The AC/DC Rule, Part 2

Summary

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Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Episode: "The AC/DC Rule, Part 2"

Host: Chris Molanphy
Date: February 26, 2021

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Episode Overview

In this follow-up episode, Chris Molanphy continues exploring "The AC/DC Rule"—a phenomenon where an artist's follow-up album debuts bigger or charts higher than its more critically acclaimed or beloved predecessor, propelled by the momentum of prior sleeper hits. Through a journey across decades of chart history and a wide array of genres, Chris demonstrates how this rule shapes not only perceptions of what albums "deserve" success but also how albums succeed in an evolving music industry.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining the AC/DC Rule

• Concept: The rule is named for the Australian rock band AC/DC, whose first #1 album ("For Those About to Rock We Salute You") was outsold and out-remembered by its predecessor ("Back in Black").
• Core dynamic: An artist releases a slow-burning hit album that accumulates a large audience over time. The fast-rising follow-up album enjoys an explosive debut or quick chart-topping run, even if it’s less memorable.

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2. Early Examples in Rock and Pop

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass

• Whipped Cream & Other Delights (1965): Sold millions, driven by hits and a provocative cover. (01:38)
• Follow-ups rode its coattails—"What Now My Love" actually topped the charts longer but is less remembered.

Jimi Hendrix

• Are You Experienced (1967) is Hendrix's best-seller and most critically acclaimed, but Electric Ladyland (1968) was his only #1 album. (03:41)
  • Quote: “More than 50 years later, all three of these Hendrix albums are highly regarded by critics and fans. But the most acclaimed and the best seller is Hendrix's debut, Ru Experienced.” — Chris Molanphy [04:48]

Cream

• Disraeli Gears (1967): Slow climb, peaked at #4.
• Wheels of Fire: Topped charts in 5 weeks, benefitted from momentum. (06:12)

Carole King

• Tapestry (1971): 15 weeks at #1, multiple classic hits, slow steady climb (debuted at #79).
• Music (1971): Follow-up debuted huge, 1.3 million sold day one, but now overshadowed by Tapestry. (07:10)
  • Quote: “Frankly, as near impossible as this was in the days before computerized charts, Music probably should have debuted at number one because reportedly Music sold 1.3 million copies on its first day.” — Chris Molanphy [09:08]

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3. 1970s Singer-Songwriters and Prog Rock

Jethro Tull

• Aqualung (1971): Slow grower, global top-seller.
• Thick as a Brick (1972) & A Passion Play (1973): Both #1 albums, but far less enduring in public memory. (12:18)
  • Quote: “Their geeky gambit worked so well, Tull did it again the next year.” — Chris Molanphy [14:44]

Cat Stevens

• Tea for the Tillerman & Teaser and the Firecat: Both slow-burn triple platinum hits.
• Catch Bull at Four (1972): Opened at #1 despite having no enduring radio hits. (18:16)

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4. Arena and Classic Rock: Sales vs. Legacy

Boston

• Boston (1976): 17 million sold, never reached #1.
• Don’t Look Back (1978): Debuted at #1, but not as beloved. (21:33)

Billy Joel

• The Stranger (1977): Slow burner, peaked at #2, Joel’s classic.
• 52nd Street (1978): Hit #1 in four weeks, propelled by reputation. (25:14)

Jackson Browne

• Running on Empty (1978): Steady hit, septuple platinum.
• Hold Out (1980): Only #1 album, less remembered. (27:29)

Pat Benatar

• Crimes of Passion (1980): Slow-building quadruple platinum, loaded with hits.
• Precious Time (1981): #1 album, less impressive content or legacy. (28:52)
  • Quote: “I really think Precious Time went to number one on the strength of Crimes of Passion. That's the record that should have gone to number one.” — Pat Benatar [30:34]

Van Halen

• Built momentum over six albums, finally hit #1 with 5150 (Sammy Hagar era, 1986).
• David Lee Roth’s era never had a #1 studio album; fans’ anticipation carried over. (39:27–43:52)
  • Quote: “One could argue, as per my rule, that record buyers were belatedly rewarding Van Hagar for the streak of success by Diamond Dave's Van Halen.” — Chris Molanphy [41:09]

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5. The SoundScan Era and Instant Debuts

• SoundScan’s impact (early 90s): The ability to track real-time album sales data ushered in more number-one debut albums, making AC/DC Rule events more common—and visible.

Skid Row & Depeche Mode

• Debut albums: slow climbers, big sales.
• Follow-ups: Immediate #1 but less enduring impact. (47:28)

Pearl Jam

• Ten (1991): Lengthy rise, never hit #1.
• Vs. (1993): Exploded at #1 with one of the era’s biggest first-week sales. (49:12)

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6. The Rise and Fall Cycle of Blockbusters

Mid-90s to 2000s

• Alanis Morissette, Hootie & the Blowfish, Live: Slow-rising debut albums, massive follow-up debuts that fizzled faster (52:18)
• Radiohead: OK Computer (slow builder), Kid A (instant #1, less radio presence but ultimately respected). (53:27)
  • Quote: “It’s unthinkable that Kid A, my favorite Radiohead album, would have hit number one unless the slower growing OK Computer had come first.” — Chris Molanphy [53:52]

Boy Bands & Rap-Rock

• Backstreet Boys: Slow burn to 10M sales, Millennium debuts at #1 with 1.1M first week.
• NSYNC, Eminem, Limp Bizkit: Each follows the pattern with precedent-shattering first-week sales for follow-ups.

Norah Jones

• Come Away With Me (2002): Quietly builds for over a year to #1, diamond sales.
• Feels Like Home (2004): 1M debut, shorter chart run.
  • Quote: “The massive opening of Feels Like Home was a referendum on Come Away With Me.” — Chris Molanphy [61:37]

Lady Gaga & Mumford & Sons

• The Fame: Steady seller, never #1.
• Born This Way: Massive first week, shorter tail.
• Similar pattern with Mumford’s Sigh No More (slow builder) & Babel (big debut). (62:40–64:29)

Imagine Dragons

• Night Visions: Double platinum, peak #2.
• Smoke + Mirrors: Debuts at #1, few major hits. (64:29)

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7. The Digital & Streaming Era

• The decline of the ACDC Rule: The era of streaming (2020s) has diminished slow-burn album blockbusters. Streaming favors singles and viral moments over the sleeper-to-superstar album pipeline.

AC/DC’s Own Late-Career Comeback

• Black Ice (2008): Sold nearly 800K week one—CDs only at Walmart.
• Power Up (2020): Debuted at #1 in a streaming-dominated age.
  • Quote: “Not bad for a band of 60 and 70 somethings in an era when few albums still sell much period.” — Chris Molanphy [69:52]
• The band still uses "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" as encore, their first chart-topping album, signifying pride in that moment regardless of the ACDC Rule's quirks. (71:34)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “This is often the pattern. A rapidly chart topping follow up to a slower growing predecessor. And the pattern holds even when both LPs go to number one." — Chris Molanphy [06:43]
• “Number one albums, even by the same superstar, are not created equal. A slow building chart topper might lead to an explosive sequel.” — Chris Molanphy [09:09]
• “The Stranger took about five months to climb the album chart, peaking at number two in February 1978. Its follow up… vaulted to number one on the album chart in just four weeks.” — Chris Molanphy [24:54]
• “‘Born This Way’ spent far less time on the charts, spun off fewer major hits, and sold roughly half as much as ‘The Fame.’ Also… it was a signal example of the ACDC rule.” — Chris Molanphy [62:40]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• AC/DC Rule Recap and Herb Alpert: [00:00–03:41]
• Jimi Hendrix and Cream: [03:41–07:02]
• Carole King: [07:10–12:18]
• Jethro Tull & Cat Stevens: [12:18–18:16]
• Boston & Billy Joel: [21:33–25:58]
• Jackson Browne & Pat Benatar: [27:29–32:09]
• Van Halen: [39:27–43:52]
• SoundScan & 90s Chart Explosions: [43:52–53:27]
• Mid-90s to 2000s Blockbusters: [53:27–62:35]
• Norah Jones, Lady Gaga, Mumford & Sons: [58:50–64:29]
• Imagine Dragons & Modern Chart Patterns: [64:29–68:00]
• AC/DC in the 21st Century & Conclusion: [68:00–71:35]

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Conclusion

Chris Molanphy's deep dive into the “AC/DC Rule” provides a fascinating lens for understanding how chart smashes are often fueled more by timing, momentum, and the inertia of fan bases than by inherent talent or even musical legacy. From classic rock to 2000s pop, the quirks and patterns of chart-topping albums reveal that the music business is as much about the waves you catch as the music you make. The episode closes on AC/DC's own late-career success and their unabashed pride in the album that inspired the rule itself.

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For dedicated music nerds and chart-watchers, "The AC/DC Rule, Part 2" is an essential explainer on chart history’s most counterintuitive and entertaining album phenomenon.

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Transcript

[Chris Melanfi]

You're listening ad free on Amazon Music. Hello Slate podcast listeners. Help us make a better Slate by answering our survey. It'll only take a few minutes, and you can find it at slate.com survey thanks. Welcome back to Hit Parade, a podcast of pop chart history from Slate magazine about the hits from coast to coast. I'm Chris Melanfy, chart analyst, pop critic, and writer of Slate's why Is this Song Number One series. On our last episode, we talked about the AC DC rule, a concept I invented to explain why follow up albums open bigger or chart higher than their more beloved predecessors. And I named it after acdc, a band whose first ever number one LP was not as well remembered or strong selling as its predecessor, Back in Black. Now let's apply the ACDC rule to a range of other acts across chart history. In many cases, their top charting LP might surprise you. There aren't many examples of the ACDC rule in the in the early years of the rock era, the long playing album itself was a new medium. In the 1950s, and even through the mid-60s, singles generally sold better than LPs. So hit albums were driven by hit songs or even by a hit album cover. One of the most famous LP jackets of the period was trumpet player Herb Alpert, Albert's smash 1965 LP with the Tijuana Brass, Whipped Cream and Other Delights. The album's sexy cover of a seemingly nude model buried in whipped cream up to her chest helped move millions of copies of Albert's lp. But then, more improbably, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass scored four more chart topping albums from 1966 through 68, all of which could be said to be benefiting from the coattails of Whipped Cream and Other Delights. Of course, Alpert's hit instrumental bops like Spanish Flea, later The theme to TV's the Dating Game, didn't hurt. One of these later Alpert LPs, what now my Love, actually spent one more week at number one than Whipped Cream and Other Delights did. But nobody remembers a Tijuana Brass album as well as they do Whipped Cream. So Herb Alpert does broadly fit the parameters of the ACDC rule. By the late 60s, however, as the charts turned toward harder rock, there were better examples.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

But who in your measly little world are you trying to prove that you're made out of gold and can't be sold? So are you experienced?

[Chris Melanfi]

If I asked you to name Jimi Hendrix's only number one album, you would likely guess Are you experienced? The 1967 LP that came out just as his searing performance at the Monterey Pop Festival made him a cultural phenomenon. And it was a hit eventually. Ru experience took several months to crack Billboard's top 10 and more than a year to reach its eventual peak of number four in the fall of 1968. By that time Hendrix had also released two other albums, Axis Bold as Love, a number three hit in early 1968, and the album that would finally bring him to the top of the chart, Electric Ladyland. It included Hendrix's only top 40 hit, his cover of Bob Dylan's all along the Watchtower.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

There must be some kind of way outta here. Say that. Welcome to the theme.

[Chris Melanfi]

More than 50 years later, all three of these Hendrix albums are highly regarded by critics and fans. But the most acclaimed and the best seller is Hendrix's debut, Ru Experienced. It's certified quadruple platinum, about four times as much as its two follow ups. Arguably over its long run on the charts, Ru Experienced set up Electric Ladyland for its eventual chart topping success. A pretty good example of the ACDC rule. In effect a contemporaneous example was the power trio of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, AKA Cream. Cream's breakthrough album and to this day their bestseller was 1967's Disraeli Gears which peaked at number four in the summer of 1968. It took 30 weeks to reach that peak on the Billboard album chart and the album spawned the top five hit Sunshine of youf Love.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

I've been waiting so long to be where I'm going in the sunshine of your love.

[Chris Melanfi]

Not long after Disraeli Gears reached its peak, Cream issued their follow up Wheels of Fire. That album took only five weeks to top the Billboard chart, benefiting from the long climb of Disraeli Gears. And it too spawned a top 10 single with the number six hit White Room.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

In a white room with black curtains.

[Chris Melanfi]

This is often the pattern. A rapidly chart topping follow up to a slower growing predecessor. And the pattern holds even when both LPs go to number one. Which was the case in 1971 for the chart dominating singer songwriter Carole King.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

I feel the earth move under my feet I feel the sky tumbling down.

[Chris Melanfi]

If you know anything about Carole King, surely you know her album Tapestry was a smash. Fifteen weeks at number one, multiple hit songs including a chart topping double a sided single, It's Too Late and I Feel the Earth Move. The Grammy for album of the year and eventual sales in the US alone of 10 million copies for most of the 70s. Until the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack surpassed it, Tapestry ranked as America's biggest selling album of all time. What is less well remembered decades later is that Carole King scored two number one albums in 1971 and the second one opened much, much bigger than Tapestry. The later album was called simply Music. This song, Sweet Seasons, was its only single, an eventual number nine hit striking while the iron was hot. King recorded music in the late summer of 71 while tapestry was still in the middle of its long run on top. She used the same studio as Tapestry, the same producer and many of the same musicians. Frankly, you could well call this album Tapestry Part 2, or Tapestry Reloaded or or Tapestry Dead Man's Chest. Even the album cover has the same homey domestic vibe and sun dappled glow as its predecessor. It looks rather like Carole King climbed down from the window on Tapestry's cover, walked 10ft to the other side of the room, sat down behind a piano and took another photo.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Wondering, wondering if you have made it.

[Chris Melanfi]

But the two albums were greeted very differently. When Tapestry arrived in the spring of 1971, Carole King was unproven as a performer even as it became her first LP to crack the Billboard album chart when it debuted at number 79. Billboard misspelled King's name. Carol lacked its closing E. The album climbed steadily, taking about a dozen weeks to finally reach number one. Whereas when King released Music on the last day of November 1971, it debuted on the chart just a week and a half later. It shot into the top 10 immediately and it was number one for the week ending January 1, 1972, reflecting blockbuster sales just before Christmas of 71. Frankly, as near impossible as this was in the days before computerized charts, Music probably should have debuted at number one because reportedly Music sold 1.3 million copies on its first day. This is an additional dimension to my ACDC rule. Number one albums, even by the same superstar, are not created equal. A slow building chart topper might lead to an explosive sequel. But the real test of an act's popularity is if they can follow a slow growing hit album with a smash that sounds like it should never have been a hit. Like maybe a progressive rock jazz fusion group whose frontman plays the flute. Meet Jethro Tull. Led by singer, guitarist and flautist ian Anderson, this five man group from Blackpool, named for an 18th century British agriculturalist, Jethro Tull, who invented the seed drill, broke fairly quickly in their native UK in the late 60s. But they took several years to become a hit act in America. Jethro Tull finally cracked the US top 10 with their fourth studio album Aqualung, whose title track became an album oriented rock radio standard thanks to one very memorable guitar riff.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Sitting on the park bench.

[Chris Melanfi]

How famous is that riff? If you're too young to remember Jethro Tull firsthand, but you're old enough to have seen the 2004 Will Ferrell comedy Anchorman, it's the riff that 70s swinger rock Ron Burgundy drops into the middle of his epic jam on jazz flute, Aqualung. The album took only a month to hit its peak of number seven. Jethro Tull had been building a US following on the road and their prior two LPs had both cracked the top 20. Aqua Lung remains Jethro Tull's top global seller and in America is certainly certified triple platinum. But Jethro Tull have two American number one albums and both of them are considerably weirder than Aqualung. Thick As A brick Jethro Tull's 1972 LP contains new no individually titled songs. It was conceived and recorded as one 44 minute piece of music titled simply Thick as a Brick and broken into two parts to accommodate the sides of a vinyl lp. The album was fully progressive or prog rock rather than conventional album rock and in a kind of inside joke, Ian Anderson claimed to have co written the LP with a fictitious, fictitious 8 year old schoolboy named Gerald Bostock. And yet, despite this affected anti commercialism and thanks to the fan base Tull had already built with Aqua Lung, Thick as a Brick hit number one on the album chart in just three weeks. Their geeky gambit worked so well, Tull did it again the next year.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Top of the souls that tread the night.

[Chris Melanfi]

A Passion play was also one long track broken into two LP sides and it too topped the album chart in 1973. Jethro Tull had built a brand as heady, mystical but uncompromising Prague rockers and consumers rewarded them for it. And yet you are far likelier to hear songs from Aqua Lung on classic rock stations than anything from Thick as a Brick or A Passion Play. In general. The 70s was a strong period for slow growing smashes followed by instant improbable blockbusters. And you didn't have to be a flute playing prog rocker to score.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Wild World. It's hard to get by just a P Smile.

[Chris Melanfi]

This is the Cat Stevens song you're likeliest to hear on the radio today. In a typical week, Wild World is played on US terrestrial radio about 500 times in early 1971 it peaked at number 11 on the Hot 100 and became Cat Stevens American breakthrough after years as a UK hitmaker and even a teen idol. Only when Cat Stevens switched to introspective folk pop did he cross over across the Atlantic. Wild World came from Tea for the Tillerman, Cat Stevens first US top 10 album. It reached number eight in April 1971 and so Stevens moved quickly to record a similarly styled follow up. Peace Train came from Teaser and the Fire Cat, released just six months after its predecessor peaked. Like T for the Tillerman, Teaser and the Fire Cat had a whimsical cartoon like cover and gentle folk pop melodies. The two albums looked and sounded like companions. Firecat was also packed with hits. Stevens cracked the Hot 100's top 10 with both Peace Train, a number seven hit, and Morning Has Broken, his adaptation of an early 20th century Christian hymn which reached number six. Morning has broken like the first morning thanks to these hits. Teaser and the Fire cat reached number two on Billboard's album chart in December 1971. After two straight smash LPs and after recording the entire soundtrack for the 1971 Hal Ashby cult classic movie Harold and Maude. Don't be shy, just let your feelings.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Roll on by.

[Chris Melanfi]

Don'T wear fear or.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Nobody will know you're there.

[Chris Melanfi]

Cat Stevens was basically poised to top the charts in 1972 with whatever he did next. And that's exactly what happened. Even though the next LP wasn't quite as hit packed, Cat Stevens bandmate Alan Davies later revealed to Billboard book of number one albums author Craig Rosen that by 1972 Cat had run out of his backlog of folk pop material that had supplied songs for both Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Fire Cat. So Stevens wound up writing from the road and it showed on his next lp, Catch Bull at four. Named after one of Buddhism's ten bulls of Zen and featuring Asian imagery on its LP jacket, Catch Bull at four's material was pleasant but not as memorable as the hits on its two predecessors. The piano based song Sitting Stole called at number 16 on the Hot 100 and another single the lurching Can't Keep it in didn't chart at all. But Cat Stevens was clearly on an unstoppable hot streak. Catch Bull at 4 topped the album chart anyway, his only number one album album in November 1972. Five decades later, Cat Stevens two best selling studio LPs remain tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Fire Cat. Each of them certified triple platinum. Catch bullet 4 the chart topper has sold about 1/3 as much now I've played you ac dc rule examples from the worlds of singer, songwriter, pop, electric blues and prog rock. How about some late 70s air guitar worthy arena rock? Don't Look Back is one of the biggest hits by the the Band Boston, brainchild of guitarist Gearhead and studio wizard Tom Schultz in 1978. As Casey Kasem notes here, while counting down this song on American top 40, Boston were a big enough band to eject a very popular album from number.

[Casey Kasem]

One on the album chart. The soundtrack from the movie Grease has been evicted. The brand new number one album in America this week is Don't Look Back and at number eight this week in at 40 with a title song from that album here is Boston.

[Chris Melanfi]

If you're a decade or two younger than me, Don't Look Back. The song might not be a tune you know all that well. I heard it plenty on AOR stations growing up, but it doesn't get much oldies airplay these days. But that combination of power chords paired with Brad Delp's high pitched vocals might sound vaguely familiar. Where have you heard that sound before? Oh yeah, here. The immortal More Than a feeling, a number five hit in 1976, was from Boston's first album, their self titled 76 debut. Though the Boston album never went higher on the LP chart than number three, it's their all time blockbuster, certified by the RIAA for sales of 17 million copies because. Well, duh. Like young people with AC DCs back in black or your Shook Me All Night Long, new generations of upstart rockers fall in love with More Than a feeling year in and year out. Boston, the 1976 album rode the Billboard album chart for 137 weeks more than their other five studio LPs combined. It has also sold more than all of those albums combined. And that includes Don't Look Back, Boston's first number one album that is certified septuple platinum, a circle stellar sales figure, but still 10 million short of their first LP, which has more than a feeling on it. Case closed, the ACDC rule strikes again. While we're in the late 70s, let's go back to to an artist I covered extensively last year on Hit Parade. If there's one LP most Billy Joel fans will take to their special island, it's the Stranger. As I noted in last April's episode about Joel, other than his Greatest Hits collected collection, this 1977 LP is easily Billy Joel's top seller. Certified diamond for sales of 10 million copies and packed with hits including Only the good die Young and his Grammy winning ballad Just the Way you Are.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

I took the good times I'll take the bad times I take you just the way you are.

[Chris Melanfi]

The stranger took about five months to climb the album chart, peaking at number two in February 1978. Its follow up, issued later that year, didn't wait remotely that long to reach its peak. Well, we could generate a lot of.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Heat.

[Chris Melanfi]

A 52nd Street Joel's jazzy LP 52nd street benefited hugely from the breakthrough made by its predecessor. 52nd street vaulted to number one on the album chart in just four weeks. It also gave Joel a bigger hit than any of the singles from the Stranger. The three week number three smash My.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Life I don't need you to worry about me Cause I'm all right I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home.

[Chris Melanfi]

Joel would later have several more number one albums, including Glass Houses, Stormfront and River of Dreams. But 52nd street was the LP that first brought Billy Joel to number one. It sold 7 million copies and won Joel the Album of the Year Grammy in early 1980. That same year, another songwriting troubadour would score his only number one album, but not with any of the songs you might think of When I say his name. Jackson Brown has written and or recorded several big hits. Dr. My Eyes, Somebody's Baby, the oft covered classic these Days. He even co wrote the Eagles breakthrough hit Take It Easy. And this single, Running on Empty, a number 11 hit in 1978, was the title track from Brown's biggest selling album, eventually certified septuple platinum by 1980. Two years after Running on Empty peaked at number three on the album chart, there was heavy anticipation for Jackson Brown's next LP called Holdout, which explains how this happened in September of that year.

[Casey Kasem]

The man who currently has the number one album in the country this week, Jackson Brown. And here he is at number 19 in our countdown with his latest single, Boulevard.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Down on the boulevard they take it hard.

[Chris Melanfi]

It might seem a bit odd for Casey Kasem to announce that the number one album in the country that week had spawned a hit that had only reached number 19. Indeed, Boulevard went no higher than number 19. And no other single from Brown's holdout LP cracked the top 20. Holdout is not the first album Jackson Brown fans reach for in a career that's included such LPs as late for the sky and the Pretender. But thanks largely to the coattails of Running on Empty, Holdout became Brown's only chart topper. And speaking of coattails, Powerhouse vocalist Pat Benatar spent years building toward her success at the turn of the 80s. Each of her first two LPs took months to peak on the charts, including her 1979 debut in the Heat of the Night and the 1980 follow up Crimes of Passion. By the end of nineteen 1980, Benatar had finally scored her first ever top ten hit, the classic hit Me with your best shot. Crimes of Passion was deep with hits including Hell is for Children, Treat Me Right, and you'd Better Run, a song whose video famously was the second ever video played on the new upstart cable channel MTV in 1981. By early 81, Crimes of Passion had risen to number two on the album chart and stayed there for a month. In total, it rode the top 10 for about six months, by the way, the same period that AC DC's Back in Black was knocking around the top 10. But Crimes of Passion never went all the way. For the five weeks it peaked in the runner up slot, it was behind John Lennon's posthumous number one album with Yoko Ono, Double Fantasy. With music and the charts, timing is everything. Losing out to Lenin in the weeks just after his tragic murder was understandable for Benatar. On the other hand, when she finally did score a number one LP just six months later, even she admitted it was a fluke. Precious Time, according to Pat Benatar herself, was not her best work. A video was produced for the album's title track, but it wasn't promoted to radio. The album did produce top 40 hits with the songs Fire and Ice and my personal favorite Promises in the Dark. We made that record too soon, Benatar told Craig Rosen for the Billboard Book of number one Albums. As if articulating the very premise of my AC DC rule, Benatar continued, quote, I really think Precious Time went to number one on the strength of Crimes of Passion. That's the record that should have gone to number one. The Precious Time LP did go double platinum, but that was half the sales of the quadruple platinum Crimes of Passion. Benatar then spent the next half decade scoring much bigger pop hits, including my wife's karaoke favorite, 1982's number 13 hit Shadows of the Night, Everybody's favorite self empowerment jam, 1983's number five hit Love is a Battlefield. And 1984's delicate butt rocking mid tempo ballad We Belong, another number five hit. But none of these songs respective LPs get nervous, live from Earth or Tropico came close to the album chart's number one spot. As with Cat Stevens or Jackson Browne, Pat Benatar's only chart topper, Precious Time, is an atypical representation of her hit packed career. At least Benatar did get to number one with the most beloved lineup of her band, including her husband, guitarist and songwriter Neil Giraldo and her longtime drummer Myron Grombacker. By contrast, spare a thought, if you will, for the legendary band whose most celebrated lineup never could top the album chart in their heyday. Their whole career is one long data point for my ACDC rule. The original lineup of Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen, bassist and backing vocalist Michael Anthony and flamboyant frontman David Lewis Roth built an impressive upward streak with their early albums. Each LP rose just a little higher on the charts after their self titled 1978 LP peaked at a modest number 19. They improved on this with Van Halen 2, the album with their first major pop hit, Dance the Night Away, Van Halen 2 cracked the top 10 in 1979, peaking at number six. The pattern continued with 1980s Women and Children first, which matched that number six peak, and 1981's Fair Warning reached number five. One year later, Van Halen scored their biggest pop hit to date. Their cover of Roy Orbison's oh, Pretty Woman reached number 12 on the Hot 100 in April 1982 and within a few weeks its accompanying album, Van Halen's fifth LP, Diver down, climbed all the way to number three. Then later in 1982, Van Halen's Guitar God would record a guest performance that would increase the band's pop profile exponentially. Beat it from of course, Michael Jackson's thriller reached number one in the spring of 1983 with its face melting solo from Eddie Van Halen. The song put his tapping guitar style on top of the Hot 100 for the first time. Interestingly, 1983 was the first year since Van Halen's breakthrough that the band didn't release a new LP. They saved up their firepower for a new album that one year later would give Van Halen a number one song of their own. We've talked about the chart topping Jump on prior episodes of Hit Parade, the first metal or metal adjacent song to top the pop chart, and Van Halen's first song composed primarily on synthesizer, Jump anchored the album. 1984 Van Halen's most hit packed LP in the months after Jump topped the Hot 100. 19841984 spun off two more top 20 hits in I'll Wait. And Panama. By all rights then, 1984 should could have been Van Halen's first ever number one album. But it didn't get there, and I mentioned the reason why just a few moments ago. Thriller, Van Halen's sixth album, spent three weeks stuck behind Michael Jackson's blockbuster, an album on which, ironically, Eddie Van Halen played a key role. In total, 1984 spent four five weeks at number two. For two more of those weeks, it was stuck behind the soundtrack to the movie Footloose. Of course, given the pattern for Van Halen to date, each album steadily charting a bit higher than the last one, the only place to go from here was number one. And that's exactly what happened. Except something big happened to Van Halen before they got there.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Well, these ghost girls I hate if I.

[Chris Melanfi]

In 1985, David Lee Roth, after years of feuding behind the scenes with Eddie Van Halen, went solo, scoring a number three hit with his cover of the Beach Boys, California Girls. Roth announced he was forming a backing band of his own, making his split from Van Halen official and Van Halen. They found a new lead singer and moved on, not unlike AC DC after Bon Scott, minus the tragic death. Although some Van Halen fans did mourn the passing of the old Van Halen. Sammy Hagar joined Van halen for their 1986 album 5150, which by the way, was named after the California police code for a mentally disturbed person. It became Van Halen's first ever chart topping LP in April 1986. For old school VH fans, it was a bitter pill that the band hadn't scored a chart topping studio album with David Lee Roth fronting them. One could argue, as per my rule, that record buyers were belatedly rewarding Van Hagar for the streak of success by Diamond Dave's Van Halen. The even greater irony over the next decade, the band issued a total of four studio LPs fronted by Hagar, and all four four of them were number one albums, including 1988's OU812, 1991's for unlawful carnal knowledge. And 1995's balance. One interesting chart footnote. After Sammy Hagar left Van halen in the mid-90s, the band did score one more chart topping album with David Lee Roth singing. But it wasn't a studio album, and for fans of the Roth led version of Van Halen, it turned out to be kind of a tease. Van Halen reunited temporarily with Roth in 1996 to record two new tracks for a greatest hits album. One of them, Me Wise Magic, was even promoted to radio and topped Billboard's rock chart. Unfortunately, the unveiling of this mini reunion at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards did not go well.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

No, no, no. Instead of the best award thing, it's we have to make an announcement.

[Chris Melanfi]

Just we have to address the subject here. This is the first time that we've.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Actually stood on stage together in over a decade.

[Chris Melanfi]

On Stage at the VMAs A Cocksure David Lee Roth behaved as if his reunion with the band was inevitable. Eddie Van Halen did not appreciate Roth's presumptuousness and they nearly came to blows backstage. The return of Roth was over before it began. The Van Halen brothers later claimed they'd never promised Roth a permanent reunion. Two months after the disastrous VMAs kerfuffle, Van Halen's Best of Vol. 1 entered the album chart at number one.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Rewise magic.

[Chris Melanfi]

That made it the only chart topping Van Halen album with David Lee Roth singing lead. In the final two decades before Eddie Van Halen's death, the band would reunite with Roth for a pair of tours and one last studio album. But that disc, 2012 A Different Kind of Truth, peaked at number two. By the way, Van Halen's last three number one albums debuted at number one. That's because it was the 90s, and as I have discussed in several prior Hit Parade episodes, the Billboard charts had by then been rewired with SoundScan data. This not only made the charts more accurate, it meant that high debuts, even number one debuts, became routine, which also meant that examples of the ACDC rule became commonplace. The more accurate, finely tuned album chart, now renamed the Billboard 200, revealed how albums were benefiting from the slower success of prior albums. For example, hair metal band Skid Row in 1989, their self titled debut debut generated a pair of top 10 hits. The number six hit I remember you and the number four hit 18 and life. Despite riding the album chart for a year and a half and selling 5 million copies, the skid Row album never rose higher than number six. But the band's follow up, Slave to the Grind, Debuted on the Billboard 200 at number one. This despite the fact that Slave to the Grind generated generated no top 10 hits on any chart and sold fewer than half as many copies as its predecessor. Was this chart topping success for Skid Row the result of the ACDC rule, wherein a mass of gradually acquired Skid Row fans are now showing up at the record store all at once, or was it simply the result of a more accurate chart? The answer to both questions was yes or here's another before soundscan and after Soundscan Example. Depeche Modes 3 Top Selling Album in America and around the world is their 1990 magnum opus Violator, featuring the top 30 hits Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence and Policy of Truth. But despite its triple platinum US sales, Violator never made it above number seven on the album chart. But three years later I Feel.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

You.

[Chris Melanfi]

Depeche Mode's follow up album Songs of Faith and Devotion entered on top of the Billboard 200. The hits on DM's 1993 album were smaller, including the number 37 hit I Feel you, and the album ultimately sold one third as many copies as Violator. But the combination of a more accurate chart and yes, the ACDC rule, a swelling army of DM fans rushing to acquire whatever the band put out after Violator gave Depeche Mode their only US1 album once SoundScan was entrenched on the charts, Apples to apples comparisons were possible. Pearl jam dropped their debut 10 in 1991 after the launch of Soundscan, and in a long steady chart run the album eventually peaked at number two in its 34th week on the Billboard 200. Two years later, Pearl Jam's second album, Versus was the most hotly anticipated disc in grunge history, selling nearly a million copies in its first week and easily debuting on top.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Painted something wrong.

[Chris Melanfi]

By the mid-90s, several albums broadly in the alternative rock category were taking their sweet time climbing the charts, setting up a follow up that could consolidate the fan base AC DC style. That follow up would open to monster sales even if it was the destined to land in a used CD bin years later. In 1995 alone, three acts achieved a chart topping disc after a months long climb. Canadian pop star turned rage queen Alanis Morissette, whose Jagged little pill took 15 weeks to hit the top.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Of the mess you left when you.

[Chris Melanfi]

Weren'T aware it's South Carolina roots rock bar band Hootie and the Blowfish whose Cracked rear view took 44 weeks to reach the summit. And the Pennsylvania Post grunge band Live, whose Throwing Copper took a staggering 52 weeks a full year to scale the chart. Once these three slow growing hit makers rang the bell, they really connected. Cracked Rear View and Jagged Little Pill sold 16 million apiece and were the number one sellers of 1995 and 96 respectively. And lives. Throwing Copper sold 8 million, spun off five radio hits and rode the chart for more than two years. Then when it came time in 1996, 97 and 98 for these three chart topping debutantes to follow up their respective blockbuster, each probably could have released a disc of Bavarian Throat singing and debuted at number one. And sure enough, all three did enter on top, ranging from 412,000 copies for Hooty's Fairweather Johnson, 200,127,000 copies for lives Secret Samadhi, And just shy of a half million copies for Morissette's supposed former Infatuation Junkie.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Thank you.

[Chris Melanfi]

In each case, it was the first number one album chart debut for that artist and their biggest sales week ever. But each album fizzled quickly, spending about one third as many weeks on the chart as its predecessor and generating a fraction of the radio hits by the end of the decade, even some of the quirkiest alt rock acts were exceeding expectations. Radiohead's path breaking 1997 album OK Computer took nearly a year to go platinum. And in all that time it never got past number 21 on the billboard 200. Three years later, when Radiohead dropped their even stranger album Kid A, it debuted at number one. I may be the first person in history to compare Radiohead and acdc. And for the record, Kid A is a more highly regarded album than for those about to rock we salute you. But it's unthinkable that Kid A, my favorite Radiohead album, would have hit number one unless the slower growing OK Computer had come from first. OK Computer ultimately went double platinum in America. Kid A Platinum When Kid A hit the top In October of 2000, it did so with a respectable 207,000 copies sold in its first week. But by the turn of the millennium that was chump change. The billboard 200 had entered the million selling week era and many of these sales weeks were prime AC DC rule followers. For example, the Backstreet Boys self titled 1997American debut album sold over 10 million copies over the course of two years. But it never got higher on the chart than number four.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Quit Playing games With my heart with my heart. I should have known from the star.

[Chris Melanfi]

Then in 1999, surprising absolutely no one, Backstreet's follow up millennium entered on top with 1.1 million in first week sales.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

You are my final the one desire.

[Chris Melanfi]

Backstreet's rival boy band NSYNC also went diamond over the course of two years, but their self titled debut never got above number two. In March of 2000, famously NSync's follow up no Strings Attached opened with 2.4 million in sales, setting a single week record that would hold for 15 years until Adele's 25 beat it. These crazy 7 figure sales numbers were weren't limited to boy bands. Famous boy band antagonist Eminem launched his career in 1999 with the number two peaking the Slim Shady LP, which was triple platinum within a year. One year later, 2000's the Marshall Mathers LP opened to a stunning 1.78 million copies. This was especially ACDC rule like inasmuch as about half as many people who bought Eminem's prior disc showed up in the first week to buy the second cd. How about Limp Bizkit, the boy band of rap rock? Like Eminem, Limp had had a great 1999. Their album Significant Other debuted that summer to nearly 650,000 copies in its first week. One year later, the vividly titled Chocolate Starfish and the Hotel Hot Dog Flavored Water opened to nearly twice that number 1.05 million in week one. These million in a week blockbusters mostly lived up to the hype. Backstreet's and NSync's albums eventually matched the sales of their predecessors. Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP more than doubled the sales of his Slim Shady LP and Limp's 2000 album sold about 70% as many copies as its 1999 album had. Opening a blockbuster album like this is not unlike opening again a summer movie. The first weekend is vital, but ultimate profitability will depend on how good sales are in the the weeks and months to come. However, like the Matrix Reloaded or the Hangover Part 2, some blockbuster albums are heavily front loaded. Perhaps the best example is an eventual million a week seller, far removed from either boy bands or rap rock.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

I don't know why I didn't come I left you by the house of Fun.

[Chris Melanfi]

Norah Jones was the unlikeliest diamond seller of the 2000s. Her 2002 album Come Away With Me was released by the historic jazz label Blue Note Records. Over the course of the next year, Come Away With Me quietly climbed the charts at a time when Starbucks coffee shops were selling almost as many copies of certain adult friendly compact discs as local record stores. Come Away with me took six months to crack the album chart top 10 and nearly a year to reach number one. About a month later, Nora Jones swept the 2003 Grammy Awards, taking home record of the Year for her jazzy hit Don't Know why as well as Album of the Year. Within months, Come Away With Me went from quadruple platinum to octuple platinum. The album was nearing 10 million in sales in February 2004 when Jones, at the imperial height of her music career, finally dropped her follow up CD to a reception like Carole King delivering music in 1971, Feels Like Home, led off by the gentle folky single Sunrise, debuted at number one in February 2004 with 1.02 million in first week sales. This is the kind of number usually reserved for pure pop or hip hop megastars. Out of the box. The RIAA certified feels like home for shipments of 4 million copies, And there it stayed. Feels Like Home remains quadruple platinum to this day. By the end of 2004, about 3.8 million of those feels like home CDs had sold, but the but the bulk of them sold within the first few weeks, the rule struck again. The massive opening of Feels Like Home was a referendum on Come Away With Me. For the rest of the 2000s, Norah Jones would continue to score gold and platinum albums, but she never reached those sales heights again. Come Away With Me was one of the last physical CDs to sell as well as it did. Even Adele's blockbuster albums of the 2000 and tens sold major percentages as digital downloads. However, even into the digital era, the ACDC rule was shaping the way major albums opened. In our Hit Parade episode on Lady Gaga, I talked about how the art popster born Stephanie Germanata rewired pop music in a more dance driven direction at the end of the aughts. Her 2008 album the Fame was a slow growing sleeper hit selling well over a two year period as it spun off huge radio hits from Just Dance to Paparazzi.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Until you Love Me.

[Chris Melanfi]

Gaga even gave her debut a boost by adding an EP's worth of songs called the Fame Monster to the original the fame in late 2009. In its 62nd week on the album chart in mid January 2010, the album boosted by the Fame Monster tracks reached its peak of number two. The same week Gaga's single Bad Romance was also at number two on the Hot 100. Then over a year later when Gaga's full length follow up album Born this Way debuted at number one with more than a million in first week sales, it became Gaga's biggest chart week ever. But it was also a signal example of the ACDC rule. Born this Way spent far less time on the charts, spun off fewer major hits, and sold roughly half as much as the Fame. Also in 2011, the debut album by English 4 folk rock band Mumford and Sons took a similarly long time to peak on the album chart. It reached number two in its 47th chart week, spurred by a spirited performance of the Mumford single Little lion man on the 2011 Grammy Awards.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

But it was not your fault but mine and it was your heart on the line. Our really it up this time deny my dear.

[Chris Melanfi]

That performance set up Mumford & Sons second album, 2012's Babel, for an explosive debut. It sold 600,000 copies in its first week in September 2012. In classic AC DC rule fashion, the slower growing predecessor is still the better seller. Psy no More is triple platinum, Babbel only double platinum, but the Mumfords couldn't have been too unhappy. Babbel won the 2013 Grammy Award for Album of the Year One of the strangest chart patterns of the 2010s belonged to Las Vegas electro rock band Imagine Dragons. Their only number one album is the one with the smallest hits. Imagine Dragons are best known for their number three smash Radioactive, which still holds the record for the longest run in Hot 100 history, an astounding 87 weeks. Radio Radioactive came from ID's 2012 debut album Night Visions, which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. By the time their second album, Smoke and Mirrors, finally arrived in 2015, Night Visions had been on the album chart for more than two years and was certified double platinum. So Smoke and Mirrors unsurprisingly, entered the chart at number one. The strange part, none of Smoke and Mirror's songs were major hits. Its leadoff single, I Bet My Life, peaked at number 28. Two other singles missed the top 40 entirely, as per My Race rule. But even more than usual, the chart performance of Smoke and Mirrors had everything to do with its predecessor and little to do with its own contents. Even stranger, Imagine Dragons started scoring big hits again with their very next album, 2017's evolve, which, like their debut, only reached number two. But evolve generated two huge hits, believer. And Thunder, Both of which peaked at number four on the Hot 100. In any case, the crux of my theorem holds each Imagine Dragons album was charting based not on its own hits or lack thereof, but rather the performance of the prior album. Now that we are more than a year into the 2000 and twenties, I must confess that instances of the ACDC rule are becoming more rare. The rule is driven by traditional album sales, and these days the Billboard 200 album chart is driven mostly by streaming. The very idea of a slow growing sleeper hit album is, it seems, disappearing from the charts. You know what hasn't disappeared from the charts though? ACDC I mean the band. In the last dozen years, the stalwart group of wild eyed horny riff rockers have scored two more chart topping albums. Yes, in the 21st century. And yes, that also means that 1981's for those about To Rock We Salute youe is no longer ACDC's only career number one album. This song, Rock and Roll Train, was a chart topping rock radio hit from 2008's Black Ice, an album ACDC refused to put on digital services and that was sold only at Walmart. It opened to the best sales of ACDC's career, selling 784,000 copies in its first week. And what about that other chart topper? I kid you not, it came out four months ago. Power Up. There's a classic ACDC title for you. Debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 for the week ending November 28, 2020. It sold just over 110,000 copies in its first week. Not bad for a band of 60 and 70 somethings in an era when few albums still sell much period. Power Up's first single, Shot in the Dark topped Billboard's mainstream rock radio chart for five weeks last.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Fall. Make It Feel.

[Chris Melanfi]

Alright. The only pity of ACDC's success in the 2000 and twenties is under the current pandemic, they can't do what they do best perform live. It's been about half a decade since the band was able to tour. In the interim, Malcolm Young died after a long illness caused by dementia. He passed in 2017 at age 64. Malcolm's brother Angus Young has kept the band going and when they do tour, Angus still wears the schoolboy uniform on stage. Lead singer Brian Johnson has confronted his own health issues stemming from hearing loss on the band's last global jaunt, 2016's rock or bust tour. ACDC invited Guns N Roses frontman Axl Rose to cover for the ailing Johnson. And by the way, the song ACDC played as their final encore. And every night on that tour. It wasn't Back in Black or you Shook Me All Night Long or Highway to Hell or Dirty Deeds Done, Dirt Cheap or Money Talks. It was the title track from for those about to Rock, we salute you, complete with onstage cannons. Maybe the casual fan never bought that chart topping 1981.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Album.

[Chris Melanfi]

Maybe. But ACDC is clearly still proud of it, and that stubborn consistency is what makes them rule. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Hit Parade. Our show was written, edited and narrated by Chris Melanfi. That's me. My producer is Asha Soluja and we also had help from Rosemary Bellson. June Thomas is the senior managing producer and Gabriel Roth, the editorial director of Slate Podcasts. Check out their roster of [e-mail] podcasts. You can subscribe to Hit Parade wherever you get your podcasts, in addition to finding it in the Slate Culture feed. If you're subscribing on Apple Podcasts, please rate and review us while you're there. It helps other listeners find the show. Thanks for listening, and I look forward to leading the Hit Parade back your way. Until then, keep on marching on the one. I'm Chris.

[Guest or Musical Interlude Voice]

Melanfish.