Drake "Thank Me Later" Named BBC.co.uk's Best Album of 2010

Welcome to the first part in a series of blog entries (running until Christmas Eve) presenting some of the best albums of 2010, from a host of writers and presenters involved with the BBC's Album Reviews service. In the coming days you'll find top fives from the likes of Gideon Coe, Bob Harris, Mike Harding and Steve Lamacq, as well as many from a selection of our great critics. But since it's muggins who commissions all of this coverage, I thought we'd kick off with my own top five. Anyone saying 2010 has been a bad year for music is clearly spouting pure poppycock, as cutting a list of 50-plus albums down to five was, to say the least, tough (but lots of fun). Enjoy...

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Drake - Thank Me Later
Drake's debut is an album you either get to the extent where its content infects many a moment of your waking hours, or dismiss as a lightweight collection compared to his harder-hitting mixtapes. But to overlook this superbly articulate and brilliantly produced set is to pass on a record that takes male rapper braggadocio and pulps it, presenting instead a new talent with a wonderfully realised tender side. And he can actually sing, too.

Click here to see the feature, and to see the other albums in the list