The British indie group topped the list of the best 250
albums released between 1986 and 2011 - beating U2, Nirvana, Oasis, Muse and
The Strokes - in the poll by Q magazine.
‘OK Computer’, released in 1997, is seen as the band’s
defining work, and saw them fuse their melancholy indie pop with cinematic
ambition and the influence of computer generated sounds. The record was
instantly hailed a classic in their native England and helped establish them as
one of the most popular underground bands in the US.
A spokesperson for the magazine said: "As this poll
testifies, our readers see it as the benchmark against which all other albums
are and continue to judged against in Q's lifetime."
Grunge pioneers Nirvana’s genre defining ‘Nevermind’ album,
from 1991, was voted in second place while guitar group Oasis followed with their
second album ‘(What’sThe Story) Morning Glory’ and their debut ‘Definitely
Maybe’ in third and fourth respectively.
One of the youngest bands on the list, The Arctic Monkeys,
made sixth place with their debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What
I’m Not’ – recorded when frontman Alex Turner was still a teenager - beating
Irish rockers U2, who’s ‘The Joshua Tree’ album was seventh.
Rounding out the top ten are second entries for Radiohead,
with ‘The Bends’ and U2, with ‘Achtung Baby’, and the most recently released
album to make the top 10, ‘Black Holes And Revelations’ by Muse, which came out
in June 2006.
Altogether in the top 250 – voted for by readers of the
magazine - U2 have the most albums with seven, Radiohead follow with six, Muse
and Oasis both have five, while Coldplay, Blur and Kings Of Leon have four.
250 Best Albums Of Q’s Lifetime (1986-2011), Top 30:
1. OK Computer, Radiohead
2. Nevermind, Nirvana
3. (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis
4. Definitely Maybe, Oasis
5. Whatever People Say I Am, Arctic Monkeys
6. The Joshua Tree, U2
7. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
8. The Bends, Radiohead.
9. Achtung Baby, U2.
10. Black Holes And Revelations, Muse.
11. Is This It, The Strokes.
12. A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay.
13. Parklife, Blur
14. Screamadelica, Primal Scream
15. White Blood Cells, The White Stripes
16. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Neutral Milk Hotel
17. Hot Fuss, The Killers
18. Kid A, Radiohead
19. Funeral, Arcade Fire
20. American Idiot, Green Day
21. The Holy Bible, Manic Street Preachers
22. Absolution, Muse
23. In Rainbows, Radiohead
24. Only By The Night, Kings Of Leon
25. Demon Days, Gorillaz
26. Origin Of Symmetry, Muse
27. Appetite For Destruction, Guns N' Roses
28. Urban Hymns, The Verve
29. Automatic For The People, R.E.M
30. Loveless, My Bloody Valentine
