Royal Blood‘s debut album has been voted Album of the Year by NME readers in a NME.COM poll, with Jack White‘s ‘Lazaretto’ named Track of the Year.
Having announced NME’s own Albums and Tracks Of The Year last week, topped by St Vincent and Future Islands respectively last week, readers were invited to have their say on 2014’s biggest and best releases. ‘Royal Blood’ – which sold a stunning 66,000 copies in its first week of release in August – saw off competition from second-placed ‘It’s Album Time’, the debut album from eclectic Norwegian producer Todd Terje, to claim top spot, while White’s ‘Lazaretto’, pipped St Vincent’s January single ‘Digital Witness’ to Number One. ‘Lazaretto’, the lead single from White’s album of the same name, was premiered back in June 2014.
“It’s been an incredible year for us and this accolade, voted for by NME readers, is really the icing on the Christmas cake,” wrote Royal Blood in a statement to NME. “Thanks for all your support.”
The news comes as another boost to the Worthing duo, who earlier this week were praised by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page as “taking rock into a new realm” and “taking the genre up a few serious notches”. “They’re such fine musicians. However long the set was, I could have heard twice as much,” the guitarist told NME. “It’s music of tremendous quality.”
You can read the full top 20 albums of the year voted for by NME readers below.
The Best Albums of 2014 – As Voted For By You
The Best Tracks Of 2014 – As Voted For By You