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The Annual is a series ofcompilation albums currently published annually byLondon-basedelectronic dance music brandMinistry of Sound. Described as Ministry of Sound's "flagship" series, the popular albums featurehouse,big beat andtrance tracks popular innightclubs, especially those in theUnited Kingdom.

TheMinistry of Sound had been releasingDJ mix albums since 1993, their third year of business as a nightclub, starting with the inaugural edition of theSession, mixed byTony 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 andPete 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 theUK 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, beforeJudge Jules replaced Tong forThe Annual IV, andTall Paul replaced George for the followingMillennium Edition andThe 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 fromThe 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, fromThe Annual toThe Annual IV. In 1999, the series' titling was reorganized and all following albums were named by year, beginning withThe 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 theClubbers 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 mixedFifteen Years in 2006, and several times since then such as onLive & Remastered (though the mixes on this box set were mixed in the 1990s). TheSessions 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 ofThe 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 toUltra Records in theUnited States, Ministry of Sound subsidiary labels inAustralia andGermany, andUniversal Music in many countries worldwide, includingItaly,Mexico,Argentina,Portugal and thePhilippines. 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 ofThe Annual in particular are held in much higher regard than the 21st century British editions ofThe Annual^{[by whom?]}, as many more local and underground tracks are used, and are mixed by either well-known or underground DJs. Every edition ofThe Annual sinceThe Annual 2002 has topped local charts and reach Gold or Platinum certification while remaining on theARIA Compilation charts and AustralianiTunes 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 theGuinness World Records 2001 as the "Best Selling Club Dance Compilation", with 610,000 copies sold by the publication of that book in 2000.

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 inIbizan 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 withSpring 2001 (the first digitally mixed Annual). A chillout annual was also released at the end of 2001,The Chillout Annual 2002. The 1997 albumDance Nation 3 was also promoted as the follow-up toThe Annual II.

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.

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

• Ministry of Sound

• "Ministry of Sound".Homepage. Retrieved11 December 2008.
• "Ministry of Sound".Discogs entry. Retrieved11 December 2008.

• Compilation album series
• Ministry of Sound compilation albums
• Electronic compilation albums
• House music albums
• Big beat compilation albums
• Trance compilation albums
• DJ mix album series
• 1990s compilation albums
• 2000s compilation albums
• 2010s compilation albums

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