SCOTTS HIDDEN TREASURES 2012 #16 - Rough In The Diamonds

[Scott]

Rough in the Diamonds

Diamonds are April’s stone, and so I got the idea to try and pull some hidden gems off of albums that have been certified as Diamond.  These are albums with sales of 10 million at least so not as easy as it sounds.  Now complicate that with the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) list of Diamonds albums and it gets a little harder...

Let me explain, here’s what’s on that list..
Loads of Greatest Hits albums, Michael Jackson, Eminem, Madonna, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Boys II Men, Whitney Houston, Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks, and on and on...

So from my personal collection I found a handful that saved this idea and allowed it to work this week.  With one self-imposed rule because most of the Led Zeppelin catalog is on the list I limited myself to one Zeppelin track.

 

And away we go!

 

PLAYLIST VITALS...

---

• LINK: http://snack.to/aupmy9p1
• LENGTH: 22 minutes 32 seconds
• NOTE: Sales figures are from the RIAA list of US albums as of July 1, 2011

---

 

TITLE: Die Hard The Hunter
BAND: Def Leppard
ALBUM: Pyromania
SALES: 10× Platinum
YEAR: 1983
LENGTH: 6:17
DID YOU KNOW: Pyromania went on to sell six million copies in 1983 (more than 100,000 copies every week in that year) and was held off the top of the US album charts only by Michael Jackson's Thriller. With the album's massive success, Pyromania was the catalyst for the 1980s pop-metal movement. In 2004, Pyromania was certified Diamond having sold over 10 million copies in the US. Def Leppard's US tour in support of Pyromania began opening for Billy Squire in March and ended with a headlining performance before an audience of 55,000 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California in September. As a testament to the band's popularity at the time, a US Gallup poll in 1984 saw Def Leppard voted as favorite rock band over peers such as The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Journey. However, this popularity was not matched in their native England where Duran Duran secured the number one spot, a fact that greatly bothered them.

 

 

TITLE: Shake a Leg
BAND: ACDC
ALBUM: Back In Black
SALES: 22× Platinum
YEAR: 1980
LENGTH: 4:05
DID YOU KNOW: Back in Black, produced by Mutt Lange and recorded by Tony Platt, became their biggest-selling album and a hard-rock landmark; hits include "Hells Bells", "You Shook Me All Night Long", and the title track. The album was certified platinum three months after its release, and by 2007 it had sold more than 22 million copies in the United States and over 45 million worldwide, making it the fourth-highest-selling album ever in the US and the second highest selling in the world (second to Michael Jackson's Thriller). The album reached No.1 in the UK and No.4 in the US, where it spent 131 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart.

 

 

TITLE: Of Wolf and Man
BAND: Metallica
ALBUM: Metallica (The Black Album)
SALES: 15x Platinum
YEAR: 1991
LENGTH: 4:16
DID YOU KNOW: Metallica sold over 650,000 copies upon its opening week of release domestically, overshadowing all albums released in that week. It was certified "Platinum" by the RIAA after a couple weeks. Metallica received a diamond certificate in 1997. The album was responsible for bringing Metallica to the attention of the mainstream and has been certified 15 times platinum in the United States which makes it the 25th best-selling album in the country. To date, the album had sold 15,735,000 copies in the United States.  Debuted at number one in the United Kingdom. The only chart where it failed to reach the Top 20 is the Irish Albums Chart.  Metallica topped the charts in Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Germany, and New Zealand. It also reached numbers three, five, and four at Oricon, Austria, and Finland respectively. In the 21st century, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified the album 11 times platinum. It was given a Diamond certificate from the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA).

 

TITLE: Drop Dead Legs
BAND: Van Halen
ALBUM: 1984 (MCMLXXXIV)
SALES: 10x Platinum
YEAR: 1984
LENGTH: 4:15
DID YOU KNOW: 1984 is the second of two Van Halen albums to have sold ten million copies in the US.  "Jump" was one of the most successful songs of 1984 and was on the ten most played songs on the radio that year. As a single, it sold over three million copies alone, making it one of the most popular rock songs of that decade.  When this album was released in the UK, a removable sticker with the roman numerals MCMLXXXIV had to be placed over the cherub's hand, as it was holding a cigarette and there happened to be a non-smoking campaign happening at the time.  The one-minute synthesizer and effects instrumental which opens the album had been used as part of Michael Anthony's live bass solo on the Diver Down tour.

 

 

TITLE: Night Flight
BAND: Led Zeppelin
ALBUM: Physical Graffiti
SALES: 16× Platinum
YEAR: 1975
LENGTH: 3:37
DID YOU KNOW: Physical Graffiti was the band's first release on their own Swan Song Records label, which had been launched in May 1974. Until this point, all of Led Zeppelin's albums had been released on Atlantic Records. The album was a commercial and critical success, having built up a huge advance order, and when eventually released it reached No. 1 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. It has since proven to be one of the most popular releases by the group, shipping 8 million copies in the United States alone (which has made it 16 times platinum as it is a double album). Physical Graffiti was the first album to go platinum on advance orders alone. Shortly after its release, all previous Led Zeppelin albums simultaneously re-entered the top-200 album chart.

 

 

[Alan Christensen]

Die Hard - she's caught in a trap - That AC/DC song is great! That Metallica track used to be a radio staple. I can't say I've listened to that CD in ages. so I need to revisit! :) Van Halen - Great always, no matter what.

I'm not really much of a Led Zep fan! :)

[Scott]

First person I ever met who said they werent much of a Zep fan...  (ok Im exagerrating a little but its been along long time since I heard that  ) - What is it about them that you dont care for?

[Alan Christensen]

They are OK, just heard some of the songs too much on the radio, and I've never taken the time to get any of their CDs. I do have a Great White tribute CD to Led Zeppelin! :) That is enough for me. :) I have the first Bonham CD too.

[Jon]

that's a cool album cover.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Agree, great album cover.

[Mike Mills]

Yep, Great Cover!!!

 

[Jon]

Nice stuff here, the only one I could care less about was the Metallica song and album. I have it on cassette, it's another one of those albums I'm not in any hurry to pick up on CD. All these sonegs bring back memories of picking them up on vinyl (except Metallica). 

5/5 (kind of)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Very nice Scott.

Def Leppard - You know I love this song.  It was song of the week when I featured the Pyromania album in AOTW.

AC/DC - Decibel Geek's current show is Top 5 Brian Johnson era songs.  This one or any other song off of this album could easily make that list.  This one's awsome because you don't hear it on the radio very often.

Metallica - Probably my least favorite song on my most favorite Metallica album.  Yes, I'm not a diehard.  

Van Halen - Just saw 'em in concert 3 days ago, and hearing all of the old material they did was incredible.  This would have been good to hear too.  I think DLR and Sammy are totally different style wise and the vast majority of their songs don't translate well by the other.  But this might be an exception.  I think Sammy could do it well.

Led Zeppelin - Just okay for me.  I know many folks think this is their best album, but I'll go with old faithful, LZ IV as my favorite.

Good post Scott.

[Mike Mills]

Nice playlist here!!! I like all the songs!!! Good formula: include Van Halen Song & it always equals Great Playlist!!!