Deserved to win all those awards. Deep - kind of Nick Cave goes funky, sometimes hard, always hypnotic and melodic. My nu-metal friends don't like it, so that's a good recommendation there.

There's loads I can say about this record, but I've said most of it in my Amazon review. I must have played it about 1000 times, no other modern album has touched me quite like it. Brilliant.

Some people say that BDB is the poor man's Beck. Fools! Play this record on your car stereo as you drive around Manchester in the summer, and *then* you will understand it.

Genuinely on a par with their '80s stuff. Out goes the dated early '90s dance-pop of World in Motion and Regret, the band playing as if they'd never written anything since Ceremony. In a good way.

One of the best bands ever finally makes another album worthy of their name! A few dull tracks, and a lot of absolute gold. I was there at the Live in Liverpool LIPA recording...

...well, those were the albums I *thought* the best, around mid-2002. But even I disagree with some of my choices now I've been to university for a year. So here are some recent ones I like more:

If I was writing this chart in order of quality (in fact it's sort of chronological) Franz Ferdinand would be number 1. I love the tunes, the style, the lyrics (esp. Matinee), the videos, the voice...

Buy it if only for track 1. Buy it if only for the lyrics to Gareth Brown Says: "All of your friends are c*nts | Your mother is a ballpoint pen-thief | You've never been to Alton Towers"

See above about American alternative music. But this has the bonus of actually making me feel happier when I listen to it.

In retrospect, weren't Pulp great? Like a latter-day Smiths.