Every December, British music magazine
NMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition. The magazine's commercial heyday was during the 1970s when it...
compiles a list of what it considers the best albums of the year. It was started in 1974. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December the 9th. The companion list is
NME single of the yearEvery December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best single or track of the year. It was started in 1975. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December the 9th...
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The NME Album of the Year list is compiled by the music reviewers and independent journalists who work for the magazine and for NME.com.
Every December, British music magazine
NMEThe New Musical Express is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom which has been published weekly since March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, which first appeared in the 14 November 1952 edition. The magazine's commercial heyday was during the 1970s when it...
compiles a list of what it considers the best albums of the year. It was started in 1974. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December the 9th. The companion list is
NME single of the yearEvery December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best single or track of the year. It was started in 1975. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December the 9th...
.
The NME Album of the Year list is compiled by the music reviewers and independent journalists who work for the magazine and for NME.com. Each picks his or her top 20 albums of the year and hands them in to the editor. An album marked at Number One gets 20 points, Number Two gets 19 points and so on until the 20th, which gets one point. All of the points from the various top 20s are then gathered together and the overall favourites are worked out and ranked for publication in the official list. The album with the most points overall is Number One in the list, the one with the second most points is Number Two and so on.
No 1 albums by year
1974This is the list of the best albums voted by the NME critics at the end of 1974. This was the first year the list was published. A ranked singles list was not compiled this year.-List of Best Albums:1 - Pretzel Logic - Steely Dan...
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Pretzel LogicPretzel Logic is the third studio album by the American jazz-rock band Steely Dan, originally released in 1974. The album's opening song, "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", became the band's biggest hit, reaching #4 on the charts soon after the release of the album. The album itself went gold, and...
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Steely DanSteely Dan is an American jazz-rock band centered on core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The band reached a peak of popularity in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
1975 -
Blood on the TracksBlood on the Tracks is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 15th studio album, released by Columbia Records in January 1975. The album marked Dylan's return to Columbia after a two-album stint with Asylum Records....
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Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
1976 -
Desire -
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
1977 -
"Heroes" -
David BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. Active in five decades of popular music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
1978 -
Darkness on the Edge of TownDarkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1978 .-History:Recovering from legal troubles and the stress of the breakthrough success of Born to Run, Springsteen released a somewhat less commercial album, Darkness on the Edge of Town...
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Bruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss", is an American singer-songwriter. He records and tours with the E Street Band...
1979 -
Fear of MusicFear of Music is the third studio album by American New Wave band Talking Heads, released on 3 August 1979 on Sire Records. It was recorded at locations in New York City between April and May 1979 and was produced by the quartet and Brian Eno. The album entered the Billboard 200 in the United...
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Talking HeadsTalking Heads was an American rock band formed in 1974 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
1980 -
CloserCloser is the second and final album by post-punk band Joy Division, released , two months following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. The album was originally scheduled to be released on . The record was originally released on the Factory Records label as a 12" LP and reached #6 on the UK...
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Joy DivisionJoy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences,...
1981 -
NightclubbingNightclubbing is the fifth studio album by Grace Jones, released in 1981. It is the second of three post-disco albums that Jones made at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and became Jones' commercial breakthrough and also formed the basis of her groundbreaking concept tour A One Man Show...
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Grace JonesGrace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model, and actress.-Early life:Jones was born in Jamaica, the daughter of Marjorie and Robert W. Jones, who was a politician and Apostolic clergyman. Her parents took Grace and her brother Randy to relocate to Syracuse, New York in 1965...
1982 -
Midnight LoveMidnight Love is the final studio album recorded and issued by American soul singer Marvin Gaye and was the singer's first release from Columbia months after leaving his longtime label, Motown. It claimed the number one slot on NME Album of the Year....
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Marvin GayeMarvin Pentz Gay, Jr., better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and instrumentalist with a three-octave vocal range. Starting as a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows in the late fifties, he ventured into a solo career after the group disbanded in 1960...
1983 -
Punch The ClockPunch the Clock is an album released in 1983 by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It was Costello's eighth album, his seventh with the Attractions since 1978. The album featured Costello's first U.S...
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Elvis CostelloElvis Costello is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s, and later became associated with the punk rock and New Wave musical genres...
1984 -
The Poet IIPoet II is a 1984 album by Bobby Womack. The album featured the hit duets with fellow soul legend Patti LaBelle on the top three R&B charted ballad, "Love Has Finally Come at Last" and the more modest follow-up, "It Takes a Lot of Strength to Say Goodbye" and the top 75 UK dance hit, "Tell Me...
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Bobby WomackRobert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
1985 -
Rain DogsRain Dogs is the 9th album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in August 1985 on Island Records. A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, Rain Dogs is generally considered the middle album of the trilogy that includes Swordfishtrombones and Franks Wild...
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Tom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
1986 -
Parade - Prince & the Revolution
1987 -
Yo! Bum Rush the ShowYo! Bum Rush the Show is the debut album by Public Enemy, released by Def Jam/Columbia Records on January 26, 1987. This was the first album of Public Enemy's that had been released by a record label. Their debut album had debuted at #125 on the Billboard 200, and at #1 on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B...
- Public Enemy
1988 -
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us BackIt Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on Def Jam Recordings in the United States on April 14, 1988....
- Public Enemy
1989 -
3 Feet High and Rising3 Feet High and Rising is the influential debut album from American hip-hop trio De La Soul, released in 1989.The album marked the first of three full-length collaborations with producer Prince Paul, which would become the critical and commercial peak of both parties. It's consistently placed on...
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De La SoulDe La Soul is an American hip hop group formed in 1987 in Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
1990 -
Pills 'n' Thrills and BellyachesPills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches was the third album by British band Happy Mondays. It was released in 1990 and was produced by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne at Eden Studios in London....
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Happy MondaysHappy Mondays are a British alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day , keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
1991 -
NevermindNevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
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NirvanaNirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
1992 -
Copper BlueCopper Blue was the debut album of the US alternative rock band Sugar. It was voted 1992 Album of the Year by the NME. All of the songs were written by guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, who also co-produced with Lou Giordano. The song "The Slim" is about losing someone to AIDS...
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SugarSugar was an American alternative rock band of the early 1990s led by vocalist/guitarist Bob Mould alongside bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis ....
1993 -
DebutDebut is the second studio album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk. The album was released in July 1993 on One Little Indian Records in the United Kingdom and Elektra Records in the United States. Björk worked with producer Nellee Hooper on the album and co-wrote five of Debuts songs with him...
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BjörkBjörk Guðmundsdóttir is a critically acclaimed Icelandic avant-garde singer-songwriter, composer, actress and music producer, whose work includes seven solo albums and two film soundtracks....
1994 -
Definitely MaybeDefinitely Maybe is the debut album by English rock band Oasis, released in 1994. It was an immediate commercial and critical success in the UK, having followed on the heels of singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker", "Live Forever" and "Cigarettes & Alcohol"....
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OasisOasis were an English rock band that formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul Arthurs , Paul McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
1995 -
MaxinquayeMaxinquaye is the debut album of Tricky, released in 1995. Expanding on the sonic template of fellow Bristolians Massive Attack, and featuring then-girlfriend Martina Topley-Bird on vocals, Maxinquaye is a dark, mysterious album featuring a combination of hip-hop, soul, dub, rock and electronica...
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TrickyTricky is an English musician and actor. As a producer and a musician, he is noted for a dark, rich and layered sound and a whispering sprechgesang lyrical style. Culturally, Tricky encourages an intertwining of societies, particularly in his musical fusion of rock and hip hop, high art and pop...
1996 -
OdelayOdelay is the second major-label studio album recorded by alternative rock artist Beck, originally released June 18, 1996...
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BeckBeck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist known by the stage name Beck...
1997 -
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in SpaceLadies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space is the third studio album by Spiritualized, released in June 1997, and features guest appearances from the Balanescu Quartet, The London Community Gospel Choir and Dr...
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SpiritualizedSpiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
1998 -
Deserter's SongsDeserter's Songs is the fourth studio album by the Buffalo, New York-based rock band Mercury Rev, released in late September 1998. British music magazine NME named Deserter's Songs album of the year for 1998...
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Mercury RevMercury Rev is an American rock music group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
1999 -
The Soft BulletinThe Soft Bulletin is the ninth album released by The Flaming Lips on May 17, 1999 in the UK, with a US release following on June 22, 1999.-Music & lyrical content:...
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The Flaming LipsThe Flaming Lips are an American rock band.The band is known for their lush, multi-layered, psychedelic arrangements, spacey lyrics and bizarre song and album titles The Flaming Lips (formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983) are an American rock band.The band is known for their lush,...
2000 -
Rated RRated R also called R is the second album by the American hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age. It was released on June 6, 2000 through Interscope Records. The band began work on the album after touring in support of its previous album, Queens of the Stone Age, released in 1998...
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Queens of the Stone AgeQueens of the Stone Age is an American Grammy Award-nominated rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. Originally formed under the name Gamma Ray by guitarist Josh Homme, following the breakup of his previous band, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age developed a style of...
2001 -
Is This ItIs This It is the debut album by the American alternative rock band The Strokes, released in 2001. The Strokes were the first band to break into the mainstream as part of the turn-of-the-millennium garage rock trend...
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The StrokesThe Strokes is an American rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. They rose to fame in the early 2000s as leaders in the garage rock revival. The band's members are Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr...
2002 -
A Rush of Blood to the HeadA Rush of Blood to the Head is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Coldplay. Released on 26 August 2002 in the United Kingdom by record label Parlophone, the album was produced by the band and British record producer Ken Nelson...
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ColdplayColdplay are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1998. The group comprises Chris Martin , Jonny Buckland , Guy Berryman , and Will Champion .Coldplay's early material was compared to acts such as Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, U2, and Travis...
2003 -
ElephantElephant is the fourth album by the American alternative rock band The White Stripes. Released on April 1, 2003 on V2 Records, the album marks the band's major label debut...
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The White StripesThe White Stripes is an American rock duo, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consists of songwriter Jack White and Meg White ....
2004 -
Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand is the debut album by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand, released in early 2004. It entered the United Kingdom album charts at number three in February 2004 and contains three UK top ten singles: "Take Me Out", "This Fire" and "The Dark of the Matinée"...
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Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand are a Scottish rock band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single "Take Me Out" reached #3 in the...
2005 -
Silent AlarmSilent Alarm is the debut studio album by British indie rock band Bloc Party. It was recorded in Copenhagen and London in mid-2004 and was largely produced by Paul Epworth. It was released on 2 February 2005 in Japan through V2 Records and on 14 February in the British Isles on Wichita Recordings,...
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Bloc PartyBloc Party are an English indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
2006 -
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm NotWhatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the debut album by English band Arctic Monkeys, released on 23 January 2006. The album became the UK's fastest selling debut album, shifting over 360,000 copies in its first week, and remains the fastest selling debut album by a band...
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Arctic MonkeysArctic Monkeys are an English alternative rock band from High Green, a suburb of Sheffield. Formed in 2002, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders .Arctic Monkeys achieved chart success with their second single, "I Bet You Look Good on the...
2007 -
Myths of the Near Future Myths of the Near Future is the Mercury Prize-winning debut album by English band Klaxons. It was released on 29 January 2007 through Polydor Records. Myths of the Near Future contains re-recorded versions of "Gravity's Rainbow", "Atlantis to Interzone" and "Four Horsemen of 2012", along with the...
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KlaxonsKlaxons are an indie rock band, based in London. Following the release of numerous 7-inch vinyls on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles "Magick" and "Golden Skans", the band released their debut album, Myths of the Near Future on 29 January 2007. The...
2008 -
Oracular SpectacularOracular Spectacular is the first major label studio album by Brooklyn, New York indie rock band MGMT, released digitally October 2, 2007 on Columbia Records, available in CD & LP formats from January 22, 2008...
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MGMTMGMT, formerly named "The Management" , is an American musical duo based in Brooklyn, New York, consisting of Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden...