Benjamin Clementine - can't hear it at all. The Mercury MP always puzzles me; the judges tend to go for very non mass appeal acts which usually sink into well deserved obscurity. Why? The best is always also highly commercial - like Shakespeare and Dickens and Michelangelo were. Hugely popular at the time as well as long lasting. One exception - Van Gogh. Meant little or nothing when alive. But my favourite painter.

I can't agree more. This is the reason the prize has no public interest anymore. Tucked away on BBC4. It was fine when an occasional obscure album won against a short list with many high profile titles, but when it wins against a bunch of other unknowns, it has no value.

Also, the awards used to run in the summer with an early September final. (Ahead of the Q4 releases). No it hits the big blockbuster releases head-on, so retailers can't give the shortlisted titles the exposure they previously had. If you were a retailer who would you put at the front of your store/homepage. The Mercury winner or Adele?

And Dixie you have to remember I'm a bit biased against albums which, historically, were packages designed by major labels to sell punters inferior product on the back of a hit or two. Of course there are exceptions - wonderful concept albums, collections of great hits, classical concertos and opera. But most albums are inferior - even Adele's!

I agree with much of what you say about albums, and there are lots of examples to prove your point. But, I look at the albums I own, and many bring me a lot of pleasure. If I like a band or artist a lot, (to, say, buy tickets to see them live), I'm happy to experience all their output, the good and the not-so-good. That's where I feel an album fits in. On saying that, I have loads of CDs that I've probably only listened to once! A few years ago I had a clear out of those, but the collection has built up again. Many are when I bought the Artist's best/first album then bought subsequent releases by them, only later realising that their best album is already released many albums ago. I have a feeling Adele has just joined that group of artists. 25 will NOT the Adele album people turn to for listening pleasure in 5 years' time!