The main point of releasing a single is to convince audiences to go out and purchase the entire album, but some albums end up being so successful that most of the songs end up being released as singles. Here are nine albums that were mostly made-up of singles.
1. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (1977)
Since the average track length of Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell is about six-and-a-half minutes, it seems unlikely that it would spawn any hit singles. However, four of the album's seven tracks were released as singles, propelling the album to mega-seller status.
2 & 3. Michael Jackson - Thriller/Bad (1982/1987)
It should come as no surprise that the biggest selling album of all time is made up mostly of singles: seven out of Thriller's nine tracks were released individually (though not my favorite, "Baby Me Mine"). Michael Jackson would outdo himself with his next album Bad, which spawned a mind-boggling ten singles, out of eleven songs.
4. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA (1984)
Born in the USA wasn't Bruce Springsteen's first album with a ton of singles: his 1980 double album The River had seven single releases, though that was out of a massive 20-song tracklisting. Born in the USA had seven singles as well, but from a much smaller 12-song tracklisting.
5. Prince - Purple Rain (1984)
Prince is prone to releasing massive albums, such as his three-hour Emancipation from 1996, but Purple Rain is often regarded as his best because of how tight and perfectly constructed it is. Five of the album's nine tracks were released as singles, including "When Doves Cry," the top-selling single of 1984.
6. Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987)
The best-selling debut album of all time is bound to have a couple of hit singles. Out of the 12 songs from Appetite for Destruction, seven were released as singles, including the classics "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child O' Mine," and "Paradise City," which were all released one after the other.
7. Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard (1992)
The top-selling movie soundtrack of all-time, The Bodyguard saw the release of seven of its songs as singles, five of which were performed by the film's star, Whitney Houston. The album's other two singles were "Someday (I'm Coming Back)," performed by Lisa Stansfield, and "It's Gonna Be a Lovely Day," performed by The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.
8. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
Though (What's the Story) Morning Glory actually has 12 tracks, two of these are brief, untitled instrumental pieces, which leaves 10 viable candidates for singles. Out of these 10, six were released as singles, including "Roll With It," which was Oasis' contribution to the legendary "Battle of Britpop" sales race with Blur.
9. Björk - Post (1995)
Though Björk's more recent work is too experimental to prompt many hit singles, she was a legitimate pop star in the mid-90s, with her third album Post spawning six singles, out of its 11 tracks, including her biggest hit "It's Oh So Quiet."
What other albums were made up mostly of singles? Let us know in the comments section!
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