QTheMusic.com

1992
Winner: Primal Scream, Screamadelica. A sensible choice, obviously, but we’d completely forgotten that U2 were also nominated for Achtung Baby.
U2, The Fly.

1993
Winner: Suede, Suede. Pre-Blur and Oasis, Suede were the great white hope of British guitar music. In truth, it was a thin year (Sting was nominated for Ten Summoner’s Tales) but the spirit of these post-house and hip-hop, pre-Britpop times was probably best encapsulated by Stereo MC’s Connected.
Stereo MCs, Connected

1994
Winner: M People, Elegant Slumming. The first of the deliberately contrary years. Blur’s Parklife should have been a sho-in, just ahead of Prodigy’s Music For The Jilted Generation.
Blur, Parklife


1995
Winner: Portishead, Dummy. A unique and terrific album, winning in what now looks like the awards’ strongest ever year, ahead of PJ Harvey’s To Bring You My Love, Tricky’s Maxinequaye, Leftfield’s Leftism, Elastica’s self-titled debut and….Oasis’ Definitely Maybe
Oasis, Live Forever


1996
Winner: Pulp, A Different Class. Again, no complaints about the actual winner but spare a thought for Black Grape’s It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah!, also one of the albums of the decade.
In The Name Of The Father

1997
Winner: Roni Size/Reprazent, New Forms. While it could have been worse (The Spice Girls’ Spice was nominated) it beggars belief that Radiohead’s OK Computer didn’t walk it.
Radiohead, No Surprises


1998
Winner: Gomez, Bring It On. By now we were faced with the dregs of the Britpop era but if the judges wanted to spring a surprise, what was wrong with Cornershop’s If I Was Born For The 7th Time? And if they wanted authentic rock’n’roll, then surely The Verve’s Urban Hymns was the automatic choice?
The Verve, Bittersweet Symphony

1999
Winner: Talvin Singh, OK. A mystifying victory in what was, to be honest, a weak year with Blur, Manic Street Preachers and Underworld all nominated for some of their lesser efforts. With the benefit of hindsight, the Chemical Brothers’ Surrender was the best of a middling bunch.
Chemical Brothers, Let Forever Be

2000
Winner: Badly Drawn Boy, The Hour Of Bewilderbeast. Poor Badly Drawn Boy’s entirely promising career never recovered while Coldplay were passed over for what Noel Gallagher maintains is their best album, Parachutes.
Coldplay, Don’t Panic

2001
Winner: PJ Harvey’s Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. A fine winner in a slightly curious year that saw a nomination for Radiohead’s Amnesiac, not the superior Kid A, and Gorillaz’s self-titled debut withdrawn at the request of the band. Which may explain the frankly criminal absence of Damon Albarn’s The Good, The Bad & The Queen from the 2007 shortlist.
Gorillaz, Clint Eastwood

2002
Winner: Miss Dynamite, A Little Deeper. If they wanted to head off the beaten track what was wrong with The Streets’ Original Pirate Material?
The Streets, Has It Come To This?


2003
Winner: Dizzee Rascal, Boy In Da Corner. Fair enough in a ropey year that also included The Thrills and The Darkness amongst the nominees. Still Martina Topley-Bird’s solo debut, Quixotic, was pretty good too.
Martina Topley-Bird, Anything


2004
Winner: Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand. No qualms about the winner but you could also do worse than the best Belle & Sebastian album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress.
Belle & Sebastian, I’m A Cuckoo


2005
Winner: Antony & The Johnsons, I Am A Bird Now. The kind of winner the award was made for. Would anyone really have preferred it went to fellow nominees Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Maximo Park or Hard-Fi?
Antony & The Johnsons, Hope There’s Someone

2006
Winner: Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. It was always going to be them by a landslide. “Call the cops,” said Alex Turner on picking up the prize. ”Richard Hawley’s been robbed.” He was wrong, but fellow nominee Hawley’s Coles Corner is still a cracker.
Richard Hawley, Coles Corner

11:50 AM | 04/09/2007