Definition of Bands Trivia Quiz

Answer: Led Zeppelin

The soft metal is a reference to lead (which sounds like "Led") and the balloon to the Zeppelin, a type of airship.

Led Zeppelin arose from the ashes of the band The Yardbirds. They also temporarily took on the name of The Nobs during the 1970 European tour. According to RollingStone magazine, the band's name offended Frau Eva von Zeppelin, a descendant of the aircraft's creator, and the exploding Zeppelin on their first album cover did not help.

Answer: The Doors

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite." This is a quote from William Blake's 1790 book "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell". In turn this provided the title to Aldous Huxley's 1954 autobiography "The Doors of Perception".

American rock group The Doors were inspired by this book as a source for the band's name, according to Jeremy Simmonds "The Encyclopedia of Rock" (2008). In the book Aldous Huxley describes his drug-induced psychedelic experiences. A portal is another name for a door.

Answer: Nirvana

There are several bands with this name. The American rock band, active between 1987 and 1994, settled on Nirvana after such names as Throat Oyster, Skid Row, Pen Cap Chew, Bliss and Ted Ed Fred. A out-of-court settlement was reached with a British band of the same name, which permitted both to continue to use the name. The clue gives one definition of nirvana.

Answer: Foo Fighters

The term 'foo fighters' was used by Allied pilots during the Second World War to describe mysterious aerial phenomena, including unidentified flying objects, seen in the European and Pacific theatres. The origin of the term is attributed to the US 415th Night Fighter Squadron.

The band Foo Fighters was formed by David Grohl, Nirvana's drummer, after Nirvana disbanded in 1994 following the death of Kurt Cobain.

Answer: Iron Maiden

It is not clear whether the iron maiden torture device was mediaeval in origin. The first documented examples are from the 19th century, although related ideas date back to Roman times. An example appears in the 1939 film "The Man in the Iron Mask".

British heavy metal band Iron Maiden was formed in 1975. Success came in the early 1980s with the likes of "The Number of the Beast" album in 1982, which topped the charts in the UK Albums Chart.

Answer: REO Speed Wagon

Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneering automobile manufacturer in the US with the Oldsmobile and REO brands derived from his name. The REO Speed Wagon was a commercial light vehicle built for nearly 40 years from 1915.

The American rock band REO Speedwagon first achieved mainstream success during the 1980s through their 1980 best-selling album "Hi Infidelity" and singles like "Keep On Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling". The vehicle REO was pronounced as a two-syllable word whereas the letters are pronounced individually for the band.

Answer: UB40

The UB40 was a form associated with claiming unemployment benefit in the UK from the 1970s to 1990s, gradually being replaced by a more modern system.

To see what the form looked like, look no further than the 1980 album "Signing Off". British reggae and pop band UB40, formed in Birmingham during 1978, used the UB40 form as the design for the front and back side of this album. Releasing over 50 singles, they achieved chart success with cover versions of "Red Red Wine" (1983), "I've Got You Babe" with Chrissie Hynde (1985), and a renamed "Can't Help Falling in Love" (1993), amongst others.

Answer: The B52s

First developed in 1960 in Illinois, USA, it takes the beehive name from its resemblance to the shape of a traditional beehive. It has also been likened to the nose cone of the Boeing B-52 strategic bomber, hence the alternative name B-52.

In the American new wave band the B-52s (formerly the B-52's and formed in 1976), band members Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson used the hairstyle during the first decade of performing. More recently, the hairstyle was a trademark of British singer Amy Winehouse.

Answer: Depeche Mode

Dépèche Mode was the name of the fashion magazine published in France until 2001. Meaning 'fashion update' or 'fashion news', it typically covered fashion trends, had photoshoots, cultural commentary and interviews.

Sharing the name, British electronic music band Depeche Mode was formed in 1980 although at that time the band was called Composition of Sound, changing to Depeche Mode a few months later.

Answer: R. E. M.

The various sleep states can be split into two types: non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep tends to be more frequent as the night progresses and is the time when vivid dreams occur, with the muscles (usually) temporarily paralysed during this period.

R.E.M. is also the name of an American alternative rock band formed in 1980. Their most successful albums were "Out of Time" (1991) and "Automatic for the People" (1992) with singles like "Losing My Religion" from the 1991 album.