Apart from the definite fact, in real terms, that three albums sold more copies, maybe?

. I explained the reason I made the claim in the part of my post you chose not to quote.

I chose not to quote it because it is meaningless.
'21' is, in real terms, the 4th biggest selling album of all time in the UK.

I don't suppose you are my mother in law, are you?

Before the end of 2016 "21" will have overtaken the 3rd spot probably

I think the fact I only own one of those albums along with how surprised I am at the popularity of most of them as it is a pretty bland list imo, shows how out of touch I am and have always been with mainstream music.

Yes at the rate it's selling it's on coarse to do that by mid-December.

Just as a matter of interest which is the one you own then?

Back To Black

I own half of the top 30. Quite impressed with that.

About a third of them are too horrific to even contemplate. The soundtrack to hell. I own 'Thriller' which I bought and 'Bad' which was given to me and I might not have even played more than once or twice. I have the contents of BM&TW's 'Legend' on other albums and I suppose I could sit through an airing of 'Dark Side Of The Moon' or 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' but many of the others would make me angry if I was forced to listen.

Can't say I know people with this sort of record collection either.

various artists compilations were taken out to stop them preventing bona fide acts being deprived of higher chart placings. Excluding greatest hits wouldn't serve that purpose at all.

I have 14 of the 30 but I would seldom listen to more than 3 in their entirety. And whilst I wouldn't force anyone to listen to any of them, 'Sgt Pepper' is required listening by anyone interested in pop music.

Wow... i'm surprised at how many I have on that list...

To arrive at an album, exposure to the artist's output, via the tracks that tend to receive airplay (almost always singles) precedes and if I don't particularly like the music I hear I'm not going to sit down with an album.

There's no such thing as 'required listening'. That's quite a pompous notion (I know it's not yours) and something I feel quite strongly about. We hear various music day to day but we make the choice to invest in and listen to music we have an affinity for. I've managed to buy and appreciate music across five decades without having to do it according to someone else's rules and it's been all the better for it. To quote Chuck D., I 'Don't Believe The Hype'.

Not really - there has always been bootlegging, and in some territories on a humongous scale...

7, 18, 26. Special fried rice.

And a Lion Bar.

It would ensure the list was entirely made up of original material.