Met with widespread critical acclaim, it was voted the greatest album of all time by Q Magazine readers barely months after its release.
In November and December, three consecutive number ones all sold over a million, for only the third time in UK chart history (it had previously happened in 1984 and 1995/6).
These were Aqua's "Barbie Girl", the Children in Need charity single "Perfect Day", and "Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!
In addition, All Saints' "Never Ever" was released in November and also sold over a million, though it wouldn't reach number one until January 1998.
In November, The Prodigy released "Smack My Bitch Up", which received huge international media attention, due to the fact that many people believed it to be misogynistic and / or that it promotes violence against women.
Andrew Glover's string quartet The Fickle Virgin of Seventeen Summers was one of several new classical works by British composers.
Others included Geoffrey Burgon's City Adventures, a percussion concerto written for Scottish virtuoso Evelyn Glennie and premièred by her during the 1997 Proms season.
Towards the end of the year, veteran composer Sir Michael Tippett developed pneumonia while visiting Sweden, which would lead to his death early in 1998.