Ten...

In 2003, the experts picked the wrong "experimental" album. Instead of getting behind Kieran Hebden's tour de force in lo-fi electronica, they opted for a highly irritating and gimmicky album about ducks singing in water. In fact take your pick 'cause Rounds beats most of 2003's nominees with sumptuous ease. Instead - Lemonjelly - Lost Horizons

Revolutionary is a word comfortably used to describe the music of Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin but Kelly Jones? While the former made a debut record that set the tone for electronic music, the latter released 1999's most overblown, sham of a record. So who got the nomination then? Beggars belief... Instead - Stereophonics - Performance & Cocktails

What exactly has the Mercury Prize got against glorious British pop records. As we shall see, Teenage Fanclub, Field Music but first Shack. Among its mix of despair and joy, HMS Fable was a triumphant survival record for Michael Head and is as impossible to put down now as eight years ago. Instead - Richard Ashcroft - Alone With Everybody

Another of the 'not at our awards, thanks' bands, Mogwai's debut set the non-selection tone for future releases. In the judges' defense 1998 was one of their better years but when you consider the dregs of Britpop still appeared, perhaps the swooning soundscapes of Young Team were a year or two ahead of their time. Instead - Catatonia - International Velvet

It's not inconceivable that, as will become apparent, Jason Pierce may have done something to piss the Mercury judges off but the Fannies? Eighteen years, nine records and not one nomination is quite inexplicable. All the more so when the glorious Grand Prix is revisited - a better British pop record hasn't been made since.... Instead - James MacMillan – Seven Last Words from the Cross

...Until January this year that is. It would have taken a brave panel to award the staggering Tones of Town this year's prize in the face of the Good Ship New Rave. Instead, not even a sniff of a nomination. How the aptly named 'Hats Off To The Buskers was selected instead will baffle for years. Instead - The View - Hats Off To The Buskers

1997 is remembered as the year Roni Size pick pocketed Radiohead, but where was a certain Mr. J. Spaceman. Spiritualized most accessible album to that date was regarded quite unanimously as a masterpiece upon its release and has lost little of its electricity since. The band failed to receive a nod before (Lazer Guided Melodies, 1992) or after (Let It Come Down, 2002). Instead - Suede - Coming Up

Screamadelica is overrated. There I said it. In the cold light of day, it just is not the classic album every Q reader says it is. Bandwagonesque on the other hand, released on the same Creation imprint one month later, very much is. The six minutes and six seconds of 'The Concept' alone should have merited the cheque. Instead - Simply Red - Stars

Same year, same month of release (November '91) and another spectacularly overlooked album put out on Creation. Early nineties records don't come any more quintessential than Kevin Shields' shoegazing masterclass. Frankly a coin should have been tossed on the night to split it and Bandwagonesque, followed swiftly by Mick Hucknall's ejection from the premises. Instead - Young Disciples – Road To Freedom

Kid A aside, the judges haven't dared ignore a Radiohead album since but surely The Bends is their biggest omission in sixteen years. Portishead's Dummy was a deserving winner, but surely a mid-nineties album as influential would have made a decent runner-up? At the very least, it deserved the nod ahead of a knackered Van Morrison record. Instead - Van Morrison - Days Like This