1. Arctic Monkeys - AM (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN7gSMPQFss In 2013, James Blake's broken toy box doom-step came out on top, much to the confusion of most observers, who had expected the pre-ceremony favourite Laura Mvula to triumph. In fact, most people had presumed just about anything other than Blake's second album Overgrown would win, as it beat a plethora of infinitely less haunted-sounding albums. Laura Marling was nominated for the third time, and for a third time she walked away empty-handed. The shortlist also featured David Bowie's The Next Day, his critically acclaimed first album in a decade, Savages, Villagers, Jon Hopkins, Foals, and Disclosure. Oh, and Jake Bugg was on there too, but the less said about him, the better. 2013 also saw the Mercury Prize come in for more criticism, this time from Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine. The band had put forward their album mbv for consideration, but it had been deemed ineligible because it had only been available to buy through their official website. "Our album's not a real album because it's independent," Shields complained. "The corporateness has got to such a point where we've essentially been told that we don't exist." One band who hadn't had any trouble reminding people they existed was Arctic Monkeys, nominated for the third time, and previous winners in 2006 for their debut album. Their fifth album AM, is their masterpiece, the culmination of a meteoric rise from MySpace stars to festival-headlining superstars, and it was EVERYWHERE in 2013. It managed to marry the fun of their first album, the riffs of their second and third, and the wistful melodies of their fourth into one amazing package. But sadly, AM would become another footnote in a long list of great albums to inexplicably miss out on the Mercury Prize.