''Billboard'' Comprehensive Albums was established in 2003 and was a weekly

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

produced by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranked the biggest selling albums in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

regardless of the product's age or method of sales. ''Billboard'' Comprehensive Albums included any album, old or new, sold anywhere, for which sales data was available. Generally, the ''Billboard'' Comprehensive Albums was nearly identical to the ''Billboard'' 200, with the exception of approximately 20 to 30 "catalog" albums that still sell well enough to be one of the top 200-selling albums in any given week. Albums which are over 18 months old (from the date of release) and have dropped below position 100 on The ''Billboard'' 200 were removed from that chart and placed on the

Top Pop Catalog Albums Catalog Albums, previously Top Pop Catalog Albums, is a 50-position weekly albums chart produced by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the best-selling catalog albums in the United States, regardless of genre. ''Billboard'' defines a catalog titl ...

chart. Until November 2007, albums sold as an "exclusive" to a particular retail outlet (such as

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

, or

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

) were not eligible for the ''Billboard'' 200 due to a long-standing policy. This policy was changed following the first-week success of

The Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles, six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in ...

' album ''

Long Road Out of Eden ''Long Road Out of Eden'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band the Eagles, released in 2007 on Lost Highway Records as their first ever double album. Nearly six years in production, it is the band's first studio album since 1979 ...

'', sold exclusively at Wal-Mart and on the Eagles' website; the rule change took effect with the issue dated November 17, 2007. The ''Billboard'' Comprehensive Albums chart was not published in the print edition of ''Billboard'' magazine. Instead, it could be viewed via paid subscription to ''Billboard'''s online service, Billboard.biz. The issue dated July 11, 2009 was the first time any catalog album outsold the number-one album on the ''Billboard'' 200. Three of Michael Jackson's albums (''Number Ones'', ''The Essential Michael Jackson'' and ''Thriller'') claimed positions 1-3 respectively on ''Top Pop Catalog Albums'' and ''Top Comprehensive Albums'' in the week following Jackson's death. After the continued success of such catalog albums, ''Billboard'' Comprehensive Albums chart was discontinued in November 2009, and the ''Billboard'' 200 began to incorporate the catalog albums. ''Billboard'' then started the Top Current Albums chart with the old rules of the ''Billboard'' 200.

References

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