The Annual

Last updated

The Annual
Compilation album seriesby
various artists
Released1995 (1995)-present
Genre Dance
Label Ministry of Sound
Compiler Boy George, Pete Tong, Judge Jules, Tall Paul, Steve Canueto, Dipesh Parmar, Roger Sanchez

The Annual is a series of compilation albums currently published annually by London-based electronic dance music brand Ministry of Sound. Described as Ministry of Sound's "flagship" series, the popular albums feature house, big beat and trance tracks popular in nightclubs, especially those in the United Kingdom.

Contents

History

The Ministry of Sound had been releasing DJ mix albums since 1993, their third year of business as a nightclub, starting with the inaugural edition of the Session , mixed by Tony Humphries. As the label increasingly began to release other mix albums, The Annual was conceived to wrap up the year at the club, a retrospective of defining tracks that defined the nightclub that year. Boy George and Pete Tong, who had DJ'd at the club several times, were hired to compile and mix a disc for the album each. The album was a success, reaching number 13 on the UK Compilations Chart. The Annual II from the following year, however, was a major success, reaching number 1 on the chart. George and Tong mixed the first three albums, before Judge Jules replaced Tong for The Annual IV, and Tall Paul replaced George for the following Millennium Edition and The Annual 2000, before the series stopped using live DJs. The earlier Annuals are held in a high regard[ by whom? ], whereas the digitally mixed editions from The Annual 2002 are not as much, with common criticisms being uninspired mixing, track listings and presentation (i.e. including bonus DVDs etc.)[ citation needed ]

From 1995 to 1999, the individual releases of The Annual were denoted by Roman numerals, from The Annual to The Annual IV. In 1999, the series' titling was reorganized and all following albums were named by year, beginning with The Annual 1999 - Millennium Edition. Starting in 2001, the album was named for the year following the Autumn release date instead of the year of release, thus there is no album assigned to 2001 (aside from the Spring 2001 Annual). After the Clubbers Guide To .... 2001 (Mixed By Tall Paul) Ministry of Sound decided not to use big name DJs but to use lesser-known DJs that mix digitally, and not credit who the mixer is on the front cover. This has since been denied once, where CJ Mackintosh, Jazzy M and Marc Hughes mixed Fifteen Years in 2006, and several times since then such as on Live & Remastered (though the mixes on this box set were mixed in the 1990s). The Sessions series still continues to be mixed by a DJ.

The original British installments were often released in two versions, one featuring a jewel case and a booklet in a slipcase, and special editions that were essentially leather-bound books with shiny lettering. The leather binding stopped after some volumes, but the book idea was retained until the release of The Annual 2002, which, alongside the other Annuals of the following five years, featured slimline CD cases in a hard box. Later editions have featured various other forms of packaging.

As the series became more popular in the early 2000s, similar (though not identical) albums of the same name were licensed to Ultra Records in the United States, Ministry of Sound subsidiary labels in Australia and Germany, and Universal Music in many countries worldwide, including Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal and the Philippines. These albums share many tracks with the (original) UK releases, though they are mixed in a different order and some songs are replaced with more local songs in the track listing.

Australian editions of The Annual in particular are held in much higher regard than the 21st century British editions of The Annual[ by whom? ], as many more local and underground tracks are used, and are mixed by either well-known or underground DJs. Every edition of The Annual since The Annual 2002 has topped local charts and reach Gold or Platinum certification while remaining on the ARIA Compilation charts and Australian iTunes charts for many months.

The Annual II remains one of the biggest selling compilation albums of all time in the UK, including quite possibly the biggest selling DJ mix album in the UK. It is listed in the Guinness World Records 2001 as the "Best Selling Club Dance Compilation", with 610,000 copies sold by the publication of that book in 2000.

Spin-offs

The Ibiza Annual series began in a large selling #1 album in August 1998, as mixed by Pete Tong and Boy George. As the title suggests it contains songs big in Ibizan DJ sets. The 1999 edition, despite criticism that it didn't make full usage of the songs available, was well received as was the 2000 edition. Editions starting from 2001 were mixed digitally.

Seasonal editions began in 2001, starting with Spring 2001 (the first digitally mixed Annual). A chillout annual was also released at the end of 2001, The Chillout Annual 2002. The 1997 album Dance Nation 3 was also promoted as the follow-up to The Annual II.

Series overview

Note: These refer to the albums released in the UK under the Ministry of Sound label, and not any of the alternate releases from other countries or labels.

Main series

TitleMixed byRelease dateCatalog #Peak chart positionsCertifications [1]
UK
Comp

[2] [3]
UK
Dance

[4]
The Annual Boy George, Pete Tong 2 November 1995ANNCD9513
  • UK: Gold
The Annual IIPete Tong, Boy George4 November 1996ANNCD961
  • UK: 2xPlatinum
The Annual IIIPete Tong, Boy George3 November 1997ANNCD971
  • UK: Platinum
The Annual IV Judge Jules, Boy George30 October 1998ANNCD981
  • UK: Platinum
The Annual: Millennium EditionJudge Jules, Tall Paul (DJ) 1 November 1999ANNCD992
  • UK: Platinum
The Annual 2000Judge Jules, Tall Paul30 October 2000ANNCD2K1
  • UK: Platinum
The Annual 2002Steve Canueto [5] 6 November 2001ANCD2K11
  • UK: Platinum
The Annual 2003Dave 'Deadly' Turner4 November 2002ANCD2K21
  • UK: Platinum
The Annual 20043 November 2003ANCD2K32
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2005 Dipesh Parmar 1 November 2004ANCD2K42
  • UK: Platinum
The Annual 2006Dipesh Parmar31 October 2005ANCD2K52
  • UK: Platinum
The Annual 2007Dipesh Parmar, Kev & Cass 30 October 2006ANCD2K62
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2008Dipesh Parmar, Kev & Cass, The Cut Up Boys 29 October 2007ANCD2K72
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2009Kev & Cass27 October 2008ANCD2K84
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2010Kev & Cass2 November 2009ANCD2K941
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2011Kev & Cass1 November 2010ANCD2K1041
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2012Dipesh Parmar14 November 2011ANCD2K1198
  • UK: Silver
The Annual 2013 Redlight 19 November 2012ANCD2K12135
  • UK: Silver
The Annual 2014Redlight11 November 2013ANCD2K1321
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2015Redlight10 November 2014ANCD2K1482
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2016Redlight6 November 2015ANCD2K1511
  • UK: Platinum
The Annual 2017Redlight4 November 2016ANCD2K1611
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2018Redlight3 November 2017ANCD2K1721
  • UK: Gold
The Annual 2019Redlight9 November 2018ANCD2K183
The Annual 2020Redlight1 November 2019ANCD2K1921
The Annual 2021Redlight6 November 2020MOSCD5543 [6]
The Annual 2022Redlight26 November 2021MOSCD55741
The Annual 2023Redlight25 November 2022MOSCD5584
The Annual 2024 Roger Sanchez 24 November 2023MOSCD55951

Ibiza Annual series

TitleMixed byRelease dateCatalog #Peak chart positionsCertifications [1]
UK
Comp

[2] [3]
UK
Dance

[4]
The Ibiza AnnualPete Tong, Judge Jules1998MOSCD21
  • UK: Gold
The Ibiza Annual Summer Ninety NineJudge Jules, Tall Paul (DJ) 1999MOSCD61
  • UK: Gold
The Ibiza Annual Summer 2000Judge Jules, Taul Paul2000MOSCD111
  • UK: Platinum
The Ibiza Annual Summer 2001Steve Canueto2001MOSCD213
  • UK: Gold
The Annual Ibiza 20022002MOSCD504
  • UK: Silver
Ibiza Annual 20052005MOSCD1093
  • UK: Silver
Ibiza Annual 20062006MOSCD1272
  • UK: Silver
Ibiza Annual 20072007MOSCD1472
  • UK: Silver
Ibiza Annual 20082008MOSCD1763
Ibiza Annual 20112011MOSCD26133
Ibiza Annual 20122012MOSCD30241
  • UK: Silver
Ibiza Annual 20132013MOSCD34061
Ibiza Annual 2014Ember & Kronic2014MOSCD37392

Other releases

TitleMixed byRelease dateCatalog #Peak chart positionsCertifications [1]
UK
Comp

[2] [3]
UK
Dance

[4]
The Annual Spring 2001Steve Canueto2001MOSCD171
  • UK: Gold
The Annual Spring 2002Dipesh Parmar2002MOSCD353
  • UK: Silver
The Annual Spring 20032003MOSCD633
  • UK: Silver
The Annual Summer 2003Deadly Dave Turner2003MOSCD735
The Annual Spring 2004Dipesh Parmar2004MOSCD876
The Annual Summer 20042004MOSCD954
  • UK: Silver
The Annual 15 Years2010MOSCD22241
The Annual XXV20191 [7]

Australian albums

Note: These albums from The Summer Annual - Summer 2000 to The 2008 Annual were distributed by EMI Music Group Australasia Pty Ltd. The 2009 Annual to The Annual 2017 were distributed by Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd under exclusive license from Ministry of Sound Australia & Ministry of Sound Recordings Ltd. As of mid-2017 all Australian Annuals are produced and distributed by Sony Music Entertainment Australia.

Spring releases

YearAlbumDJ(s)
2001The 2002 AnnualAndy Van & Mark Dynamix
2002The Chillout Annual 2002 Mark Dynamix
2002The 2003 Annual Mark Dynamix & Ultrasun
2003The 2004 Annual Mark Dynamix & John Course
2004The 2005 AnnualJohn Course & Mark Dynamix
2005The 2006 AnnualJohn Course & Mark Dynamix
2006The 2007 AnnualJohn Course & Mark Dynamix
2007The 2008 AnnualJohn Course & Goodwill
2008The 2009 AnnualJohn Course & Goodwill
2009The Annual 2010John Course, The Aston Shuffle & Goodwill
2010The Annual 2011 Hook N Sling & Tommy Trash
2011The Annual 10 YearsJohn Course & Mark Dynamix
2011The 2012 AnnualTommy Trash & Tom Piper
2012The Annual 2013Tom Piper & The Only
2013The Annual 2014Chardy & Uberjak'd
2014The Annual 2015Ember & Kronic (DJ)
2015The Annual 2016 Kronic (DJ), Ember & Dom Dolla
2016The Annual 2017
2018The Annual 2019

Summer releases

YearAlbumDJ(s)
2000The Summer Annual - Summer 2000 Madison Avenue & Sean Quinn
2001The Summer Annual - Summer 2001 Mark Dynamix & Andy Van
2018The Annual 2018

See also

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 "Chart Log UK: Various Artists (Compilations)". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Official Compilations Chart Top 100". Official Charts. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts . Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  5. "The Annual 2002 (2001, CD)" via www.discogs.com.
  6. "Official Compilations Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
  7. "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.