A CHART-topping release by heavy rockers Iron Maiden has been named the greatest album of the past 60 years.
The group's third LP
The Number Of The Beast topped a month-long 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 ten.
The Fab Four's highest entry was the group's biggest seller, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club, at number three.
Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon - chosen by British Prime Minister David Cameron when he cast a vote - was ranked fifth.
Iron Maiden's loyal fanbase was clearly mobilised in the voting as the band's winning album took more than nine per cent of all the votes.
The Number Of The Beast has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide and features hits such as Run To The Hills.
It also marked the debut of singer Bruce Dickinson, who was delighted by the band's poll success: "We're astonished and delighted to hear The Number of the Beast has been named number one in HMV's Diamond Jubilee survey for the greatest British album.
"Some of the most influential and classic albums from the past 60 years were in the running so it's a testament to our incredibly loyal and ever-supportive fans who voted for us."
Electronic band Depeche Mode were runners-up in the list with Violator.
The 1990s proved to be the most popular decade for music, with 18 albums from the period making the top 60, while the 1970s provided 15.
HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said: "The Queen has presided over the richest period of cultural achievement in our nation's history, so it's only right that her Diamond Jubilee, which also encapsulates 60 years of the official charts, should be a period when we reflect on the greatest British albums and films of the past six decades.''
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
11. Led Zeppelin - IV
12. The Beatles - Rubber Soul
13. The Clash - London Calling
14. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
15. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
16. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
17. Radiohead - OK Computer
18. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
19. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
20. Oasis - Definitely Maybe
