The reason for an apparent backlash against the government was that Tony Blair had been more concerned with presenting his government as "'cool Britannia' - it's trendy Britain, it's young Britain, that he's fighting the forces of conservatism, that it's a young nation, that he wants pop stars at Number Ten, that he can't be bothered to turn up to the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain".

BBC: Going for grey

Whether it gets five stars out of five or seven out of ten doesn't make it any better or worse an album for me - or if it sells 700 thousand compared to 100 thousand - it is a good album because it is.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS