Music fans have been voting on NME’s ‘Best Album of the Year’ and the ‘Best Track of the Year’.
The readers have chosen a new heralded upcoming band for best LP of 2014 and an experienced, widely respected artist for best song of 2014.
Brighton rock duo Royal Blood have topped the NME ‘Best Album of the Year’ poll with their self-titled debut album.
The band’s record went straight to the number 1 spot in September and the pair achieved the fastest-selling rock debut in the last three years.
The English rockers managed to shift an impressive 66,000 copies in the first week, more than any rock debut. The first-week figures make it the highest-selling rock debut since Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ self-titled release in 2011.
“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.”
Last week, NME magazine chose St Vincent’s self-titled album as their ‘Album Of The Year 2014’.
The readers then picked Jack White’s ‘Lazaretto’ as their ‘Track of the Year’, while NME went with Future Islands’ ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’.
The NME readers award completes an amazing year for Royal Blood. It’s also been quite a week for the duo, Led Zeppelin’s guitarist Jimmy Page praised the rock group for “taking rock into a new realm.”
Speaking to NME, Page said: “I went to hear them in New York. They were fantastic. Absolutely riveting. They’re such fine musicians. However long the set was, I could have heard twice as much. Their album has taken the genre up a serious few notches.”
“It’s so refreshing to hear, because they play with the spirit of the things that have preceded them, but you can hear they’re going to take rock into a new realm – if they’re not already doing that. It’s music of tremendous quality.”
It’s high praise indeed for one of rock’s most legendary figures.
