The year's top 50 albums

Mundane street life, cigarettes, lager and troubles with the girlfriend might not be the stuff of high art.

But it has worked for Brixton-based rapper Mike Skinner - aka The Streets. He has topped a new poll to mark the best albums of 2004.

The working-class hero has joined the likes of 17-year-old British soul singer Joss Stone and American songwriting legend Brian Wilson in a Top 50 of this year's music.

Compiled by Q magazine, the list profiles the "cream of the crop", from rap star Eminem to U2.

But the magazine's favourite was The Streets' second album A Grand Don't Come For Free. "It captured the country's mood in a way no one could

have predicted," insists Q magazine. "It went from cult classic to bestseller in no time."

East Sussex trio Keane's "revelatory" debut Hopes And Fears is voted runner-up - praised for its "booming anthems of heroic frustration". Completing the all-British top three are Glasgow's Mercury Prize-winners Franz Ferdinand. Other entrants include British rapper Dizzee Rascal at No12 place and Jamelia at No 44.

Jeff Buckley, The Clash, The Kinks and Pixies get special mention for the top five reissues of 2004.

The full feature appears in the new issue of Q magazine, out on 1 December