We have chosen the most passionate, perceptive and persuasive entries for each album, which you can read by clicking on the links below.

On the basis of which argument convinces you the most, vote for which album you would most like to see win the Mercury Music Prize on 5 September.

Muse:
Black Holes and Revelations

Zoe Rahman:
Melting Pot

Lou Rhodes:
Beloved One

Scritti Politti::
White Bread, Black Beer

Sway:
This Is My Demo

Thom Yorke:
The Eraser

A cornucopia of the best qualities of previous Mercury prize-winners wrapped in a well-honed style, tied with a ribbon of intellectual creativity and decorated with a Mobius strip of originality.

Muse provide a more convincing and sustainable falsetto than Anthony Hegarty, more cleverly-crafted rock hooks than Franz Ferdinand, a unique fusion of musical styles that would have Dizzee Rascal and Talvin Singh scratching their heads in disbelief.

Orchestration that would entice Badly Drawn Boy's string section to migrate and a singer with more power and charisma than PJ Harvey and Jarvis Cocker combined.

Their unique category-defying brand means there's something for all - fans of rock (Supermassive Black Hole), metal (Assassin), cleverly-crafted pop (Starlight), dance (Map of the Problematique), jazz syncopation (Invincible), Queen-esque tongue-in-cheek harmony (Soldier's Poem), romantic piano (Hoodoo), mariachi bands (City of Delusion) and spaghetti Westerns (Knights of Cydonia).

It's also a Pink Floyd-esque, conceptual, era-defining album with intelligent lyrics reacting to our 24/7 post-7/7 dis-United Kingdom that defies desecration by shuffle play.

It's the only album I can listen to from start to finish without reaching for the stop button through repetition-induced boredom.

Zoe Rahman is way cool and making jazz hip for younger listeners as opposed to a museum piece.

Her first CD was a regular on our home stereo and the new one expands her horizons.

She definitely deserves wider recognition, which the Mercury nomination is already providing. On top of all that, she has the most impressive hair in the jazz business.

Lou Rhodes' Beloved One is a glorious, understated album from an incredibly talented singer-songwriter.

There's more than a little of the faerie queen about Rhodes - she has a remarkable voice which is sensual and husky but never sounds saccharine.

She is also a great lyricist who paints intensely personal pictures, from the wistful No Rerun which uses Chinese violins to great effect, to the more syncopated percussion-rich title track.

Rhodes has gathered a group of offbeat, talented musicians who perfectly complement her unique talent.

Tender, haunting and funky, it's contemporary British music at its very best.

Apart from the fact Green Gartside is an older statesman of popular music behind some of the greatest records since 1978, I think White Bread, Black Beer should win as it is very now.

The contemporary home-production employed nods to cutting edge R&B on several tracks - the Sugababes could have a hit with Petrococadollar or The Boom Boom Bap.

Green has opted to make the most eclectic album of his career - the diverse blend of genres seem to sum up the similarly diverse approach of the Mercury over the years.

He nods to an early love of folk music, while alluding to hip-hop and reggae that have influenced previous records.

Most shocking of all is an all-out drift into psychedelia with Dr Abernathy - a song Oasis would lightly maim for!

Green has returned from the wilderness, returned to Rough Trade and made an album seemingly out of a love of music.

This album deserves success and serves as a model for anyone interested in great pop music. It's not a work of 80s nostalgia and shows that a 50-year-old can make the sweetest pop.

And wouldn't it be nice for an older nominee to win?

This provides the most convincing argument yet that UK hip-hop is finally making it into the big time.

Stepping out of the shadows of his US peers, Sway Dasafo's lucid and witty tales of street life impart a uniquely British slant on a distinctly US-dominated genre.

This Is My Demo is an energetic, refreshing release which deserves recognition not merely on its own musical merits but for the contribution it makes to UK hip-hop and the impact it has had on the scene.

Sway's tongue-in-cheek lyrics are perfectly matched by his own slick production to sonically encapsulate the diverse subject matter this record contends with in a way that few have achieved before.

I believe this album should be recognised as the beginning of a new era in UK hip-hop.

It demonstrates beyond question that British rap artists can achieve success without mimicking their US predecessors - a feat which anyone in the business cannot afford to overlook.

Many a talent has been lost when going on solo projects, but this is triumphant.

It oozes Radiohead's best qualities, but this is only the beginning of this album as suddenly it hits you how he has manipulated this sound into something profoundly amicable.

It is accessible and complicated, beautiful and scary, soulful and inspiring - an oxymoronic overdose.

These are the hymns of the twentysomethings, the hymns of the Douglas Coupland Generation X.

All Hail King Thom - but next time bring the others, because I miss them!