Channel4 - 100 Greatest Albums

The Cure - Disintegration (1989)
Disintegration was The Cure's commercial breakthrough album. The cover showed lead singer Robert Smith drowning in flowers. The album included the hits Love Song and Pictures of You.
Curtis Mayfield - Superfly (1972)
The soundtrack to the Shaft-style Blaxploitation film, Superfly. Mayfield turned the record into an anti-drugs concept, focusing on the dark side of drugs - the violence and destruction of the black community.
The Darkness - Permission to Land (2003)
Rock posturing, spandex and guitar solos became fashionable again. I Believe In A Thing Called Love turned them into an overnight success, other hits from the album include Growing On Me, and Love Is Only A Feeling.
David Bowie - Hunky Dory (1971)
Bowie's fourth album remains an acclaimed classic, containing defining moments for Bowie with the hit Changes and tributes to Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan.
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (1972)
The creation of Ziggy Stardust was inspired by Malcolm McDowell's character in A Clockwork Orange. Heddon Street in Covent Garden, where the sleeve photo was shot, became a Mecca for Bowie fans.
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
With its anti-gangster rap and D.A.I.S.Y. age philosophy, 3 Feet High and Rising showed that hip-hop could be funny and not all guns and 'hoods. The legal case following this album changed copyright law and the face of sampled hip-hop forever.
Dexys Midnight Runners - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels (1980)
Featuring the UK number one hit single Geno, Kevin Rowland and his band made little black knitted hats, dungarees and donkey jackets chic.
Dido - No Angel (1999)
The success of this debut album was spurred on by Dido's appearance on Eminem's track Stan, but the sampled track used, Thank You, made Dido a star in her own right. No Angel was the UK's best selling album of 2001.
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (1985)
The first CD to sell a million copies. Biggest hit on the album was Money For Nothing, co-written by Mark Knopfler and his Geordie mate Sting, who sings the line "I want my MTV".
Dizzee Rascal - Boy in da Corner (2003)
Dizzee Rascal grew up in a council estate in East London, stealing cars and getting booted out of schools, but by the age of 18 he had turned the corner and produced this Mercury Music Award winning album.
The Doors - The Doors (1967)
The Doors debut album defined acid rock. Jim Morrison and his entourage provided us with the hits Light My Fire and the outsized album finale The End.
Duran Duran - Rio (1982)
Their second album broke Birmingham's fab five in America and cemented their place as Princess Diana's favourite band. The album scored three UK top twenty hits with Hungry Like the Wolf, Save A Prayer, and Rio.
Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis (1969)
Dusty may have been the UK's number one diva in the early 1960s but by 1969 'girl singers' were regarded as little more than fluff. This was a comeback album and was critically acclaimed but commercially it flopped. The single, Son of A Preacher Man was a hit though, recently revived by its appearance in cult flick Pulp Fiction.
Eagles - Hotel California (1976)
Where is the real Hotel California? Hotel California is in fact not a real hotel at all, but a metaphor for the crazy, hedonistic, materialistic rock and roll lifestyle of California. The album reveals Don Henley's sickness and craziness after years of life in the fast lane.
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
The album where Elton started to come out of himself, both as a performer and as a person. He was becoming increasingly flamboyant, camp and extrovert, though not yet openly gay. John & Taupin's finest hour.
Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True (1977)
Elvis Costello's cynicism and anger marked him out as a leading voice in the punk explosion. This impressive debut contains one of Costello's most enduring hits, Alison.
Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions (1976)
This is a compilation of Elvis recordings done at Sam Phillips' Sun Studios - arguably the moment rock and roll began. Phillips signed Presley after hearing a song that Elvis had recorded for his mother on her birthday, That's All Right (Mama).
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Perhaps the most controversial album ever made. Marshall ditched his Slim Shady persona to reveal his true self. The album threw up a storm of protest for its alleged homophobia and references to violence and drugs.
Fatboy Slim - You've Come a Long Way, Baby (1998)
In the States, many assumed the fat boy on the sleeve was actually Fatboy himself. It seemed wherever you listened, Fatboy's anthems were being played on the radio, TV and DJ decks all across the country.
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1977)
The band were all in disintegrating relationships with each other as the album was being made. As they fell apart emotionally, they created their masterpiece. Hits include Go Your Own Way and Don't Stop.
Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956)
Sinatra shrugged off the rise of rock and roll and some guy called Elvis and stuck to what he did best, a swingin' dance album. Featured what is considered by many his finest song, Cole Porter's I've Got You Under My Skin.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984)
The biggest band to come out of Merseyside since the Beatles. The only people who didn't seem to like what Holly Johnson and his gang were doing were at the BBC. Includes Relax and Two Tribes.
George Michael - Faith (1987)
George Michael was seen as more than just a Father Figure upon the release of his first solo album since Wham! With his new image of leather jacket and designer stubble, George had hits with I Want Your Sex and the title track, Faith.
Guns n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987)
This album perfectly embodies the self-destructive mania of their lives at that time. Written when the band all lived together in a one-room apartment they called 'Hellhouse'. Hits include Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child O' Mine.
Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990)
Brothers Shaun and Paul Ryder formed the Happy Mondays and became the centre of the Madchester scene of the late 1980s. The album features X-Factor star Rowetta on backing vocals and hit singles Kinky Afro and Step On.