The Annual is a series of compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

s currently published annually by London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

-based electronic dance music

Electronic dance music

Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...

 brand Ministry of Sound

Ministry of Sound

Ministry of Sound London, commonly referred to as simply Ministry of Sound or MoS, is a nightclub based in London, United Kingdom and an associated record label. It was ranked fourth in the 2010 DJ Magazine top 100 clubs poll 2010. As well as the nightclub in London, there is another in Egypt and...

. Described as Ministry of Sound's "flagship" series, the popular albums feature house

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

, big beat

Big beat

Big beat is a term employed since the mid-1990s by the British music press to describe much of the music by artists such as The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, and Propellerheads typically driven by heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns in...

 and trance

Trance music

Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...

 tracks popular in nightclub

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

s, especially those in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

From 1995-1999, 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. After the Clubbers Guide To .... 2001 (Mixed By Tall Paul) Ministry of Sound decided not to use big name DJ's 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.

As the series became more popular in the early 2000s, similar (though not identical) albums of the same name were licensed to Ultra Records

Ultra Records

Ultra Records is an American independent electronic dance music record label. Ultra was formed in New York City in 1995 by former Polygram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey, who is still currently the owner...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Ministry of Sound subsidiary labels in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and Universal Music in many countries worldwide, including Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. These albums share many tracks with the (original) UK releases, though they are mixed in a different order and replace some songs with more local songs in the track listing.

The Australian Annuals in particular are held in much higher regard than the UK Annuals, as much more local and underground tracks are used and are always mixed by well known and underground DJ's. Every Annual since the The 2002 Annual have been chart toppers and go either Gold or Platinum and stay on the ARIA

Aria

An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

 Compilation charts and Australian iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

 charts for months on end.

Albums

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.

Autumn releases

Year	Album	DJ(s)
1995	The Annual	Boy George Boy George Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...  and Pete Tong Pete Tong Peter "Pete" Tong is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is known worldwide by fans of electronic music for hosting programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records, and for...
1996	The Annual II	Boy George and Pete Tong
1997	The Annual III	Boy George and Pete Tong
1998	The Annual IV	Boy George and Judge Jules Judge Jules Judge Jules is a British dance music DJ and producer, known for his DJ activities and popular radio show which achieved global success.-Education:...
1999	The Annual - Millennium Edition	Judge Jules and Tall Paul
2000	The Annual 2000	Judge Jules and Tall Paul
2001	The Annual 2002	Steve Canueto
2002	The Annual 2003	Unknown
2003	The Annual 2004	Unknown
2004	The Annual 2005 The Annual 2005 The Annual 2005 was a 3-disc compilation album released by the Ministry of Sound record label on 1 November 2004. It was the tenth release in The Annual series by Ministry Of Sound UK and the 5th in the Australian The Annual series by Ministry of Sound Australia, and reached number seven in The...	Dipesh Parmar
2005	The Annual 2006 The Annual 2006 The Annual 2006 is the eleventh album in The Annual series released by Ministry of Sound on 31 October 2005. Note that this article refers to the UK version of the album specifically. In Australia it is the 6th album in the series.-Disc One:...	Dipesh Parmar
2006	The Annual 2007 The Annual 2007 The Annual 2007 is the twelfth album in The Annual series released by Ministry of Sound on 30 October 2006. Note that this article refers to the UK version of the album specifically. The Australian version is similar to the UK release but features more Australian dance artists and is mixed by John...	Dipesh Parmar and Kev & Cass
2007	The Annual 2008 The Annual 2008 The Annual 2008 is the thirteenth album in The Annual series released by Ministry of Sound on October 29, 2007. It includes a bonus third disc of mash-ups mixed by the Cut Up Boys. Note that this article refers to the UK version of the album specifically....	Dipesh Parmar, Kev & Cass and The Cut Up Boys
2008	The Annual 2009 The Annual 2009 The Annual 2009 is the thirteenth album in The Annual series released by Ministry of Sound on October 27, 2008. Note that this article refers to the UK version of the album specifically.-Disc One:-Disc Two:-DVD:...	Good will and John Course
2009	The Annual 2010 The Annual 2010 The Annual 2010 is the fourteenth album in The Annual series released by Ministry of Sound on November 2, 2009. Note that this article refers to the UK version of the album specifically....	Good will, John Course, The Aston Shuffle
2010	The Annual 15 Years
2010	The Annual 2011 The Annual 2011 The Annual 2011 is the fifteenth album in The Annual series released by Ministry of Sound on November 1, 2010. Note that this article refers to the UK version of the album specifically.-Disc One:-Disc Two:-Disc Three:...	Hook N Sling & Tommy Trash
2011	The Annual 2012 The Annual 2012 The Annual 2012 is the sixteenth album in The Annual series released by Ministry of Sound on 14 November 2011.-Disc one:-Disc two:-Disc three:...	Tom Piper & Tommy Trash

Summer releases

Year	Album	DJ(s)
2003	The Annual Summer 2003	Dave Turner

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 Annual 2009 onwards are distributed by Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd under exclusive license from Ministry of Sound Australia Pty Ltd & Ministry of Sound Recordings Ltd.

Spring Releases

Year	Album	DJ(s)
2001	The 2002 Annual	Andy Van & Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix is an internationally known, Sydney based Australian DJ who is seen as a significant figure within the Australian dance music scene. He began working as a professional DJ prior to 1993, and has published 26 mix CDs and four original music releases...
2002	The 2003 Annual	Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix is an internationally known, Sydney based Australian DJ who is seen as a significant figure within the Australian dance music scene. He began working as a professional DJ prior to 1993, and has published 26 mix CDs and four original music releases...  & Ultrasun
2003	The 2004 Annual	Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix is an internationally known, Sydney based Australian DJ who is seen as a significant figure within the Australian dance music scene. He began working as a professional DJ prior to 1993, and has published 26 mix CDs and four original music releases...  & John Course
2004	The 2005 Annual	John Course & Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix is an internationally known, Sydney based Australian DJ who is seen as a significant figure within the Australian dance music scene. He began working as a professional DJ prior to 1993, and has published 26 mix CDs and four original music releases...
2005	The 2006 Annual	John Course & Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix is an internationally known, Sydney based Australian DJ who is seen as a significant figure within the Australian dance music scene. He began working as a professional DJ prior to 1993, and has published 26 mix CDs and four original music releases...
2006	The 2007 Annual	John Course & Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix is an internationally known, Sydney based Australian DJ who is seen as a significant figure within the Australian dance music scene. He began working as a professional DJ prior to 1993, and has published 26 mix CDs and four original music releases...
2007	The 2008 Annual	John Course & Goodwill
2008	The 2009 Annual	John Course & Goodwill
2009	The Annual 2010	John Course, The Aston Shuffle The Aston Shuffle The Aston Shuffle are a house music duo from Canberra, Australia. They are made up of Disc jockey and electronic music producers Mikah Freeman and Vance Musgrove...  & Goodwill
2010	The Annual 2011	Hook N Sling & Tommy Trash
2011	The Annual 10 Years	John Course & Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix is an internationally known, Sydney based Australian DJ who is seen as a significant figure within the Australian dance music scene. He began working as a professional DJ prior to 1993, and has published 26 mix CDs and four original music releases...
2011	The 2012 Annual	Tommy Trash & Tom Piper

Summer releases

Year	Album	DJ(s)
2000	The Summer Annual - Summer 2000	Madison Avenue Madison Avenue (band) Madison Avenue was an Australian house music duo consisting of writer-producer Andy Van Dorsselaer and singer-lyricist Cheyne Coates. Madison Avenue is best known for the song "Don't Call Me Baby", which peaked at number two on the Australian singles charts in 1999.- History :Before joining Madison...  & Sean Quinn
2001	The Summer Annual - Summer 2001	Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix Mark Dynamix is an internationally known, Sydney based Australian DJ who is seen as a significant figure within the Australian dance music scene. He began working as a professional DJ prior to 1993, and has published 26 mix CDs and four original music releases... & Andy Van