Pink Floyd UK Sales

[RoundTheBend]

Hello UK friends,

Not that I care about album sales=quality of music, because it doesn't... so this isn't this discussion and if you think it is, please learn how to read...

Anyways, as for music history and cultural understanding from a UK point of view, why do you think it was that Pink Floyd albums sold so well in the states and at times totally dived in the UK? I mean there's the population thing, but that logic doesn't ring totally true and if you look at the data, you will see what I mean:

The Dark Side of the Moon
US: 15× Platinum[23]
UK: 9× Platinum[26]
AUS: 14× Platinum[27]
FRA: Platinum[22]
GER: 2× Platinum[24]
CAN: 2× Diamond[28]
AUT: 2× Platinum[25]
ITA: Gold[29]
POL: Platinum[30]

Wish You Were Here
US: 6× Platinum[23]
UK: Gold[26]
FRA: Diamond[22]
GER: Platinum[24]
CAN: 3× Platinum[28]
AUT: 2× Platinum[25]
POL: Gold[31]
AUS: 7× Platinum[27

Animals
US: 4× Platinum[23]
UK: Silver[26]
FRA: Platinum[22]
GER: Platinum[24]
CAN: 2× Platinum[28]
AUT: Gold[25]

The Wall
US: 23× Platinum[23]
UK: Platinum[26]
FRA: Diamond[22]
GER: 4× Platinum[24]
CAN: 2× Diamond[28]
POL: Platinum[30]
AUS: 11× Platinum[27]


and the one that throws me through a loop is this one:
The Division Bell
US: 3× Platinum[23]
UK: 2× Platinum[26]
FRA: 2× Platinum[22]
GER: Platinum[24]
CAN: 4× Platinum[28]
BRA: Platinum[32]
AUT: Platinum[25]
POL: Gold[31]


UK Pop:
1970 55,663,000
1975 56,226,000
1980 56,314,000
1985 56,554,000
1990 57,237,000
1995 57,961,000
2000 58,868,000

US Pop:
1970 - 203,302,031
1980 - 226,542,199
1990 - 248,709,873
2000 - 281,421,906
2010 - 307,745,538

So.... Pink Floyd's two biggest selling albums sell less than Division Bell in the UK?

Was there a lot of excitement around Division Bell in the UK?

[Robert Anton Wilson]

It is a combination of population, economic depression, market, birth of the internet (out of country postal sales) and also a major factor would be the return with a major tour of an act that was believed dead and buried for years and for which fans had nothing new to buy but low quality bootlegs for nearly 7 years ... When you favorite artists releases an album every 1 to 2 years there is less of a pressure to get it but when it is one album less than every 5 years and likely will be the last (as it proved to be) then there is more to loose for not buying it.

I think the sales of Division Bell is a good indication of the popularity of the tour that accompanied it and the come-back it represented. With the "Momentray Lapse of Reason" album and tour Pink Floyd proved that they were not going to lower their standards and still put on a momentous spectacle, it opened the door for the Division Belle tour and album to be even more grandiose.

[RoundTheBend]

Thanks .