Big Shiny Tunes is a series of rock albums compiled and released by the Canadian music television station MuchMusic, and through MusiquePlus in Quebec, from 1996 to 2009. The best-selling album of the series was Big Shiny Tunes 2, which was certified Diamond in Canada (1,000,000 units) by the CRIA on March 25, 1998. It has been cited as the best-selling album series in Canadian history,Tom Harrison, "Big Shiny Tunes finds big niche: Compilation albums reflect modern rock and sell millions in Canada," The Province, Vancouver, B.C.: January 13, 2002, pg. B.5.Chapters, "," URL accessed February 17, 2006. with 5 million albums sold in ten years.CNW Group, "MuchMusic Celebrates 10 Years of 'Big Shiny Tunes'," November 10, 2005, URL accessed February 17, 2006.
Characteristics The Big Shiny Tunes albums are each thought to be composed of a combination of rock songs that are major hits by well-known artists, less successful songs by well-known artists and songs by more obscure artists, released in the same year as the albums' publication.Ivan Danielewicz, "Spun ," Gauntlet Publications Society, University of Calgary, February 05, 2004, URL accessed February 17, 2006. There are a combination of Canadian, British and American performers. One common feature among the selected artists is that they are attached to Universal Music, Warner Bros., EMI Music Canada, and/or MuchMusic, who come together to produce Big Shiny Tunes albums. The most frequently appearing band in the Big Shiny Tunes series is Nickelback, who appeared on seven releases in the series (Big Shiny Tunes 5, 7 through 11, and 14). The first six Big Shiny Tunes albums were all released on both CD and cassette formats; entries in the series were released solely on CD starting with Big Shiny Tunes 7 in 2002.
Part of the appeal of the series is that those who do not usually buy albums will find Big Shiny Tunes provides several well-known songs, as opposed to a CD by a single artist whose non-single tracks may be relatively unfamiliar. The music is aimed at teenagers and young adults.Raymond J. Arsenault, "Big Shiny Tunes really shining," Journal- Pioneer, Summerside, Prince Edward Island: November 27, 1999, pg. A.7. There has been some criticism of consistency in regards to the use of censored versus uncensored versions of songs from album to album. Big Shiny Tunes 6 carried a label stating that some songs contained coarse language, while the previous and following albums had censored songs by Matthew Good, Limp Bizkit, Staind, Not By Choice and Wheatus.
In addition to the ordinary albums in the series, MuchMusic also released albums that compile the biggest hits across a span of years, such as Big Shiny 80s (2005) that included classics like Billy Idol's "White Wedding." There have also been two volumes of Big Shiny 90s released.
History The first edition of Big Shiny Tunes was released in 1996. The compilation was successful, being certified Triple Platinum in Canada. Big Shiny Tunes 2 was released in 1997 to greater success. The second entry sold 128,000 copies in its first week alone, before going on to sell 1,230,000 copies overall. This makes the entry the third best-selling album of all time in Canada of the Nielsen SoundScan era. Big Shiny Tunes 3 was released in 1998, which was also very successful. The second and third editions alone would account for over 2,000,000 copies of Big Shiny Tunes albums sold. Following editions of Big Shiny Tunes reached #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, the last being Big Shiny Tunes 6, which sold 68,500 copies in its first week in 2001.John Williams, "Eminem polishes off 'Shiny Tunes'," Canoe.ca, URL accessed February 17, 2006.
The series soon lost its predominance with the growth of peer-to-peer file sharing in the 2000s. The last album in the series, Big Shiny Tunes 14, was released in 2009. As of 2010, the series went on an indefinite hiatus before being discontinued.
Charts and certifications Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications CANPeak positions for Big Shiny Tunes albums on Canadian Albums Chart: For Big Shiny Tunes: For Big Shiny Tunes 2: For Big Shiny Tunes 3: For Big Shiny Tunes 4: For Big Shiny Tunes 5: For Big Shiny Tunes 6: For Big Shiny Tunes 7: For Big Shiny 90's: For Big Shiny 90's Volume 2: For Big Shiny Tunes 8: For Big Shiny Tunes 9: For Big Shiny 80's: For Big Shiny Tunes 10: For Big Shiny Tunes 11: For Big Shiny Tunes 12 For Big Shiny Tunes 13: For Big Shiny Tunes 14: CRIA 1996Big Shiny Tunes33× Platinum1997Big Shiny Tunes 21Diamond1998Big Shiny Tunes 318× Platinum1999Big Shiny Tunes 418× Platinum2000Big Shiny Tunes 516× Platinum2001Big Shiny Tunes 612002Big Shiny Tunes 723× Platinum2002Big Shiny 90's52× Platinum2003Big Shiny 90's Volume 2342003Big Shiny Tunes 842× Platinum2004Big Shiny Tunes 97Platinum2004Big Shiny 80's382005Big Shiny Tunes 1072006Big Shiny Tunes 11 6Platinum2007Big Shiny Tunes 1210Gold2008Big Shiny Tunes 13212009Big Shiny Tunes 14 17
Albums
Big Shiny Tunes
Note: Was certified 3× Platinum (300,000 units) in Canada on April 24, 1997.
Big Shiny Tunes 2
Note: Best-selling album of the series. Was certified Diamond in Canada (1,000,000 units) on March 25, 1998.
Big Shiny Tunes 3
Note: Was certified 8× Platinum in Canada (800,000 units) on February 19, 1999.
Big Shiny Tunes 4
Note: Was certified 8× Platinum in Canada (800,000 units) on November 6, 2000.
Big Shiny Tunes 5
Note: Was certified 6× Platinum (600,000 units) in Canada on December 6, 2001.Gold & Platinum Certification – December 2001
Big Shiny Tunes 6
Note: Sold 68,500 copies in its first week. However, it has not been certified by the CRIA/Music Canada.
Big Shiny Tunes 7
Note: Was certified 3× Platinum (300,000 units) in Canada on September 17, 2009.Gold & Platinum Certification – September 2009
Big Shiny Tunes 8
Note: Was certified 2× Platinum (200,000 units) in Canada on January 22, 2004.Gold & Platinum Certification – January 2004
Big Shiny Tunes 9
Note: Was certified Platinum in Canada (100,000 units) on March 22, 2005.Gold & Platinum Certification – March 2005
Big Shiny Tunes 10
Notes: When the track listing was originally shown via online music stores such as Mymusic before the official site opened, "Holiday" by Green Day, "Be Yourself" by Audioslave, "B.Y.O.B." by System of a Down, "Rebellion (Lies)" by Arcade Fire, "E-Pro" by Beck, and "Best of You" by the Foo Fighters were shown to be on the album. These were replaced by songs by Nickelback, Weezer, Seether, Theory of a Deadman, Mobile, and k-os.
Big Shiny Tunes 11
Notes: The album's official site also lists "Stricken" by Disturbed as being on the album as well. However, it does n appear in the final product. The album was certified Platinum in Canada (100,000 units) on February 1, 2007.Gold & Platinum Certification – February 2007 .
Big Shiny Tunes 12
Note: Was certified Gold in Canada (50,000 units) on July 30, 2008.Gold & Platinum Certification – July 2008
Big Shiny Tunes 13
Big Shiny Tunes 14
Big Shiny '90s
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Note: Was certified 2× Platinum (200,000 units) in Canada in February 2004.Gold & Platinum Certification – February 2004
Big Shiny '90s Volume 2
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Big Shiny '80s
Disc 1: The Buggles – "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979) Gary Numan – "Cars" (1980) Blondie – "Call Me" (1980) Duran Duran – "Hungry Like the Wolf" (1984) A Flock of Seagulls – "I Ran (So Far Away)" (1981) The Fixx – "One Thing Leads to Another" (1985) Talk Talk – "It's My Life" (1983) INXS – "Original Sin" (1989) David Bowie – "Modern Love" (1983) Peter Gabriel – "Shock the Monkey" (1983) The Cars – "You Might Think" (1981) Devo – "Whip It" (1981) Martha and the Muffins – "Echo Beach" (1980) Squeeze – "Another Nail in My Heart" (1983) Nena – "99 Luftballons" (1982)
Disc 2: The Clash – "Train in Vain" (1980) The Boomtown Rats – "I Don't Like Mondays" (1979) Billy Idol – "White Wedding" (1982/1984) The Pretenders – "Back on the Chain Gang" (1983) Fine Young Cannibals – "Suspicious Minds" (1986) Ramones – "Rock 'n' Roll High School" (1980) The B-52's – "Love Shack" (1989) Rough Trade – "High School Confidential" (1980) The Psychedelic Furs – "Love My Way" (1982) Split Enz – "I Got You" (1985) The Dream Academy – "Life in a Northern Town" (1986) Chalk Circle – "April Fool" (1985) Tears for Fears – "Pale Shelter" (1982/1983) The Cure – "In Between Days" (1985) Naked Eyes – "Always Something There to Remind Me" (1983)
See also MuchDance, a compilation series by MuchMusic first released in 1990 and by MusiquePlus as DansePlus until 2019. It was released in the U.S. as Dance Mix USA between 1993 and 1998. ((DIRECT))
References
External links MuchMusic's Big Shiny Tunes 12 website MuchMusic's Big Shiny Tunes 13 website