Since this all began in 1963, I have chosen 57 Albums of the Year. They had one thing in common – they were the album that emerged as the one that was probably played the most, and certainly the most enjoyed, during that year.
Their genres have changed as music has morphed over more than half a century – from pop to prog to indie, blues to rock then grunge, soul to R&B to hip-hop and back again, and their styles have varied from simple collections of songs to concept albums.
In the newsletter/blog of each year, I touched on why I chose that particular album. This section goes further and contains a more critical review of each individual album, and reflects on whether that choice may have changed with the benefit of hindsight. It is still a work in progress, so bear with me as I add to it over the coming months.
Choose an album from the drop down, or from the link in the table below.
| Year | Title | Artist | Download | Stream | |
| 1963 |  | With the Beatles | The Beatles |  |
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| 1964 |  | Kinks | The Kinks | |
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| 1965 |  | Mr Tambourine Man | The Byrds | |
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| 1966 |  | Small Faces | The Small Faces | |
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| 1967 |  | Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | The Beatles | |
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| 1968 |  | In Search of the Lost Chord | The Moody Blues | |
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| 1969 |  | Yes | Yes | |
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| 1970 |  | Led Zeppelin III | Led Zeppelin | |
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| 1971 |  | Who's Next | The Who | |
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| 1972 |  | First Base | Babe Ruth | |
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| 1973 |  | Solid Air | John Martyn | |
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| 1974 |  | I've Got the Music in Me | Kiki Dee | |
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| 1975 |  | Fish Out of Water | Chris Squire | |
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| 1976 |  | A Trick of the Tail | Genesis | |
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| 1977 |  | Rumours | Fleetwood Mac | |
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| 1978 |  | Parallel Lines | Blondie | |
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| 1979 |  | Reggatta de Blanc | The Police | |
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| 1980 |  | Pretenders | Pretenders | |
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| 1981 |  | Face Value | Phil Collins | |
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| 1982 |  | New Gold Dream | Simple Minds | |
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| 1983 |  | The Crossing | Big Country | |
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| 1984 |  | Welcome to the Pleasuredome | Frankie Goes to Hollywood | |
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| 1985 |  | Hounds of Love | Kate Bush | |
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| 1986 |  | Graceland | Paul Simon | |
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| 1987 |  | Robbie Robertson | Robbie Robertson | |
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| 1988 |  | American Dream | Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | |
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| 1989 |  | A New Flame | Simply Red | |
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| 1990 |  | We Never Had it so Good | Tom Robinson & Jakko M Jaksyk | |
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| 1991 |  | Living with the Law | Chris Whitley | |
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| 1992 |  | The Madman's Return | Snap | |
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| 1993 |  | Wild Wood | Paul Weller | |
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| 1994 |  | Dummy | Portishead | |
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| 1995 |  | Garbage | Garbage | |
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| 1996 |  | Sheryl Crow | Sheryl Crow | |
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| 1997 |  | Attack of the Grey Lantern | Mansun | |
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| 1998 |  | Ray of Light | Madonna | |
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| 1999 |  | Play | Moby | |
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| 2000 |  | Parachutes | Coldplay | |
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| 2001 |  | Love is Here | Starsailor | |
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| 2002 |  | A Rush of Blood to the Head | Coldplay | |
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| 2003 |  | Never Never Land | Unkle | |
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| 2004 |  | Hopes & Fears | Keane | |
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| 2005 |  | Funeral | Arcade Fire | |
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| 2006 |  | Passing Stranger | Scott Matthews | |
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| 2007 |  | The State of Things | Reverend & the Makers | |
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| 2008 |  | The Seldom Seen Kid | Elbow | |
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| 2009 |  | The Hazards of Love | Decemberists | |
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| 2010 |  | The Defamation of Strickland Banks | Plan B | |
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| 2011 |  | Young the Giant | Young the Giant | |
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| 2012 |  | My Head is an Animal | Of Monsters & Men | |
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| 2013 |  | Pale Green Ghosts | John Grant | |
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| 2014 |  | Hozier | Hozier | |
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| 2015 |  | What Went Down | Foals | |
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| 2016 |  | Chaleur Humaine | Christine & the Queens | |
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| 2017 |  | Moonshine Freeze | This is the Kit | |
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| 2018 |  | Everything is Recorded | Richard Russell | |
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| 2019 |  | Hypersonic Missiles | Sam Fender | |
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| 2020 |  | Earth | EOB | |
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| 2021 |  | McCartney III Imagined | Paul McCartney | |
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| 2022 |  | Patient Number 9 | Ozzy Osbourne | |
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| 2023 |  | Echoes - Ancient & Modern | Trevor Horn | |