Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden performing at the Reading Festival

Iron Maiden best album and Trainspotting best film in Diamond Jubilee polls

Monday, May 28, 2012
8:40 AM

A chart-topping release by heavy rockers Iron Maiden has been named the greatest album of the past 60 years, while drugs drama Trainspotting has topped a list of best British movies.

Iron Maiden’s third LP The Number Of The Beast topped a month-long HMV Diamond Jubilee poll to find the greatest releases during the Queen’s reign.

The ever-popular Beatles claimed more than a fifth of the votes in the survey by retailer HMV with four titles in the top 10.

The Fab Four’s highest entry was the group’s biggest seller, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club, at number three.

Adele’s 21 is the only album which is still in the current official UK chart top ten to make it into the upper reaches of the list.

Meanwhile, Trainspotting has been named the best British film of the past six decades.

The movie - starring Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle - triumphed over Monty Python And The Holy Graill, while another Python comedy Life Of Brian was ranked fourth.

A pair of Harry Potter films made the top 10, as did two movies by the late British-based US director Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Appropriately in the Diamond Jubilee year, the multiple Oscar-winning film The King’s Speech, which starred Colin Firth as the Queen’s father King George VI, featured in the top 10.

More than 30,000 votes were cast using social media.

Top 10 British albums:

1. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast

2. Depeche Mode - Violator

3. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

4. The Beatles - Abbey Road

5. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon

6. The Beatles - Revolver

7. Queen - A Night at the Opera

8. Oasis - (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

9. Adele - 21

10. The Beatles - White Album