Entertainment, Music - Army Times

Jackson vs. the Eagles: A top-album ‘Thriller’

The Eagles will be landing — in second place. That’s how industry observers are calling the race between the band’s Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 and Michael Jackson’s resurgent Thriller.

Already the world’s top-selling album, 1982’s Thriller has been trailing the Eagles’ 1976 compilation in U.S. sales for the past decade. The recent rush for Jackson records seems to be tipping the scales, though a final accounting won’t be available until the Recording Industry Association of America updates its rankings, which is usually done at the request of labels.

The record industry trade group measures sales based on shipments of albums. Thriller stands at 28 million, the Eagles at 29 million. Since Jackson’s death June 25, Thriller has sold 666,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Surpassing the Eagles is “inevitable,” says Keith Caulfield, Billboard’s senior chart manager. “You figure a million units were just shipped. Add another million in the pipeline in the next month, and he could overtake the Eagles before the end of the year.

“I think his album sales will stay substantial for quite a while. This kind of sales impact in the wake of an artist passing is unprecedented. Only Michael could make this happen.”

Jackson has dominated record sales for the past month. In the week ending July 19, he sold a combined 674,000 albums, more than any other artist, for a total of 3 million since his death. Fans downloaded 684,000 tracks, 7 million since he died.

Though overall sales dipped, Jackson-related releases hold the top 12 slots on Billboard’s catalog chart, and Jackson has six of the nation’s top 10 best sellers, including Number Ones (192,000 this week), The Essential Michael Jackson (125,000), Thriller (114,000), Off the Wall (68,000), Bad (61,000) and Dangerous (55,000).

Number Ones remains the most popular title, with 988,000 copies sold in four weeks. It could end up among 2009’s best sellers.

With more than 1 million copies sold so far this year, “it’s already in an elite club,” Caulfield says. “Even with tougher competition in the fourth quarter from superstars, he may end up in the top 10 with an album that’s 6 years old, which is unique.”

Releases by Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Usher and 50 Cent are expected to be big sellers in coming months. Jackson sales should rebound during the holidays, though he may square off against himself.

“I assume by Christmas there will be a new Jackson album,” Caulfield says, predicting either a fresh compilation or a “lost recordings” set from Sony. “That could shear away sales from the older albums.”