History repeats itself; Led Zeppelin album, merchandise sales on top

Who would have guessed last January that Led Zeppelin would be capable of releasing a top-selling album by year's end?

That's precisely the scenario that has developed, according to Uncut. HMV, a U.K.-based music retailer, said sales of last month's greatest-hits collection, Mothership, have risen since the Dec. 10 reunion concert to become this week's biggest mover, the publication reports.

It quotes HMV spokesman Genarro Castaldo as saying, "Sales of their album have had a massive, massive boost by the concert. It was our best-selling album today, up from number eight last week. Led Zeppelin t-shirts have also been our most popular since the concert."

Castaldo also confirms in the Uncut piece that "sales of the band's entire back catalogue are also up by 500 per cent since the concert took place."

Keen observers of Led Zeppelin's history will note that the releases of 1975's Physical Graffiti and 1979's In Through the Out Door in 1979 had a similar effect on sales of the group's previous albums. Higher record sales at those times, in the United States, resulted in multiple Billboard chart rankings for the group.

In addition, the Led Zeppelin record sales of 1979 is often credited with rescuing the dwindling record industry at the time.