular Piano by candlelight franchise he began in the late 80’s, who’d thought 80’s nostalgia would begin less than a decade after that decade came to an end?
Given the success he had with his first album from two years prior, it makes sense that Martin Winch would make a follow up to his Espresso guitar album by turning it into a series that also saw massive success with its second instalment. The novelty must have worn off by the time he released the third instalment later in the decade as that was a massive flop for him.
If you’re wondering why this solo debut from Ronan Keating has a much lower placement on this list compared to how well it did on the Australian side of my site, that’s because the deluxe edition of the album was a massive flop for it over there which means most of its success came from its initial release given how much hype that went into the album following his departure from Boyzone the previous year.
There haven’t been many successful metal bands from NZ over the years, one of the lucky few to achieve success over there was Tadpole who scored a massive hit with their debut album from the start of the decade due to it being released at a time where all kinds of metal were able to find success worldwide effortlessly. Naturally they struggled to repeat this success later in their career due to how lucky they were with this album.
Given how he was responsible for so many hip hop classics throughout the 90’s, you’re probably stunned at how little representation that Dr Dre has had on my site even if he had a hit as a lead artist in NZ throughout the 90’s. I guess the kiwis were hyped enough to allow his second solo album to be a success for him over there at the start of the decade, certainly more so than it was in his native America.
This was a greatest hits package from the 60’s band the Hollies, it became a success in NZ this year likely due to the kiwis feeling nostalgia for their catalogue which is a bit odd considering they hadn’t had a hit over there since the launch of the RIANZ charts in 1975.
It’s a bit surprising to me that this album from U2 wasn’t anywhere near as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia given how overplayed the lead single remains to this day throughout the world, indeed you’d think a band who saw so much more success in the 80’s over there than they did over here would’ve thrived over there with this album given how people claim it’s a return to their heyday in terms of its sound.
You’d think this would be a massive success for Fur patrol given how it spawned one of the biggest hits of the decade as its lead single, alas it was only a sleeper hit for the band in their homeland as it stuck around due to it spawning a couple of other minor hits which stuck around on their charts due to strong airplay.
While this wasn’t as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, it appears that the kiwis enjoyed the second soundtrack from the Mission impossible franchise enough to make it the flagship of the franchise in their homeland much like we Aussies did down under. Again, I’m a fan of the franchise, so I can’t say that I clamour for a new film once every few years like so many do.
I’m a bit surprised this was less popular in NZ than it was here in Australia for P!nk given how her second album managed to be a huge mainstream success over there as opposed to a sleeper hit over here. This also goes for the singles as apart from the third single, they too weren’t as inescapable over there as they were over here back in the day.
This will be the only appearance of Marc Anthony on this site as a lead artist, he was a Latin crooner in a similar vein to Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias who never saw much success outside of his native America save for this album which became big in NZ likely due to the Latin craze being at the height of its popularity this year.
This year seemed like the perfect opportunity for audiences to rediscover the works of Harry Belafonte (the guy who brought us “Banana boat”) however it appears only the kiwis seized this opportunity as this wasn’t a hit anywhere else in the world for the 50’s crooner.
I still don’t know why Gabrielle didn’t have any success in NZ with her debut album like she did internationally, however seven years later she did find massive success over there with her third album mainly due to the surprise hit it spawned over there with its title track. It recharted over there the following year when she released her greatest hits package following the success of her theme from Bridget Jones diary.
