I was born slightly too late for their masterpiece, The Holy Bible, to make this list.

Shortly after it was released, main lyricist Richey Edwards disappeared, probably throwing himself off the Severn Bridge. He’d given co-lyricist Nicky Wire a folder full of lyrics, mostly written whilst he was in various institutions.

Richey was legally declared dead in 2009, 14 years after his disappearance. Some of the lyrics he left behind had already been used. Some were too short to become songs. But the band thought it was time to set the rest to music.

The lyrics are cutting and vitriolic. They deal with mental illness, abuse, and raw suffering – the things Richey encountered when he was institutionalised. The music, too, steps up a gear. James Dean Bradfield gives his best vocal performances for a decade, and the arrangements are so loud and furious, although they draw back to great effect several times.

This is the Manics at their best.

This is probably the most “left-field” choice on here.

I love Cornershop, so it’s a shame they put out albums so rarely. Those gaps are probably worth it though – they made three consecutive classics on very low budgets.

Why Handcream (2002) ahead of When I Was Born For The Seventh Time (1997) or Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast (2009)? They’re all delightful albums, mixing rock, traditional Indian music, and esoteric samples with minor elements from every genre imaginable, but Handcream is the most delightful of all, the most tight conceptually, and the one without any dud tracks. Highlights include the glockenspiel and children’s choir singing about “making the dope, dope” on “Staging The Plaguing Of The Raised Platform”, the monster riff on “Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III”, and Noel Gallagher’s monster guitar work on the epic “Spectral Mornings”.

Fans of The Avalanches should love Cornershop.