Greatest 100 Albums of All Time

TIMESONLINE.CO.UK: Deemed Britpop's crowning achievement, Oasis' debut album, Definitely Maybe, has been named the Greatest Album of All Time in a poll voted for by more than 40,000 readers of British Hit Singles and Albums and NME.com, pushing the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band into second place. Which begs the question: How can 40, 000 music fans be so dumb?

Besides the dubious token inclusion of "bands of the moment" is there anything on the list that is surprising? No, it's so rigidly canonical it could have been lifted straight from the Old Testament. At times, it's comfortingly quaint, with numerous dadrock albums that are as cosy as a pipe and slippers - The Joshua Tree, Brothers in Arms, Dark Side of the Moon and Hotel California are all present and correct and likely to illicit a response along the lines of "Tubular Bells? Oh, that old chestnut".

It's the omissions that are the real shockers though. Staggeringly, there are only four black artists included - Jimi Hendrix (98), Prince (65), Marvin Gaye (57) and Michael Jackson (35). There is nothing in the way of hip-hop, funk, soul, blues and r'n'b. Similarly, the presence of female artists is lamentably low with a paltry six inclusions towards the end of the list - Alanis Morissette (93), Spice Girls (89), Madonna (83), Joni Mitchell (73), Kate Bush (70) and, sigh, Shania Twain (64).

The NME.COM vote is visible in the cloth-eared inclusion of 11 bands of the moment such as (sigh) Snow Patrol (91), Arctic Monkeys (86), (weep) Kasabian (67), Coldplay (52 and 33), (please God no) the Libertines (30), Kaiser Chiefs (27), (Shed Seven soundalikes) the Killers (21) and the Strokes (20). However, out of the new bands featured in the list, only the White Stripes and Arcade Fire merit inclusion in this particular pop pantheon.

The more recent inclusions, with the exception of Radiohead, suggest that new bands seem merely content to re-tread paths already ploughed by previous generations. So what's missing? Where are the lost classics, the unfairly overlooked? Which bands from the past decade, besides the preening, posturing NME-pin-ups, deserve to be on the list? Which black and female artists merit inclusion? Send your suggestions in now...

Here are the full results of the British Hit Singles and Albums and NME.com survey to find the greatest 100 albums of all time:

1. Definitely Maybe, Oasis

2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, The Beatles

3. Revolver, The Beatles

4. OK Computer, Radiohead

5. (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis

6. Nevermind, Nirvana

7. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses

8. Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd

9. The Queen Is Dead, Smiths

10. The Bends, Radiohead

11. The Joshua Tree, U2

12. London Calling, The Clash

13. The Beatles (The White Album), The Beatles

14. Abbey Road, The Beatles

15. Up The Bracket, The Libertines

16. Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols

17. Four Symbols (Led Zeppelin IV), Led Zeppelin

18. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, David Bowie

19. A Night At The Opera, Queen

20. Is This It, The Strokes

21. Hot Fuss, The Killers

22. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys

23. Grace, Jeff Buckley

24. The Holy Bible, Manic Street Preachers

25. Bat Out Of Hell, MeatLoaf

26. Appetite For Destruction, Guns N' Roses

27. Employment, Kaiser Chiefs

28. Rubber Soul, The Beatles

29. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac

30. The Libertines, The Libertines

31. Urban Hymns, The Verve

32. American Idiot, Green Day

33. A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay

34. Parklife, Blur

35. Thriller, Michael Jackson

36. The Wall, Pink Floyd

37. Automatic For The People, R.E.M.

38. Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand

39. Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield

40. Achtung Baby, U2

41. Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd

42. Exile On Main Street, The Rolling Stones

43. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel

44. Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin

45. Parallel Lines, Blondie

46. Brothers In Arms, Dire Straits

47. Blood On The Tracks, Bob Dylan

48. Hunky Dory, David Bowie

49. X&Y, Coldplay

50. Who's Next, The Who

51. Hopes And Fears, Keane

52. Parachutes, Coldplay

53. Arrival, Abba

54. Different Class, Pulp

55. The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground

56. Forever Changes, Love

57. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye

58. Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones

59. Elephant, The White Stripes

60. Doolittle, Pixies

61. Absolution, Muse

62. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John

63. Sheer Heart Attack, Queen

64. Come On Over, Shania Twain

65. Sign 'o' The Times, Prince

66. Ten, Pearl Jam

67. Kasabian, Kasabian

68. Dookie, Green Day

69. Origin Of Symmetry, Muse

70. Hounds Of Love, Kate Bush

71. Blonde On Blonde, Bob Dylan

72. All Mod Cons, The Jam

73. Blue, Joni Mitchell

74. White Blood Cells, The White Stripes

75. Dog Man Star, Suede

76. Metallica (the Black Album), Metallica

77. Dare!, Human League

78. Closer, Joy Division

79. In Utero, Nirvana

80. Back In Black, AC/DC

81. Funeral, Arcade Fire

82. Up All Night, Razorlight

83. Ray Of Light, Madonna

84. Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen

85. Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin

86. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Arctic Monkeys

87. A Day At The Races, Queen

88. The Lexicon Of Love, ABC

89. Spice, Spice Girls

90. Violator, Depeche Mode

91. Final Straw, Snow Patrol

92. Electric Warrior, T. Rex

93. Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette

94. Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division

95. Kid A, Radiohead

96. Out Of The Blue, Electric Light Orchestra

97. The Smiths, The Smiths

98. Electric Ladyland, Jimi Hendrix

99. Rage Against The Machine, Rage Against The Machine

100. Hotel California, Eagles