Maoilbheannacht
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Billboard's 1987 end of year chart lists "Slippery..." as the #1 album of the year. "Bad" was #2. JT was #3. I'm not stating that one outsold the other, but rather, based on Billboard's system at the time, this was their order.
I'm positive that is incorrect with regard to "Bad" by Michael Jackson. Bad was released on August 31, 1987. It did not chart in Billboard until the September 26, 1987 issue. That means it was only charted for at most 10 weeks before Billboard year for 1987 would end in November. Bad was #1 for 6 weeks and while all 6 of those weeks were counted for the 1987 year end chart, Joshua Tree was #1 for 9 weeks. For the year end chart in 1987, Bad only has 10 weeks charted, of which 6 were at #1. Joshua Tree has 35 weeks charted of which 9 were at #1 and the rest were in the top 10. It is there for impossible that BAD would rank ahead of Joshua Tree for the year end chart in 1987. So, your figures are incorrect.
For the Billboard year ending in 1987, Joshua Tree actually did not make the top 5, but did make the top 10. Slippery When Wet indeed was probably #1, given the November 1986 to November 1987 time frame. I'm not sure where BAD ended up, but with just 10 weeks, even with 6 of them at #1, it did not rank higher than Joshua Tree.
Until I see actual hard numbers, it's difficult to debate which album was really the biggest seller in the U.S. and worldwide for many of U2's releases. But there's that famous report of JT selling 14M worldwide in 1987. Is that enough to be #1 for the year? Don't know, but it is very possible.
There were multiple sources back then listing the album at 14 million and 15 million. When Rattle And Hum was released in 1988, TIME magazine listed Joshua Tree's sales at 16 million.
In the United States, based on shipments from RIAA, Joshua tree shipped 4 million copies in the USA during 1987. The only album that shipped more than 4 million copies in the USA during 1987, was Whitney Houston's "Whitney" with 5 million in shipments.
Then consider the Joshua Tree's overwhelming dominance on the European charts being #1 for nearly 20 weeks, massive sales in the United Kingdom, Diamond status in Canada after only 6 months of release. Joshua Tree's massive sales, and release date help to set it up as the biggest selling album worldwide of 1987 within that actual 12 month period of the year. The only album that could compete with it, is Whitney Houston's Whitney which did not have the same chart success in Europe, or sales success in the UK and Canada as Joshua Tree did.