Rock and Roll Minimalists: Three Piece Rock Bands Quiz

Answer: Nirvana

Kurt Cobain (guitar) and Krist Novoselic (bass) formed Nirvana in Aberdeen, Washington and it became one of most influential bands in rock history, not only one of the acts responsible for introducing grunge to a waiting world but making alt-rock commercially mainstream.

They released three studio albums whilst Cobain was still alive. Their first album "Bleach" (1989) was released under the Sub Pop label. It was a reasonable seller with 40000 sales, initially based on a national tour and plenty of airplay on college radio. Nevertheless the group were not happy with the lack of promotion by Sub Pop and looked for a major label to buy out their initial contract. At the same time, the two guitarists were dissatisfied with Chad Channing's drumming and after a few short-lived replacements, settled on Washington DC's Dave Grohl (Ex-Scream). It was their second album, "Nevermind" (1991) containing the teen anthem "Feels Like Teen Spirit" that made them reluctant megastars. It has sold over 24 million copies.

The third album "In Utero" was released in 1993 and the band wanted to move away from the musically carefully packaged previous album to create a more "visceral" sound. The band believed they achieved this. The album still sold over 3.5 million copies.

The band toured extensively, including Europe to promote their album but on March 1, 1994 Cobain was found unconscious in his motel room. The tour was cancelled. Cobain went into rehabilitation in the US but discharged himself and went back to Seattle. A few days later, he took his own life.

Answer: ZZ Top

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was Mr Hendrix and two Englishmen, Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass and backing vocals. This was not a soloist out front of a backing band but a cohesive whole. They formed in 1966 and were active until 1969. Mr Hendrix died a short time after, in 1970. Items of note: "Purple Haze", the US National Anthem played as a closer at Woodstock, "Foxy Lady" and an upside down guitar played with the left hand.

Regarded as the first supergroup because all the musicians were from previously well known bands, Cream comprised blues guitarist Eric Clapton, ex-Manfred Mann bassist Jack Bruce and jazz drummer Ginger Baker. Their best known song was "Sunshine of Your Love". They formed in 1966 and lasted three albums before breaking up in 1968 due to in-fighting between Baker and Bruce. Clapton and Baker went on to form Blind Faith with Steve Winwood.

Grand Funk Railroad were a power trio from Flint, Michigan (their name is a play on the railroad company that bisects their city) that formed in 1969 and had a major hit with "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)" in 1970. Five successful albums followed but they became a quartet later in the early part of their career career in 1972 when they added a keyboard player. They disbanded (for the first time in 1976) but have reformed at least twice since then.

ZZ Top also formed in 1969 and released their first album in 1971. However it wasn't until their third album, "Tres Hombres" that they had a successful release. The album reached number eight on the US Billboard Albums Chart. Their single off the album, "La Grange" was their best to date reaching number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. Best known for their "boogie sound" and their full chest length beards (but not on the drummer, the ironically named Frank Beard). In 2012, they recorded their 15th album and in 2015, completed a national US tour.

Answer: Emerson Lake and Palmer

Emerson, Lake and Palmer were a progressive rock band that embraced classical music roots and rejected the guitar for keyboards (which included multi-layered synthesizers). Often criticised for the "ostentatious" music it wasn't until "Fanfare for the Common Man" became a hit in 1977, that the musical world paid them the respect they deserved despite the fact of the song being a cover of Aaron Copeland's 1942 song of the same name. Interestingly, when Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett left Genesis, leaving a rock trio with symphonic leanings, this group received no criticism of "ostentation" perhaps because Mike Rutherford covered both bass and guitar, with the guitar sharing the spotlight with Tony Bank's keyboards. Also the five minute solo, a feature of prog rock, was not evident in the new slimmed down Genesis. Songs became much more mainstream such as "Follow You, Follow Me" from the album "...And The There Were Three" in 1978.

The Doors were an American four piece with a dedicated vocalist. However they were one of the few rock bands that did not a have a bass guitarist but covered the "bottom end" with keyboards when playing live, but they took a session bass player into the recording studio with them.

Yes and 10cc were both British rock bands with featured keyboards, but only Yes could be categorised as progressive rock. Besides 10cc were a quartet and Yes were mainly a quintet.

Answer: The Police

All four of these bands were in their prime in the late 70s/early 80s though Styx formed in Chicago and The Jam from Surrey, England, a little earlier in 1972.
The Police formed in London in 1977. With the exception of their first album, which only reached number six, their remaining five albums all went to number one in the UK. The last, "Synchronicity" (1983) sold over eight million albums in the US. (Together their albums sales total over 75 million). The song, "Every Breath You Take" (the lyrics are quoted in the question) was one of the most popular singles of all time and certainly the biggest selling single of 1983 on both sides of the Atlantic. Sting, the lead singer, played bass in this band.

The Jam were a British punk band but they eschewed grubby clothes that were the punk uniform, traded them for suits and tried to create a "mod revival" look that transferred into their music. One of their UK number ones, "That's Entertainment" was typical of their musical sound.

U2 were a four piece Irish rock band but had the luxury of a dedicated vocalist. Their instruments matched a three piece band.

Styx were an American five piece hard rock band, but notable for power ballad hits that did not reflect their generally heavier sound.

Answer: The Violent Femmes

In Toronto in 1968, Rush formed but bassist and lead singer Geddy Lee did not join straight away. Alex Lifeson (the only lifelong member) asked his old school-friend to join after the original bassist left. The "classic" line up was complete when Neil Peart became the drummer in 1974. They released their first album shortly after. They started as a blues rock band with obvious Led Zeppelin influences, progressed to prog-rock (Lee also plays keyboards, often simultaneously with his bass) then back to hard rock. Lee has received criticism for his vocal style but received much praise for his bass playing influencing Les Claypool of Primus and Cliff Burton of Metallica among others. Rush released their twentieth studio album in 2012.

Motorhead formed in 1975 after Hawkwind sacked Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister for drug use. Lemmy formed motorhead (always un-capitalised and with an umlaut over the second "o"), a three piece heavy rock act with Kilmister on lead vocals and bass as well as being the main songwriter. The group has inspired many thrash metal and speed metal bands but Mr Kilmister insisted he played only loud rock and roll. After a forty year career and 23 studio albums, Lenny died suddenly in 2015, aged 70. The other two members declined to continue as motorhead.

Primus (original name Primate) were formed in the San Francisco region in 1984. Band leader and songwriter, Les Claypool, played bass and sang lead. The trio played a unique brand of rock that is hard to classify but most labels were similar to "thrash-funk" or "funk metal". "Alternative Press" magazine stated "The band have been credited as an influence to the nu-metal genre". Korn and Limp Biskit credit Primus as influences in their own bands' music. Primus' lyrics are often interlaced with irreverent humour which has caused concern. They have been nominated for Grammy awards. They released their first album "Frizzle Fry" in 1990 and in 2014 released their eighth studio album, "Primus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble".

The Violent Femmes were a punk rock trio from Milwaukee and formed in 1981. They formed a "traditional" three piece rock act of guitar, bass, drums with the guitarist Gordon Gano singing lead. While they sold over nine million records soon after their ninth studio album was released in 2016, they were most well-known for their 1983 self-titled album which sold over three million copies and featured their best known song "Blister in the Sun".

Honourable Mention: Concrete Blonde, a L.A. three piece not only had a female bassist but she sang lead as well. Johnette Napolitano formed Concrete Blonde in 1986. Blessed with a distinct vocal style, the group are best known for their 1990 hit "Joey".

Answer: Silverchair

Siverchair were a three piece Australian rock bank that formed in 1992 in Newcastle, Australia. They won a national talent competition which resulted in a recording contract. The resulting album, "Frogstomp" reached number one in Australia and the top ten on the US Billboard Albums Chart. The three musicians were all fifteen at the time. Before they ceased as a band in 2011, they had recorded five albums, three of which had won Australian Album of the Year. In fact when they stopped performing in 2011, they had won 21 Australian Recording Industries Association Awards from 49 nominations. This was a record at that time. Their music started as grunge, then matured into alt-rock.

Semisonic were a three piece Minneapolis rock band active between 1995 and 2001 and best known for their 1995 singles "Closing Time" and "Secret Smile".

Presidents of the United States of America were a three piece rock band formed in Seattle in 1993. The two guitarists have unusual instruments. The guitar has two bass strings and the bass has three guitar strings, both guitarists sing. Best known for their hits "Lump" (1995) and "Peaches" (1996), they released their sixth studio and first live albums in 2014.

Despite an American sounding name, The Subways were a three piece punk rock band from England. Featuring Christine Cooper on bass, she shared vocals with guitarist Billy Lunn. (The group is actually named after an underpass (subway) underneath the main road in their town in England). Having had several minor hits in their own country they were best known in the US for their 2008 hit, "Rock and Roll Queen".

Honourable mention. New Orleans' Better than Ezra. Couldn't find a way to fit this three piece into this question. Check out "Good" on Youtube.

Answer: The Offspring

Blink-182 (formerly Blink) were a pop-punk trio from San Diego. Formed in 1993 as a punk band, they hit the mainstream in 2000 with their third album "Enema of the State". Often dismissed as a lightweight band because of toilet humour lyrics, this album made the world take notice. Of particular importance was "Adam's Song", a song about depression and suicide. This was a brave attempt at a serious subject with their often criticised music, not evident here. Guitarist De Longe plays notes through the verses while bassist Hoppus plays chords and sings. On the crescendo-like chorus, the instruments swap over. Barker's drumming is exceptional. Blink-182 came of age and influenced a new generation of pop-punk bands.

Placebo are an alternative rock band formed in London in 1994 by guitarist Brian Molko and guitarist-bassist Stefan Olsdal. Thought at first to be a glam rock group, the groups lyrical themes of recreational drug use and LGBT themes perhaps put them in the Goth Rock sub-genre, certainly too dark to be called pop-punk. Whilst big in Europe especially around the turn of the millennium, they struggled to find acceptance in the US with their only hit on both sides of the Atlantic being, 1999's "Every You Every Me".

Green Day formed in 1986 when Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt, both 14, met at school near San Francisco and formed a band with drummer John Kiffmeyer, who was replaced by Tre Cool in 1990 before their second album was recorded. Since 1999 Green Day have had a second guitarist, Jason White, who toured with the band. In 2012, he was made an official member of the band before reverting to a touring member in 2016. Green Day are a pop-punk band that have sold over 75 million records and won a swag of Grammy Awards. Best known song: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

The Offspring were a four piece pop-punk band from Huntington Beach California that formed in 1984. One of the most influential punk bands along with Rancid and Green Day, they have sold over forty million records.

Honorable mention: Husker Du were a Saint Paul, Minnesota three piece punk band active from 1978-1988. Over the decade they were playing, they progressed from hardcore punk through to a more accessible alt-rock format. They influenced all four bands mentioned above. Not convinced? Play Green Day's cover of Husker Du's "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely".

Answer: Muse

Muse were a British rock trio formed in 1994. Based on the classic guitar, bass, drums combo with the guitarist handling lead vocals, Muse also utilised synthesizers achieved through using touch-screen controllers, to manipulate a variety of synthesizers and pedals with digital effects. This achieved a "Stadium Rock" sound. Couple this with Matt Bellamy's distinctive vocal style featuring vibrato and falsetto phrasing (a la Jeff Buckley) and elements of prog-rock, rock operas, art rock and even classical music, they bang a out a big sound for three musicians. "Pitchfork" magazine described their songs as "full-stacked guitars and thunderous drums to evoke God's footsteps."
Muse won their second Grammy for Best Rock Album in 2016 for "Drones" after their first in 2011 for "The Resistance".

Bend Folds Five are a trio from North Carolina, formed in 1993. Ben Fold plays keyboards. There is no guitarist in the band. Best known for the mainstream hit "Brick" in 1997.

Love and Rockets was a British rock trio with added synthesizers to make a "big" sound. They had five successful albums in the UK from 1985 - 1992 but did not become well known in the States until "So Alive" was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dinosaur Jr, were a Massachusetts alt-rock trio that had classic rock influences overlaying a fuzzed punk sound. With distinctive droning lyrics, the sound they created was unique.

Answer: Them Crooked Vultures

In 2005, Dave Grohl mused about a collaboration between himself, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones to form a supergroup. The only problem was that he had not talked to John Paul Jones at that time. Homme and Grohl had previously worked together on Homme's Queens of the Stone Age's 2002 album "Songs for the Deaf", where Grohl was the drummer. The supergroup convened and played their first gig in Chicago in August 2009 with an 80 minute set of original material. A world tour followed with their inaugural single "New Fang" released in October and the album of the same name released in November in the same year. The album debuted at number twelve on the US Billboard 200 but peaked in the top five in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, reaching gold record status in each of these countries. While the group are a trio, they have a fourth member, Alain Johannes as an additional guitarist when touring.

Triumph were a 70s/80s hard rock trio from Toronto.
Oysterhead were a short lived (2001) funk metal band of Les Claypool of Primus, guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish and drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police, two of whom come from three man rock groups themselves.

Answer: Geddy Lee, Eric Clapton and Stewart Copeland

The members of each group would be:
Rush - Lee (bass), Lifeson (guitar), Peart (Drums [since 1974])
Cream - Bruce (B), Clapton (G), Baker (D)
The Police - Sting (B), Summers (G), Copeland (D).
The only combination that would cover all three instruments would be Lee, Clapton and Copeland. This also would give this group two singers in Mr Lee and Mr Clapton (though Mr Clapton did not sing much when in Cream).
All other combinations listed only cover a single instrument (but I would pay good money to see any act that contained Mr Lee, Mr Bruce and Sting in a single group).
If you picked the "Drummers" option you would not have a vocalist either.