> Well, let's concentrate on your original subject: "The 7 most commerically
> successful 70s British rock bands from 1970-74" and look at the cold hard
> numbers of the album sales.
>
> Grouping them by year and comparing the RIAA (US) and BPI (UK)
> certifications or albums sold/shipped ("NC" means Not Classified):
>
> 1970
> Led Zeppelin - III : 6x Platinum/1.1 million
> Black Sabbath - Paranoid : -/6x Platinum
> Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath : Platinum/Platinum
> Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother : Gold/NC
> Deep Purple - In Rock : Gold/NC
> Jethro Tull - Benefit : Gold/NC
> Yes - Time and a Word : Not certified/Not certified (here-on 'NC')
>
> 1971
> Led Zeppelin - IV : 23x Platinum/2.3 million
> Black Sabbath - Paranoid : 4x Platinum
> Stones - Sticky Fingers : 3x Platinum
> Jethro Tull - Aqualung : 3x Platinum/NC
> Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality : 2x Platinum/3x Platinum
> Yes - Fragile : 2x Platinum/Platinum
> Pink Floyd - Meddle : 2x Platinum/NC
> Yes - The Yes Album : Platinum/NC
> Deep Purple - Fireball : Gold//NC
> ELP - Emerson, Lake and Palmer : Gold/NC
> ELP - Tarkus : Gold/NC
>
> 1972
> Stones - Exile on Main St. : 3x Platinum
> Black Sabbath - Vol.4 : Platinum/2x Platinum
> Deep Purple - Machine Head : 2x Platinum/Gold
> Yes - Close To The Edge : Platinum/Platinum
> Pink Floyd - Obscured by clouds : Gold/Silver
> Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick : Gold/NC
> Jethro Tull - Living In The Past : Gold/NC
> Jethro Tull - Stand Up : Gold/NC
> ELP - Pictures at an Exhibition : Gold/Silver
> ELP - Trilogy : Gold/NC
>
> 1973
> Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon : 15x Platinum/9x Platinum
> Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy : 11x Platinum/700k
> Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath : Platinum/3x Platinum
> Stones - Goats Head Soup : 3x Platinum
> Yes - Tales : Gold/Gold
> ELP - Brain Salad Surgery : Gold/Gold
> Jethro Tull - A Passion Play : Gold/Silver
> Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are : Gold/-
>
> 1974
> Stones - It's Only Rock and Roll : Platinum
> Deep Purple - Burn : Gold/Gold
> Deep Purple - Stormbringer : Gold/Silver
> Yes - Relayer : Gold/NC
> Jethro Tull - War Child : Gold/NC
> ELP - Welcome Back... : Gold/NC
>
> The Stones leave bands like Yes, Deep Purple, ELP and Jethro Tull standing
> in many of those years and closely 'compete' in the others. Bearing in mind
> they'd evolved in to a very different band by 1971 than the pop band they
> started as it seems specious to exclude them just because they started or
> were first succesful in the 1960s. The Stones were HUGE in the 1970s, just
> as they are still hugely popular today.
>
> I'd just like to finish by pointing out I'm not a Stones fan (I only own
> 'Forty Licks', and that'll do me just fine).
>
> JJ (UK)