Album of the Year

The annual Rolling Stone Best Albums chart is an eagerly-awaited event and an influential ranking of some of the year's best music.

In the running this year were new albums from heavyweights such as My Bloody Valentine, David Bowie, Primal Scream, Arcade Fire and Pet Shop Boys, but it was Australian musician Nick Cave and his band the Bad Seeds that made it to the top spot with its 15th studio effort, "Push the Sky Away."

Cave has strong creative ties to Germany, residing for a time in the western part of then-divided Berlin in the early 80s, a period which coincided with the demise of his band The Birthday Party and the subsequent formation of new outfit Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

During his time in Berlin, Cave collaborated with several German musicians including Blixa Bargeld of Einstürzende Neubauten fame and Die Haut drummer Thomas Wydler.

Speaking to Rolling Stone earlier in the year Cave, father of twin sons, said of spending lengthy periods on the road; "In the heart of every father there is the fear that your children’s lives pass you by when you spend so much time away from home."