The Irish Times has published its countdown of the top 50 Irish albums.
It features legendary groups such as The Pogues, Thin Lizzy and U2, while acts who've came to prominence in recent times also make an appearance. Among the latter are Villagers, Republic of Loose and the Rusangano Family.
Journalists Lauren Murphy and Ed Power compiled the list, and said it was a daunting task: "In fact, when our separate lists were combined, there were ninety albums in total. Limiting each act to a maximum of two entries, we then argued our cases for the albums that we felt should make the cut, and tinkered with the placement of those that deserved a more superior ranking.
"Our choice for number one may come as a surprise, particularly given that it hasn’t even been 12 months since its release. Some of you may even be shocked. Some may be downright outraged. Nevertheless, there is nothing to say that it less worthy of the title than any other. The same could be said for every other entry: why Enya and not Horslips? Well, why not? There are no tokenistic inclusions here: everything was selected on merit alone."
