Rant #1,741: The No. 1 Album In the Country (Sort Of) ...

My allergies are killing me this morning.

I can barely see out of my left eye, and my right eye is bad too.

So bear with me for this column, because right now, at exactly 4:36 in the morning, I can't see very much.

But anyway, this Rant today is not about viewing, it is about hearing.

Do you know what the No. 1 album in the country is today?

Look, we all know that having a No. 1 record today, whether on the albums or singles charts, doesn't mean very much.

It is not like during days of yore, when even if you didn't like the album and/or artist that was sitting at the No. 1 perch, you still knew what was the top seller in the country, even if my osmosis.

Today, that doesn't hold water, because music is so scattered that the charts basically mean nothing--they are not linear, as Billboard would have you believe that they are.

But that being the case, do you know what the No. 1 album in the country is right now?

It is "Good Times!" by the Monkees.

Well, sort of.

With all the different charts that Billboard offers that they use to try to address the scattered nature of music today, the Monkees album does top the albums chart, but not the Top Albums chart.

It is the No. 1 LP on the Vinyl Albums chart.

That's right. Billboard actually has a separate chart for vinyl albums right now, and the Monkees album is the most popular one in the country on that chart.

There is a market for vinyl albums, and people are buying them. They often duplicate the regular CD release, and certainly, the Monkees album does just that.

There are different versions of the vinyl LP, including regular, colored vinyl, and one that comes with a bonus 45, which is the one that I have.

But yes, even if the LP just sold a couple of hundred albums, it sits atop that chart.

It is kind of a hollow victory, but that is where it sits right now.

So you can say the Monkees are the only act to have a No. 1 album in 1966 and a No. 1 album in 2006.

That, in itself, is quite an accomplishment, and the album is quite an accomplishment itself.

Rising to No. 14 on the regular album chart--and just coming back on the regular Albums chart this week--the LP is something completely different. Even the naysayers have given it an excellent review. and if the world is right, it will receive some Grammy nominations.

But right now, even though it is hard to fathom this, the Monkees actually have a No. 1 album in 2016.

Sure it is kind of hollow, but so be it.

And later this week, two--count 'em, two--greatest hits albums are to be released, with one appearing on both CD and vinyl.

Let's see if either one of them--or both--can crack any of the charts that Billboard has created.

I wouldn't bet against either of them.