Ive_Ruined_It_All_UK
Exiled from UK to N.C.
Yes, it's ridiculous, and I don't believe it either! Fact is that Quarry sold 380,000 copies in the UK. As for The Queen is Dead, we don't know. Apparantly BPI have never certified it platinum (300,000 copies sold), but Hatful of Hollow was!
That just cannot be right.
I know Hatful was a midpriced release but still its unfathomable that The Queen Is Dead wouldn't have sold as much. I'm pretty sure it sold much more.
As I said above. maybe they started a recount when WEA rereleased the record in 1995, when it made the UK album top 30 again: http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=10059
Yes, Hatful was a discount album since it was mostly radio sessions (I think). It was a bargain since it had the best songs on The Smiths and had HSIN from Meat. Not surprising it did well. In fact, being a gatefold too made most young fans back then buy it and not the Smiths first 2 albums. However, Queen changed that. Fans had to buy that album even if they had Hatful. All the more surprising that Queens "alleged" sales numbers are low.