I feel this was the year where our music tastes were dictated to us, given how that was the trade-off for preventing those awful viral hits from YouTube from clogging up our charts. It was a temporary solution to that conundrum as it resulted in rather soulless music from artists who likely would’ve failed to crossover the year prior.
Unlike here in Australia where this needed to be a hit twice for Duffy to become a best seller, it was an instant success over in NZ thanks to the lead single becoming a massive success upon its initial release over there likely due to its inclusion on the Sex in the city theatrical film. Sadly, this didn’t do Duffy any favours going into the 2010’s given how Adele stole her crown as the queen of throwback soul music.
Unlike in Australia where I’m not dead remains her biggest album, in NZ, that honour goes to P!nk’s fifth album which managed to be almost as successful over there as it was over here by having its singles be hits as opposed to the singles on her previous album. Admittedly the only album she found more success with over there was her second album from way earlier in the decade.
Given how these guys already had a massive hit with their previous album over in NZ (and a mainstream hit at that unlike a sleeper hit here in Australia) it only makes sense that this album would also be massive over there months prior to when it took off in their native America. Unfortunately, rock music was just as unpopular in NZ throughout the 2010’s as it was worldwide which makes this their final successful album there as well.
Much like in Australia, this also had immediate success over in NZ despite it failing to crossover to her native America initially, I guess the kiwis were also ready for a new queen of pop given how her album Hard candy failed to become a success over there months prior to when this was first released.
Even though the singing in the film adaptation of the Broadway play Mamma Mia was widely criticised by critics and audiences alike (particularly that from Pierce Brosnan) it appears that didn’t prevent the soundtrack from being a massive success for the film given how it was equally as successful in NZ as it was in Australia upon the films release.
This was another instant success for Coldplay in NZ like it was throughout the rest of the world, it was a predictable hit for the band given how inescapable their previous three albums were upon its initial release. They may have had to adjust their sound going into the new decade which caused fans to accuse them of selling out, however doing so allowed them to find further success in the 2010’s which was unusual for a rock band.
It’s a bit surprising that these two didn’t have any success here in Australia, mainly because I’ve heard Americans talk about them (mainly due to the success of their show) which means they would’ve had the advantage of their music being played on TV as well as endorsements from making it big internationally. Naturally they were huge in their homeland given how this was around the time their show premiered.
This was the only noticeably success that Swedish DJ Basshunter managed to achieve in his career anywhere in the world, although its success in NZ is impressive considering that it didn’t even chart here in Australia despite EDM being the genre of choice for us Aussies over the years. I guess this became a hit due to the title track being one of the biggest hits of the decade over there.
This had a bit of a slow start to its success over in NZ as opposed to the rest of the world where it was an instant success for Beyonce, although the trade-off was that she found far more success over there with its singles than she did internationally which was a given for her catalogue over there as the kiwis seemed to consider her more of a singles artist throughout her career.
I guess the kiwis were just as enamoured by the music of the Twilight saga as the rest of the world was as this remains equally as successful over there as it does here in Australia. Even the biggest detractors of the franchise will tell you that the soundtracks are its one saving grace given how it introduced many alternative bands and artists to the mainstream thanks to their incorporation in each film.
Disney were on a roll when they released Miley Cyrus’s first album that wasn’t affiliated with her character on their lucrative series Hannah Montana, like their other products this decade, it proved to be much more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia despite the singles themselves failing to reach the dizzying heights they achieved here back in the day over there.
This found the exact amount of success in NZ as it did in Australia, right down to the peak positions of the album and singles which I think is the only album to achieve this feat in both countries. Naturally this meant that Leona Lewis had the same amount of appeal in both countries with this album, an appeal that went away once she released her third album later in the decade.
Given how inescapably popular this album was the previous year here in Australia, it only makes sense that the kiwis would check out what all the fuss was about from Jason Mraz which resulted in the lead single becoming more popular over there than it was over here and thus making this album a success for him as well.
I’m a bit surprised this wasn’t more successful in NZ than it was here in Australia given how their nostalgia circuit was much more potent over there than ours was over here during the last stretch of the decade, then again, this was a comeback album for AC/DC in every sense of the word given how popularity they would remain throughout the following decade.
I guess Disturbed were equally as successful in NZ as they were here in Australia given how this album managed to be a massive hit for them this year in both countries, indeed their 2015 comeback was also a massive success over there like it was here (impressive for a rock band) even without the success of their cover of “The sound of silence” over there.
It goes without saying that this would be more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia given how T.I already had moderate success over there prior to going in a more mainstream direction that he did on this album. That said, this would be where his winning streak would come to an end given how he struggled to transition his success into the 2010’s likely due to his criminal activity.
The remaining four members of Westlife embarked on a tour during the early months of the year in NZ, the tour was named after their greatest hits package from earlier in the decade which meant that it was a massive success for the former boy band over there and (obviously) nowhere else in the world.
These guys had an amazing run throughout the decade in their homeland even though they failed to translate that success internationally (shame really) so it makes sense that a greatest hits package detailing how far they had come in ten years would be a massive success for the band when it was released.
This was more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I’m guessing because the kiwis didn’t find Timbaland “presenting” these guys to be as gimmicky as we Aussies did (I still don’t get the point of that to this day.) Indeed, the band would overall find more success over there due to their second album spawning a huge hit for them over there that didn’t even chart over here.
Just like here in Australia, this also managed to become a success all over again in NZ thanks to the success of Mamma Mia from earlier on this list, there’s honestly not much else I can say for this entry that wouldn’t come off as redundant, so I won’t.
There was no escaping the High school musical phenomenon during the second half of the decade (trust me, I was there) so it makes sense that the third instalment managed to spawn a successful soundtrack worldwide given that it was released to theatres as opposed to the first two films being Disney channel originals. If you think Disney has only become corporate driven in recent years, I can assure you they’ve been like this for a while now.
This is an album that would qualify for my comeback list had I based that list on comebacks over in NZ rather than Australia, after all, Britney has had a very rocky decade since her second album given how everything she released between Oops I did it again and this album was a massive failure for her over there save for “Toxic” and “Piece of me.” This winning streak sadly didn’t last for her going into the new decade.
You might think that this recharted on the tenth anniversary of its initial release over in NZ, however the real reason this became a success this year was because of a popular ad campaign for Cadbury chocolates where “In the air tonight” played over what was a gorilla playing drums which amused the kiwis enough to make the song a chart topper over there almost three decades after its release.
From what I can gather, Billy T James was a NZ comedian who had died in 1991 despite only releasing two albums in his catalogue throughout the 80’s. Apparently, there was a lot of nostalgia for his work during the last stretch of the 00’s as this greatest hits package containing his best work managed to become a massive hit for him posthumously.
Following the disappointment that was their 2005 effort Love is the new hate, Shihad went back to the drawing board for their next album which resulted in this effort which helped them regain some of the popularity they lost from their time as Pacifier from the start of the decade. It would be their final successful album as they would be unfortunate victims of the rock purge of the 2010’s.
The success of this album in NZ was exactly the same as it was here in Australia, namely that while his popularity was on the decline, Jack Johnson was still among the biggest names in the mainstream during the last stretch of the decade in both countries.
This was another album whose success in NZ was inevitable given how Metallica had then recently joined the nostalgia circuit with their original material which made this albums success all the more exciting for long-time fans as they felt it was finally a return to form after nearly two decades of them experimenting with their sound.
The kiwis didn’t seem to be as interested in this 25th anniversary release of one of the greatest albums of all time as we Aussies were, in fact I’m sort of cheating with this entry as according to RIANZ, this was what charted when MJ passed away as opposed to the original version so I’m combining the two chart runs onto this entries placement on this list.
The step-up franchise had almost the exact same trajectory of success in NZ as it did here in Australia, that being the first entry’s soundtrack was a flop with the second entry being more successful due to spawning one of the biggest hits of the decade with its lead single.
Given how Geoff Sewell was the NZ member from Amici Forever, it only seems natural that he would find massive success in his homeland with a solo album given how his presence was likely the reason why the British opera band managed to achieve so much success over there to begin with.
Who’d thought that Neil Diamond would still be finding success with new material this far into his career? It appears the kiwis wanted to listen to new songs from the 70’s crooner decades after he had a hit over there with his singles or even his other albums.
Although they had more success with their singles from their first album over in NZ, this was the biggest album that the Veronicas had over in NZ likely due to it being their international breakthrough in the northern hemisphere thanks to the buzz that was sparked from their earlier release. I guess this being a massive hit over there came at the expense of it spawning more than one giant hit.
We looked at the Australian edition of this album, time now to look at the NZ edition which had the exact same chart trajectory over there as the Australian version had over here in that it bombed upon its initial release and became a success this year due to MJ’s passing.
Much like here in Australia, this was also the final successful album that the Killers had over in NZ as it managed to be a huge success over there during the final stretch of the decade.
This was a hit again in NZ four years after it became as such for Rod Stewart, the nostalgia circuit must have really been unavoidable this decade if this managed to become a success for him so many times over the decade.
Given that their earlier entry on this list became a surprise success this year (likely due to a successful tour over there) it only seems natural that the third album from the Black Seeds would be a huge success for them which is a given seeing as how reggae was still among the most popular genres in the music scene over there even this far into the decade.
This was the soundtrack to the Disney channel original film Camp rock, a film that was panned by critics for having a formulaic plot and horrible performances from the Jonas brothers and the up-and-coming Demi Lovato. I will say that the 00’s was a terrible decade for Disney as they found themselves making horrible TV shows and movies that have similar issues to what they’re currently making nowadays.
It appears the kiwis were a bit sceptical at first in allowing Miley Cyrus to become the next Hilary duff back in the day given how long this took to chart over there compared to over here where we Aussies were at least curious upon its initial release. That said, this was far more of a success once the kiwis were on board with making her a household name given how much bigger this was over there overall.
Herbs were indeed one of the biggest bands of the 80’s in NZ, so it makes sense that they would release a greatest hits package around this time when 80’s nostalgia was at its peak worldwide to help fans relive the glory days of their success.
Rob Guest was one of the most popular entertainers from NZ who managed to score a minor hit in 1978 with “Hanging on,” he tragically passed away this year which led to his fellow kiwis paying their respects to his work by making this greatest hits package a huge success for him posthumously.
I guess the kiwis were more impressed with the novelty of members of the clergy singing opera classics than we Aussies were given how this was far more of a success over there than it was over here, although it could be more due to the lack of competition the classical music scene had over there as there were fewer successful albums from the genre to make it big.
This managed to become a surprise success this year for Bob Marley, I’m guessing it was just to it randomly becoming popular over the years across the world given how there hasn’t been any major updates to his career post-mortem since the start of the decade with his duet’s album.
This is a bit of an odd entry as this was released nine years after the death of Dusty Springfield, it was a moderate success in NZ likely due to nostalgia the kiwis had for her back catalogue even if she didn’t find much success over there (at least according to the Listener charts.)
This was equally as successful in NZ as it was here in Australia, that is to say, the kiwis were finally able to embrace the band’s image like we Aussies did albeit just for this one album as their subsequent material wasn’t popular in the 2010’s due to rock music in general finding little success in the mainstream.
I guess the kiwis had enough love for Enya during the Christmas season of 2008 to allow her holiday album to become a success over there like it did over here, it remains her final successful album anywhere in the world.
Given how this was a massive hit for Gabrielle Cilmi here in Australia as well as in the UK (for some reason) it makes sense that the kiwis would also make it a success for her even if it set her up for a career that ultimately led nowhere in the long run. Indeed, her second album didn’t even chart anywhere in the world outside of her homeland.
This was a flop for Bon Jovi upon its initial release in NZ the previous year, it was given a second chance this year due to a successful tour they gave to promote the album which allowed it to be their first big album over there since their reunion from the start of the decade.
Even though he scored a string of hits over in NZ throughout the decade, this was the only album that Ne-yo had any success with over there likely due to it being a minor success here in Australia (too minor to appear on the Australian side of my site.) Much like other juggernauts of the 00’s, he struggled to transition towards the 2010’s commercially.
