poll Can TTPD emulate Thriller and 21?'s record by being the #1 album for 2 yrs in a row?

[Støned]

 

As we know, Taylor's 11th studio effort has already amassed an impressive 15 weeks at #1 in the Billboard 200. With no signs of slowing down, and due to her strategic release of variants, it is not impossible for her to match/surpass 21 or even Thriller's record in the BB200 chart.

 

It is inevitable that TTPD will likely be crowned as the #1 album in the 2024 Billboard Year End Charts. 

 

But can she can she make lightning strike twice by having the #1 album of 2025 too?

 

 

 

Taken from their respective Wiki pages:

Thriller was the best-selling album in the United States in 1983 and 1984, making it the first album to be the best-selling for two years.

 

 

In December 2012, it was announced that 21 was the best-selling album on iTunes for two years in a row.^[155] 21 was the best-selling album of both 2011 and 2012 in the United States and Canada despite being over a year old.^[156][157] It is the first album to be the best-selling album two years in a row since Michael Jackson's Thriller was the best-selling album of 1983 and 1984.

 

 

[Cruel Summer]

I feel like this is only really possible if she delays all physical copies of The Anthology until 2025, then aggressively promotes it with multiple variants with new bonus tracks, multiple vinyl versions, etc. It would be a stretch even then when either of her own rerecordings yet to come, or some unexpectedly huge album from another artist, could still do more.

[Loca]

Pretty much impossible

[UnusualBoy]

There's no chance. There's probably gonna be another album by the hillbilly out next year, also I'm sure Taylor may release the Rep version next year or even another album so its chances are basically zero.

[réveuse]

Putting TTPD in the same sentence to Thriller should be a crime honestly.

[synk]

No

[Støned]

2 minutes ago, Cruel Summer said:

I feel like this is only really possible if she delays all physical copies of The Anthology until 2025, then aggressively promotes it with multiple variants with new bonus tracks, multiple vinyl versions, etc. It would be a stretch even then when either of her own rerecordings yet to come, or some unexpectedly huge album from another artist, could still do more.

I have a feeling this is the End Game.mp3 of this era.

 

Even if she doesn't match the weeks at #1 of 21 or Thriller, TTPD being constantly in the top 5 for the rest of 2025 (the Anthology physicals would be a great help in achieving that)might be enough for her to be #1 in the Year End Charts again. 

 

But yeah, her two remaining re-releases might prevent that from happening though.

[The Music Industry]

No, because the #1 album of 2025 will be TS12 

 

[Blue Monday]

21 and Thriller are actual behemoth albums with multiple enduring smash hits and shouldn't be in the same conversation as The Remedial Poetry Department. The charts are so dead omg 

Edited August 19 by Blue Monday

[sunbathinganimal]

depends how many more variants she releases

 

[Badgalbriel]

Only if the album was released by the end of the year. It was released in April, so impossible. 

[ZacXCX]

I don't think so. What's lacking is the memorable hits. While the album has been successful as a whole, it doesn't have a huge Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller or a Rolling In the Deep, Someone Like You, Set Fire to the Rain run of singles. Thriller and 21 were gigantic because they both succeeded in album sales AND hit singles. With streaming and how people consume music now, I don't think that will be possible ever again.

[Digitalism]

The moment Taylor releases another album TTPD will drop some spots. And it's probably not comming back up

 

[DevilsRollTheDice]

21 accomplished this by being a tremendous slowburn and Adele had a ton of listeners to gain because she wasn't widely known. Thriller, likewise, was Michael's first number 1 album. Both also benefited from the then music industry norm of long eras and plenty of singles. 
 

Though TTPD has shown colossal sticking power for an album that moved over 2.5 million units during its release week, it's highly unlikely that it can be number 1 next year given its enormous initial consumption and the streaming era's vastly shortened album cycles. 

Edited August 19 by DevilsRollTheDice

[bjorn]

Yes! - Of course she can! TTPD will be the third album to do it. It will be her best performing album, longevity-wise

[ericcartman]

Another Taylor album will be #1 next year

[Feanor]

No, cause 'reputation (TV)' is coming.

[Teen Spirit]

2 minutes ago, Feanor said:

No, cause 'reputation (TV)' is coming.

Unfortunately

[RideOrDie]

no LG7 is coming 

[KatyPrismSpirit]

It's probably going to be Morgan Wallen cause he drops a new album every 2 years

[Støned]

Wait, will Taylor really  release TS12 next year?

 

I thought she follows a pattern :next year would be rep TV and Debut TV, 2026 would be TS12

[Strawberry Bubble]

no

[Rihinvention]

Hmmm…just because it can doesn't mean it should.

 

I feel like the success of TTPD is because of how big Taylor is at the moment, rather than the quality of the album itself.

 

When you think of 'Thriller' and '21', you think of how monumental those albums were — even outside of the artists delivering them.

 

I'm a huge fan of Taylor, but when I think of her best album, TTPD doesn't even come close. It's getting to a point where I feel like everyone's rewarding her for how big she is.

 

I remember when she held a listening party at The Grammys Museum, she spoke about the night that 'Red' lost AOTY, and she said, "You have to take your queues from somewhere. Maybe they're right. Maybe I didn't make the record of my career. Maybe I need to fix the problem…and the problem is, I haven't been making sonically cohesive albums."

 

And then what happened? She came back with 1989.

 

I always found that "you have to take your queues from somewhere" line incredibly mature and quite profound. And I feel like we're now at a point where she's so successful that she's not getting "queues" on the direction she should be going in.

 

Long story short: She definitely has albums that are comparable to Thriller and 21, but I don't think TTPD is the one. That album's flowers come from how big she is rn, not because it's her best album.

 

 

Edited August 19 by Rihinvention

[bielneira]

No because she'll focus on the last re-recordings.

[mike_int]

 

Thriller and 21 both have iconic song/songs which are very well known to general public decade/decades after their release.

 

Literally nobody except TS fanbase plus certain demographic know song/songs from TTPD

 

Also sales of Thriller and 21  were organic not based on hundreds of variants which are bought 90% only by fans or collectors.

 

 

Edited August 19 by mike_int