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The ultimate, definitive Best Albums Of 2014

The final scores are in for the annual ADM Poll of Polls, our roundup of the critics' end-of-year best albums lists - the ultimate, definitive Best Of The Best Ofs, 2014.

Kudos in abundance to Gloucestershire's Tahliah Barnett, aka FKA Twigs, who has transformed herself in double-quick time from Ed Sheeran's back-up dancer to someone a swathe of music observers deem to be a unique, game-changing artist, and in so doing she also transformed this year's Poll of Polls from what could otherwise have been a predictable roll-call of critical appreciation.

At any stage of 2014 you would have got very short odds on the likelihood of The War On Drugs, St Vincent, Caribou, Sharon Van Etten and Swans featuring in the critics' end-of-year top 10.

Similarly, FlyLo's experimental amalgam of jazz, hip hop and funk always finds plenty of admirers among reviewers, and the first output in aeons from the vastly influential Aphex Twin was always going to be marked by a fuss in critical circles.

Sun Kil Moon's prominence is a slight surprise given the warm but hardly ecstatic reception accorded to Benji's predecessors, and Run The Jewels can feel pretty satisfied with having further improved upon a formula laid down on their well-received debut.

This time last year we were commenting on the dominance of mainstream names in the 2013 Poll of Polls, what with Daft Punk, David Bowie, Arctic Monkey and all, and the correlation between the year's critical and commercial ratings. Not so this year; in sales terms 2014's big winners have been Coldplay, Lorde and Beyoncé (and the Frozen soundtrack of course).

But FKA Twigs is 2014's Frank Ocean - a previously unheralded voice ushering in something new in pop.

Having said that, if a certain Virginian soul singer had released his comeback album just a few weeks earlier, it would all have looked quite different..

And you can also vote for your own favourite albums on the ADM Readers' Poll.
Mail us at admteam@anydecentmusic.com
Put your Top 5 in order with artist name then album name (they can be albums or EPs).
Put Readers' Poll as the subject and we'll do the rest.

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  1. 1505 FKA Twigs LP1
  2. 1409 The War On Drugs Lost In The Dream
  3. 1378 St Vincent St Vincent
  4. 1123 Run The Jewels Run The Jewels 2
  5. 1123 Caribou Our Love
  6. 987 Sun Kil Moon Benji
  7. 966 Aphex Twin Syro
  8. 905 Sharon Van Etten Are We There
  9. 819 Swans To Be Kind
  10. 802 Flying Lotus You're Dead!

  11. 802 Future Islands Singles
  12. 721 Angel Olsen Burn Your Fire For No Witness
  13. 682 Mac DeMarco Salad Days
  14. 670 Perfume Genius Too Bright
  15. 663 Beck Morning Phase
  16. 656 Spoon They Want My Soul
  17. 612 Todd Terje It's Album Time
  18. 606 Taylor Swift 1989
  19. 525 Lana Del Rey Ultraviolence
  20. 521 Wild Beasts Present Tense

  21. 488 Freddie Gibbs And Madlib Piñata
  22. 460 Cloud Nothings Here And Nowhere Else
  23. 430 East India Youth Total Strife Forever
  24. 414 Damon Albarn Everyday Robots
  25. 396 Ought More Than Any Other Day
  26. 381 The Bug Angels & Devils
  27. 374 Grouper Ruins
  28. 338 Alt-J This Is All Yours
  29. 328 Alvvays Alvvays
  30. 328 Real Estate Atlas

  31. 319 Sleaford Mods Divide And Exit
  32. 316 Scott Walker & Sunn O))) Soused
  33. 310 Ariel Pink Pom Pom
  34. 308 Jenny Lewis The Voyager
  35. 308 Jack White Lazaretto
  36. 293 La Roux Trouble In Paradise
  37. 285 Ben Frost A U R O R A
  38. 273 Against Me! Transgender Dysphoria Blues
  39. 273 Shabazz Palaces Lese Majesty
  40. 267 Kate Tempest Everybody Down

  41. 267 Lykke Li I Never Learn
  42. 265 Andy Stott Faith In Strangers
  43. 251 Young Fathers Dead
  44. 248 Ty Segall Manipulator
  45. 247 Parquet Courts Sunbathing Animal
  46. 240 Tune-Yards Nikki Nack
  47. 238 Mogwai Rave Tapes
  48. 230 Iceage Plowing Into The Field Of Love
  49. 228 Manic Street Preachers Futurology
  50. 224 Owen Pallett In Conflict

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SOURCES: Q, Mojo, Uncut, NME, Rolling Stone, Paste, The Quietus, The Line Of Best Fit, The Skinny, Faster Louder, Time Out, Crack, Pretty Much Amazing, Digital Spy, music OMH, Evening Standard, Pop Matters, AV Club, The 405, Spin, Exclaim, Fact, All Music, Slant, Drowned In Sound, The Digital Fix, Earbudy, The Guardian, Clash, Consequence Of Sound, Under The Radar, Loud & Quiet, Tiny Mixed Tapes, The Music, Pitchfork, God Is In The TV, Sputnik, Beardfood, State, No Ripcord
(50pts are awarded to the album named No.1, 49pts to the No.2 and so on. If any of our sources don't post a numerical list then all available points are shared equally)

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Top 5 from each publication / site:

Q: 1 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 2 This Is All Yours, Alt-J. 3 Everyday Robots, Damon Albarn. 4 Futurology, Manic Street Preachers. 5 Morning Phase, Beck

Mojo: 1 Morning Phase, Beck. 2 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 3 Divide And Exit, Sleaford Mods. 4 Lazaretto, Jack White. 5  St Vincent, St Vincent

Uncut: 1 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 2 Popular Problems, Leonard Cohen. 3 Syro, Aphex Twin. 4 LP1 FKA Twigs. 5 Are We There, Sharon Van Etten

NME: 1 St Vincent, St Vincent. 2 Salad Days, Mac DeMarco. 3 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 4 Syro, Aphex Twin. 5 Our Love, Caribou

Rolling Stone: 1 Songs Of Innocence, U2. 2 High Hopes, Bruce Springsteen. 3 Turn Blue, The Black Keys. 4 St Vincent, St Vincent. 5 Miranda Lambert, Platinum

Paste: 1 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 2 St Vincent, St Vincent. 3 Run The Jewels 2, Run The Jewels. 4 King Tuff, Black Moon Spell. 5 Alvvays, Alvvays

The Quietus: 1 Unflesh, Gazelle Twin. 2 Soused, Scott Walker & Sunn O))). 3 To Be Kind, Swans. 4 Total Strife Forever, East India Youth. 5 Angels & Devils, The Bug

Faster Louder: 1 Kimbra, The Golden Echo. 2 St Vincent, St Vincent. 3 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 4 Raw x Infinity, Remi. 5 Salad Days, Mac DeMarco

The Skinny: 1 Warpaint, Warpaint. 2 Nobody Wants to be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave, The Twilgiht Sad. 3 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 4 St Vincent, St Vincent. 5 Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen

Time Out: 1 Trouble In Paradise, La Roux. 2 Everyday Robots, Damon Albarn. 3 It's Album Time, Todd Terje. 4 Commune, Goat. 5 Nabuma Rubberband, Little Dragon

Crack: 1 Black Metal, Dean Blunt. 2 Angels & Devils, The Bug. 3 Plowing Into The Field Of Love, Iceage. 4 Present Tense, Wild Beasts. 5 Soused, Scott Walker & Sunn O)))

Pretty Much Amazing: 1 Beyoncé, Beyoncé. 2 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 3 St Vincent, St Vincent. 4 Sun Kil Moon, Benji. 5 Run The Jewels 2, Run The Jewels

The Digital Spy: 1 In The Lonely Hour, Sam Smith. 2 1989, Taylor Swift. 3 Royal Blood, Royal Blood. 4 Trouble In Paradise, La Roux. 5 X, Ed Sheeran

musicOMH: 1 St Vincent, St Vincent. 2 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 3 Our Love, Caribou. 4 Are We There, Sharon Van Etten. 5 LP1, FKA Twigs

Pop Matters: 1 Run The Jewels 2, Run The Jewels. 2 Benji, Sun Kil Moon. 3 You're Dead!, Flying Lotus. 4 St Vincent, St Vincent. 5 To Be Kind, Swans

AV Club: 1 Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen. 2 Run The Jewels 2, Run The Jewels. 3 St Vincent, St Vincent. 4 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 5 Are We There, Sharon Van Etten

The 405: 1 LP1 FKA Twigs. 2 You're Dead!, Flying Lotus. 3 Early Riser, Taylor McFerrin. 4 Gist Is, Adult Jazz. 5 Present Tense, Wild Beasts

Spin 1 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 2 Sunbathing Animal, Parquet Courts. 3 Run The Jewels 2, Run The Jewels. 4 The Voyager, Jenny Lewis. 5 Our Love, Caribou

Fact 1 Benji, Sun Kil Moon. 2 Parallel Memories, Mr. Mitch. 3 PC Music x DISown Radio Mix, PC Music. 4 Faith In Strangers, Andy Stott. 5 Superimpositions, Lorenzo Senni

Exclaim (Dance & Electronic) 1 Our Love, Caribou. 2 Syro, Aphex Twin. 3 You're Dead!, Flying Lotus. 4 Wonder Where We Land, SBTRKT. 5 It's Album Time, Todd Terje

Exclaim (Rock & Pop) 1 Salad Days, Mac DeMarco. 2 St Vincent, St Vincent. 3 In Conflict, Owen Pallett. 4 Alvvays, Alvvays. 5 To Be Kind, Swans

Slant 1 St Vincent, St Vincent. 2 They Want My Soul, Spoon. 3 Ultraviolence, Lana Del Rey. 4 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 5 Salad Days, Mac DeMarco

Drowned In Sound 1 Nobody Wants to be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave, The Twilight Sad. 2 Are We There, Sharon Van Etten. 3 1989, Taylor Swift. 4 July,  Marissa Nadler. 5  Crosses, Crosses

Earbuddy 1 To Be Kind, Swans. 2 LP1 FKA Twigs. 3 Run The Jewels 2, Run The Jewels. 4 Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen. 5 Piñata, Freddie Gibbs And Madlib

The Guardian 1 St Vincent, St Vincent. 2 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 3 LP1, FKA Twigs. 4 Syro, Aphex Twins. 5 Our Love, Caribou

Clash 1 LP1 FKA Twigs. 2 You're Dead!, Flying Lotus. 3 Dead, Young Fathers. 4 Angels & Devils, The Bug. 5 Run The Jewels 2, Run The Jewels

Consequence Of Sound 1 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 2 Run The Jewels 2, Run The Jewels. 3 Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen. 4 Here And Nowhere Else, Cloud Nothings. 5 Our Love, Caribou

Under The Radar 1 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 2 St Vincent, St Vincent. 3 Singles, Future Islands. Atlas, Real Estate. 5 Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen

Loud And Quiet 1 More Than Any Other Day, Ought. 2 Our Love, Caribou. 3 The Hum, Hookworms. 4 Salad Days, Mac DeMarco. 5 Divide And Exit, Sleaford Mods

The Music 1 Built On Glass, Chet Faker. 2 LP1, FKA Twigs. 3 Our Love, Caribou. 4 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 5 1989, Taylor Swift

Tiny Mixed Tapes 1 Black Metal, Dean Blunt. 2 Ruins, Grouper. 3 Secret Mix, GFOTY. 4 Soused, Scott Walker & Sunn O))). 5 The Abyss, Kevin Drumm / Jason Lescalleet

Pitchfork 1 Run The Jewels 2, Run The Jewels. 2 LP1, FKA Twigs. 3 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 4 Syro, Aphex Twin. 5 Ruins, Grouper

God Is In The TV 1 Rave Tapes, Mogwai. 2 St Vincent, St Vincent. 3 Morning Phase, Beck. 4 Syro, Aphex Twin. 5  Too Bright, Perfume Genius

Sputnik 1 You're Dead!, Flying Lotus. 2 Home, Like No Place Is There, The Hotelier. 3  Are We There, Sharon Van Etten. 4 Holy Vacants, Trophy Scars. 5 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs

Beardfood 1 To Be kind, Swans. 2 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs. 3 Too Bright, Perfume Genius. 4 What Is This Heart?, How To Dress Well. 5 Present Tense, Wild Beasts

State 1 Benji, Sun Kil Moon. 2 Hozier, Hozier. 3 Everyday Robots, Damon Albarn. 4 Morning Phase, Beck. 5 Singles, Future Islands

No Ripcord 1 St Vincent, St Vincent. 2 Benji, Sun Kil Moon. 3 Under Color Of Official Right, Protomartyr. 4 LP1, FKA Twigs. 5 Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs

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All-time top 10

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  1. 9.3

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  2. 9.2

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  3. 9.1

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  4. 9.1

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  5. 9.0

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  6. 9.0

    Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure

  7. 8.9

    Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways

  8. 8.9

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  9. 8.9

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  10. 8.9

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