"In a decade where music listeners moved away from albums en masse, and towards downloadable tracks and podcasts, there was perhaps less emphasis on the musical long-player than at any period since the 1960s.
However, with more opportunities to Do It Yourself than ever before, great albums arrived in their droves. Some, like Jay-Z's The Black Album, emerged on major labels backed by money-spinning promotion campaigns. Others, like Dangermouse's The Grey Album, were home-made success stories that reflected the changing tides in the way people chose to consume and react to music. Tellingly, two of the albums in our final top 100 were free CDs given away with other products. "