Devilishly 1990s! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kylie Minogue

"Better the Devil You Know" (go on, belt it out, nobody is watching!) marked Kylie Minogue's successful transition from the 1980s - "I Should Be So Lucky" (1987), "The Loco-Motion" (1988) and "Hand On Your Heart" (1989) - to the 1990s. Despite reaching number one in the UK charts in 1990 with "Tears On My Pillow", Kylie Minogue is perhaps better remembered for her very catchy track "Better the Devil You Know", which despite its legacy only reached number two in the UK.

The Australian singer had her biggest success in 2001 with "Can't Get You Out of My Head", a single that topped charts across the globe.

Answer: Pantera

"Cowboys from Hell" is a 1990 album from the US heavy metal band, Pantera. The album shares its name with the band's first single, a piece of music that sought to demonstrate that heavy metal was not just the preserve of the east and west coasts of the USA but that it can also originate from states such as Texas, the band's home state.

For clarity, the "Cowboys from Hell" single was recorded on December 30th 1989 but was released on the "Cowboys from Hell" album in mid-1990; the single referred to is the 1990 re-release, not the original 1989 recording for the band's demo album.

Answer: Metallica

Metallica's 1997 song "Devil's Dance" - the third track on the album "Reload" - is about temptation and the lyrics allude to "Genesis" (the book of the Bible, not the band!) and Eve's encounter with the serpent in the Garden of Eden:

"Snake // I am the snake // Tempting // That Bite You Take"

Answer: Ozzy Osbourne

"Hellraiser" was released by two different artists, firstly by Ozzy Osbourne in 1991 and later by Motörhead in 1992. The song itself was a collaborative endeavour between Ozzy, Lemmy (Motörhead's lead singer) and Zakk Wylde (Ozzy's lead guitarist). The Motörhead version featured in the soundtrack for the horror film "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth" whilst the Ozzy Osbourne version experienced newly found fame amongst gamers through its inclusion in the playlist of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" in 2004.

Answer: Beck

I like to play about with the rules as much as the next person but "Devils Haircut" - a 1996 single by Beck - leaves me with just a single question: what on Earth has happened to the apostrophe? Wikipedia references a quote from David Sinclair (chief rock critic, "The Times") that "Devils Haircut" is "a typically aberrant mixture of beatbox pop and punk poetry from the gifted Californian oddball". I don't even know what that means; I didn't know that "The Times" has/had a chief rock critic! I am going to stop digging as I am simply overwhelmed...

Answer: Rage Against the Machine

Rage Against the Machine (RATM) and controversy go hand-in-hand and their 1999 single, "Sleep Now in the Fire", is no exception. As the millennium rapidly approached a close, RATM used "Sleep Now in the Fire" to provide social commentary about profits and hiring/firing practices on Wall Street and at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

It was the filming of the video for this track that was the most controversial aspect on this particular occasion, with RATM wanting to film at the NYSE itself. Unsurprisingly, the New York Police Department got roped into this particular dispute.

Answer: Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson

"Beauty and the Beast" is a fantastic Disney film of 1991 with a very memorable soundtrack that includes Angela Lansbury's rendition of the title song. A second version of the song was created for popular release featuring the vocal talents of Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. The song has been butchered many times since by ambitious "wannabe" singers on "Pop Idol", "American Idol" and other such derivative shows.

"Tale as old as time // Song as old as rhyme // Beauty and the Beast"

Answer: Aaliyah feat. Timbaland

"You're hotter than a summer day in California // You got me melting like a sundae and I want ya"

Hmm, great lyrics there, I am sure you will agree. They can be heard in "Hot Like Fire", a 1997 single from Aaliyah feat. Timbaland. The song is not at all memorable and was overshadowed by "The One I Gave My Heart To", another Aaliyah single that was released alongside "Hot Like Fire".

Answer: Megadeth

Nobody could accuse Megadeth of being indirect in terms of the title of their 1991 creation, "Go To Hell". The song features on the band's 1995 extended play (EP) titled "Hidden Treasures" and the lyrics leave you in no doubt about the nature of the song:

"I saw my funeral that day // I know who didn't show to mourn // My judgement was life in Hell, pillars of pain and thorns // My only friend's the goat with 6-6-6 between its horns"

Answer: The Prodigy

As soon as I hear the intro "I'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator...", I drop everything to embrace four minutes of The Prodigy heaven (or hell). Keith Flint's vocals in this hit of 1996 are iconic and contributed to the song reaching the top of the charts in countries such as the UK, Czechia, Hungary and Norway (this genre - electronic dance/techno - is popular across large swathes of continental Europe).