2010 was a great year for music in Britain with some amazing album releases. Album reviews were flying off the shelves for breakthrough brands, but it was the old guard that ruled the roost at the top of the album charts. The top 5 best selling albums in Britain is filled with established acts and while there aren't any that I can pick out as favourites of mine, you can't always ignore the numbers. When there is that many people buying an album there's got to be something about it that has grabbed the attention of the masses.

5. Plan B, The Defamation of Strickland Banks

The only breakthrough album release of 2010 fell to London wide boy, Plan B, or Benjamin Balance-Drew as he's know to his mum. The release of The Defamation of Strickland Banks, his second studio album, in April 2010, led to an instant number 1 in the UK album charts. It sold over sixty eight thousand copies in its first week and went on to sell a whopping eight hundred and twenty six thousand copies throughout the course of the year. Album reviews were fairly positive overall with ratings ranging from six out of ten to four out of five, but his move away from his rapping routes prompted one album review from the Telegraph to describe it as being "populist" although the overall tone of the review was generally favourable.

4. Rihanna, Loud

The ups and downs of Rihanna's personal life has been well documented by the media, but when it comes to her albums it always seems to be on the up and up. It including high grossing hits Only Girl in the World, What's my Name and S&M. Released in November 2010 the album the album went in at number 2, selling in the region of 91,000 copies, but later climbed to the number 1 spot. Though it was released late in the year, it still managed to sell 839,000 copies in total. Rihanna's Loud received average to favourable album reviews from the mainstream press.

3. Lady GaGa, The Fame / The Fame Monster

When Lady GaGa first appeared on the music scene it was as though she appeared out of nowhere and was suddenly everywhere. Now it feels like she's always been there. The illusion of her meteoric rise to musical prominence has been fuelled by the trash media and paparazzi that she seems to target so much in her music. The love hate relationship continues in The Fame / The Fame Monster and while it was originally released in November 2009 as an EP as a re-release of The Fame, it still went on to be the third best selling album of 2010 in the Britain.

2. Michael Buble, Crazy Love

Who'd of thought it. Michael Buble had the second highest grossing album of 2010, epitomising the fact that you can never underestimate the buying power of easy listening loving ladies everywhere. The smooth singing Canadian has turned into a power house of selling album selling prowess and in 2010 he really hit the mark with Crazy Love. Michael Buble's fourth studio album, Crazy Love is another crooner loving record and went straight in at number 1 in October 2009, but maintained sales all the way through 2010 to guarantee it a place in the top 5 best selling albums in Britain in 2010. Selling more than 1, 227,000 copies, but to be fair, it doesn't really matter how many albums he sells, he's never going to get into the Rat Pack.

1. Take That, Progress

Back during the 90s Take That were the bees knees with the girls at my school. They wore Take That emblems around there necks and probably cried like crazy people at the news that they were breaking up. It is these same girls, now women, that have secured Take That's resurgence to musical hegemony of a certain persuasion, making their album, Progress, the biggest selling album of 2010 in Britain. Released on 15th November 2010 and returning Robbie Williams to the Take That fold after his long dark days alone in the California sun, it inevitable charted straight in at number 1. Despite the release being so late in the day in 2010, it still managed to sell in excess of 1.8 million records. Album reviews were very positive, giving it an average of around 8 out of 10 in both popular and industry media, but more than anything, it gave Robbie something more than just aliens to believe in.