The Smiths' 'The Queen is Dead' Named The Greatest Album Of All Time By NME

Despite disbanding 26 years ago after only four albums, The Smiths have never stopped receiving praise. Now, the band's short career is being said to have produced the greatest album of all time.

NME gave that title to "The Queen is Dead," The Smiths' third album, on its newest list of the 500 best LPs in music history. The British music publication's updated rankings -- the last list came in 2003 and is frequently cited as a compendium of music's greatest releases -- appear in this week's magazine. The Smiths top lauded album by The Beatles, David Bowie, Pixies and Radiohead.

"The Queen is Dead" provided some of the band's most beloved songs, including "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" and "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out." Released in 1986, "Queen" garnered perfect reviews from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Q Magazine. The album peaked at No. 2 on the U.K. Albums Chart and No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified gold a few years after its debut. The Smiths went on to release one more album, 1987's "Strangeways, Here We Come," before their notorious split.

"Queen" appeared at No. 8 on NME's previous list of the greatest albums, while The Stone Roses' self-titled release slotted at No. 1. The new list finds The Beatles' "Revolver," David Bowie's "Hunky Dory," The Strokes' "Is This It" and The Velvet Underground & Nico's eponymous album rounding out the Top 5. Fresh entries include Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black."

The full list is available in this week's NME. Head over to the site to read more about The Smiths' honor as well as how the rankings were determined.

What do you think of The Smith's hefty accolade? Are they deserving of NME's crown? Sound off in the comments below.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post misprinted The Strokes' album title as "This Is It."