US bands beat home-grown rivals in poll as music goes 'back to basics'
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Your support makes all the difference.Two rock bands barely known in their native America have eclipsed their acclaimed British rivals Travis, Pulp and Radiohead in a poll of the year's best albums by the aficionados of the music magazine NME.
Is This It, the debut recording by the New York punk rockers The Strokes, was voted album of the year, cementing the hype that has seen them described by the Radio 1 DJ John Peel as "the most exciting band in 30 years".
In a poll that reaffirmed the virtues of "back to basics" rock 'n' roll, The White Stripes, a blues-influenced brother and sister act from Detroit, produced the year's third best album, according to NME, with their third album White Blood Cells. The predominance of heavy guitar was underlined by the inclusion in the top 10 of the glam rocker Andrew WK and the Iowan nu-metal act Slipknot.
Let it Down by Spiritualized, an album expressing the singer Jason Pierce's struggle against heroin addiction, was voted second best album and was one of only three British acts in the top 10. The other two were by Starsailor, the Jeff Buckley-influenced band, with their orchestral debut album, Love is Here (number 5), and the eclectic Cornish artist Richard D James, ranked number 10 for his category-defying Drukqs.
The editor of NME, Ben Knowles, said the best albums, voted by the magazine's reviewers, reflected a return to the essence of rock 'n' roll, hastened by a backlash against over-produced, ephemeral albums. British acts such as Pulp, Travis and Radiohead were comfortably outside the top 10.
Mr Knowles said: "Because of the size of the market in the US, it is more conducive to cutting-edge music. Bands like Coldplay and Travis have been commercially successful here but they are hardly breaking new ground."
The top 50 albums of the year
1 The Strokes
Is This It?
2 Spiritualized
Let It Come Down
3 The White Stripes
White Blood Cells
4 Jay Z
The Blueprint
5 Starsailor
Love Is Here (Heavenly)
6 Slipknot
Iowa
7 Mercury Rev
All Is Dream
8 Rufus Wainwright
Poses
9 Andrew WK
I Get Wet
10 Aphex Twin
Drukqs
11 Super Furry Animals
Rings Around The World
12 Elbow
Asleep In The Back
13 Basement Jaxx
Rooty
14 AIR
10,000 Hz Legend
15 Destiny's Child
Survivor
16 Daft Punk
Discovery
17 Pulp
We Love Life
18 Roots Manuva
Run Come Save Me
19 Fugazi
The Argument
20 Nick Cave
No More Shall We Part
21 Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus
22 Sparklehorse
It's A Wonderful Life
23 Travis
The Invisible Band
24 Low
Things We Lost In The Fire
25 Radiohead
Amnesiac
26 Missy "Misdemeanour" Elliott
Miss E ... So Addictive
27 Mark Lanegan
Field Songs
28 Mogwai
Rock Action
29 Clearlake
Lido
30 The Charlatans
Wonderland
31 New Order
Get Ready
32 Bjork
Vespertine
33 Kings Of Convenience
Quiet Is The New Loud
34 REM
Reveal
35 Boredoms
Visioncreationnewsun
36 Beanie Sigel
The Reason
37 Turin Brakes
The Optimist LP
38 Four Tet
Pause
39 Aaliyah
Aaliyah
40 N*E*R*D
In Search Of
41 Oxide & Neutrino
Execute
42 Kurupt
Space Boogie: Smoke Oddesey
43 The Beta Band
Hotshots II
44 The Tyde
Once
45 The Future Pilot AKA
Tiny Waves, Mighty Sea (Geographic)
46 Cannibal Ox
The Cold Vein
47 Sizzla
Rastafari Teach I Everything
48 Gorillaz
Gorillaz
49 Zoot Woman
Living In A Magazine
50 Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
How I Long To Feel The Summer In My Heart
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