This is another year that didn’t have much direction to it for the most part, although I rank it pretty high on this list due to it being a great year for Australian artists even without the influence of Australian idol as that didn’t come to practice until the tail end of the year. Of course, I would rank this lower had I based it on the UK charts where reality show contestants reigned supreme, but thankfully few if any crossed over internationally.
Given how these guys already had minor success over in NZ by the time Fergie joined their ranks for this album, it makes sense that it would be more of an immediate success over there than it was here in Australia which resulted in its being slightly more success over there. Still, this was the only reason why it ranks slightly higher on these lists as once it did crossover here, its popularity was inescapable.
Before she became a mainstay for the controversial religious group Hillsong, Brooke Fraser was a popular folk singer/songwriter from NZ who scored a massive hit with her debut album at the tender age of twenty. While she never was able to crossover to Australia despite eventually joining the Australian religious group, I doubt she cared considering how inescapable she was in her homeland.
This proved to be equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, this is just further proof that tampering with an album’s release schedule does little to impact its overall success even if the third single from this album was delayed here due to Australian idol shenanigans rather than to promote the album. Their career trajectory over there was the same as it was over here.
It’s no surprise that this was one of the biggest albums of the decade in NZ given how it managed to make an appearance on the Australian side of my site, after all, if even we Aussies can appreciate the talent on display here, then there was little doubt that her fellow kiwis would make this an instant classic over there.
The success this debut album from Delta Goodrem had over in NZ feels more in line with what it should’ve achieved here in Australia given how ridiculously overplayed it was here back in the day, indeed I don’t think there was any backlash to the Neighbours star over there or even internationally as this did manage to crossover worldwide due to its success as well as her role in the TV soap opera.
This third album from the Feelers was initially only a modest success upon its release in their homeland, I’m guessing because the kiwis felt that their time was up and wanted to move onto other local rock bands of the day such as Goldenhorse or Evermore. It was given a second chance a year after its initial release due to the surprise success of one of its singles which in turn made it a hugely successful album.
I guess the kiwis had decided that Dido would become an album artist with her sophomore effort like she was here in Australia given how none of the singles on this album became a massive hit for her like the ones on her previous album. Still, this was an impressive feat for her given how many of her contemporaries struggled to even have one successful album this decade worldwide, let alone two.
From what I can gather, Elemeno P were the NZ equivalent of the likes of the Living end and Grinspoon, that is to say, a pop punk band who appealed to the disenfranchised youth of the day which resulted in their popularity in their homeland. This was their debut album, which was a massive success for the band, although it appeared that their fans would quickly grow tired of them as their subsequent follow ups failed to catch on.
This was the debut album from Nesian Mystik, a hip-hop group from NZ who saw massive success throughout the decade with their singles even though this was their only successful album in their career. Indeed, they were more of a singles artist given how even prior to them calling it quits in 2011, they still managed to achieve massive success with their songs in their local music scene.
It appears the kiwis were willing to have this double album from the two members of Outkast be an instant success over there as opposed to us Aussies where it needed to be declared album of the year at the Grammys before we made it a success here. Evidently, the duo released one more album later in the decade that was such a critical and commercial failure that it prompted them to go their separate ways.
Unlike in Australia where this album had most of its success from the lower half of the charts, it appears the kiwis were more consistently impressed with the album cycle that it managed to remain in the upper half of their charts for much longer during its chart run. As such, it manages to have a more accurate placement on this list with how popular it was in both countries back in the day.
OK so perhaps I oversold that this was more popular here in Australia than it was in NZ, that’s certainly true given this album doesn’t appear as high on this list as it did on the Australian side of this site, however it was still a massive hit for Ben Harper and even led to him having one more successful album later in the decade over there, which shoots down my theory that the kiwis had grown tired of his music.
The kiwis had such fond memories of UB40 that this three for one deal managed to become a massive success over there during the midpoint of the decade, if this isn’t an endorsement of how popular the band was over there during their heyday then I don’t know what is.
I’m a bit surprised this wasn’t even bigger in NZ for the same reason I was surprised it wasn’t bigger here in Australia, then again, the fact the singles on this album were so inescapable worldwide more than justifies how popular Curtis was this year which I feel makes up for it not being higher on these lists. Much like everywhere else in the world, his popularity would dwindle as the decade went on over there.
This proved to be more successful for JT over in NZ than it was here in Australia, I’m guessing because the singles didn’t create as much buzz over there as they did here which I’m guessing was the payoff for the singles success here and vice versa over there. He would find more success with both his second album and its singles in both countries later in the decade.
This wasn’t as inescapably popular in NZ as it was here in Australia, likely because it was a hit upon its immediate release over there which likely meant that the kiwis weren’t as impressed with Michael Bublé’s world tour as we Aussies were once this finally caught on late into its chart run over here.
Although this debut album from Katchafire appears quite low on this list, it was indeed one of the biggest hits of the decade in their native NZ albeit by charting for a considerable amount of time on the lower half of their charts, hence its low placement on this list. There’s still one more album to come from the band that will appear on this site even if this is their only album to spawn hits for them.
Given how immensely popular his debut album was in NZ back in the day, it only makes sense that the success his first two albums had over there would be the complete inverse of what they achieved here in Australia albeit if the less popular of the two albums was still a massive mainstream success.
It looked like RHCP were beginning to lose their mainstream popularity over in NZ as this was also less successful over there than it was over here back in the day, however their fortunes were restored later in the decade when Stadium arcadium became one of the biggest albums of the decade over there.
This was far more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia for No doubt, I guess this was proof that the kiwis preferred Gwen’s career when she was part of the band rather than her solo outing giving that her two albums would be less popular over there than they were over here.
I guess the kiwis were a bit kinder to these guys going into the new millennium, as such it makes sense that this greatest hits package would be slightly more successful over there than it was over here given how much more popular the band was overall with the kiwis compared to us Aussies.
Although this album’s lower placement on this list was more due to it being a sleeper hit in NZ as it mostly confided itself in the lower half of their charts as opposed to here in Australia where it spent a healthy run on the upper echelons of our charts, it was still far less successful over there due to it not lasting nearly as long on their charts overall suggesting the kiwis were torn with her breaking away from Disney.
These guys were on a roll this decade as they managed to achieve massive success with their fourth album following the disappointment of their third album which it turns out was a direct sequel to their second album. Their next album would struggle for popularity, mainly because it would compete with lead singer Tiki Taane’s debut album who would leave the group after this album.
I guess the kiwis had grown tired of MJ when he released this greatest hits package given how much less popular it was over there than it was over here, although at least this did decently well back in the day before it achieved its full success when he passed away later in the decade.
Given how Australian Idol was a huge success in NZ, it only makes sense that the victory album from its winner was a massive hit over there even if it didn’t reach the dizzying heights of success that it achieved over here upon its initial release.
Much like here in Australia, this was also a huge success in NZ even if once again its low placement is due to its success coming from when it charted during the lower half of their charts which is why some of the albums outrank it on this list as they charted longer in the upper echelons of their charts whilst these two were accumulating their fanbase from behind the scenes over there.
This was supposed to be Atomic Kitten’s debut album over in America given how the trio had sparked interest over there due to how popular they were during the first half of the decade; the kiwis saw this as a greatest hits album as it was released over there to overlook how well they had done up until this point.
This was slightly more successful in NZ for Celine Dion; I’m guessing the kiwis were a bit more forgiving for that infamous performance of an AC/DC track she gave in Vegas the previous year with Anastacia than we Aussies were (although we were clearly forgiving of Anastacia’s part) although this wasn’t enough for her momentum to keep going over there like it had previously done.
As there was a different greatest hits album that became popular for Barry White at the turn of the century in NZ, it only makes sense that this was the album that became popular over there once he tragically passed away this year, although no such album was a success here in Australia due to the lack of success he had during his lifetime in our music scene.
It had been exactly twenty years since George Benson last troubled the charts anywhere in the world with In your eyes, it seems appropriate that he would score one final entry on this side of my site with a greatest hits package given how his previous entry was with another album with this exact title.
Well, I suppose Sean Paul was able to make up for not having a single hit in NZ by having his second album be a massive hit over there, although that mainly came when his feature on Beyonce’s “Baby boy” managed to become a huge hit worldwide which suggests that he was only a household name over there thanks to her sex jam that appeared on her album (which failed to reappear on this side of my site.)
It appears that the lead single from Kelly Rowland’s solo debut also appearing on Nelly’s second album from the previous year did no favours for it in NZ as was the case here in Australia, although at least its second single convinced us Aussies and kiwis to finally give the Destiny’s child singer a chance early on in the year.
There was no stopping Bic Runga throughout the 00’s as her live album with the Christchurch symphony became a modest success for her due to the success of her top entry on this list. Indeed, it wouldn’t be until the early 2010’s where her momentum would finally slow down for her.
Surprised to see this so low on this side of my site? It appears the kiwis weren’t very impressed with this solo outing from Beyonce given how it only became a success due to its signature track “Crazy in love” almost topping their charts over there. The album had left the charts by the time “Baby boy” followed in its footsteps, suggesting they considered her to be an albums artist.
This is the only other appearance from Josh Groban throughout the 00’s on this side of my site, even then he barely squeezes in on this list due to it appearing on RIANZ’s yearend list for this year despite having a rather unimpressive chart run back in the day.
