AC/DC’s latest release, Black Ice, sold over 340,000 copies in Canada in 2008, making it the best-selling album of the year. According to Nielsen SoundScan, a system that tracks music sales in North America and provides data for the Billboard charts, the Aussie heavy-metal band was the highest-grossing artist last year, both in Canada and abroad.

Despite an October release and the band’s refusal to make the CD available on iTunes, Acca Dacca sold over 5.3 million copies worldwide of Black Ice, their first album since 2000’s Stiff Upper Lip. AC/DC catalogue sales also fared well in North America, exceeding that of the Beatles for 2008.

While AC/DC’s return was met with overwhelming popularity—Vancouver’s leg of their world tour sold out in just four minutes—we’ll still take the White Album over Black Ice any day of the week.