Rolling Stone's 500 "Greatest Albums" Part 11 Quiz

Answer: Beat

Hailed by some critics as a new wave classic, this was the debut album from the California punk rockers. Writing in "The New York Times", Lindsay Zoladz said it had made history. "It became the first record by an all-female group who wrote its own songs and played its own instruments to hit Number One on the Billboard album chart."

The single "We Got The Beat" picked up a lot of playtime in Europe and was a number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Smile

Also known as "Brian Wilson Presents Smile", this album took almost 40 years to complete. It began in 1967 as a Beach Boys project but was not finished until 2004. None of the original Beach Boys sessions were used - many had been lost in the intervening years.

By 1966/67, Wilson was in total control of the Beach Boys recordings. Most of the others were confined to vocals while he brought in his own session men - the infamous Wrecking Crew. But just as Wilson was preparing what was to be "Smile", The Beatles came up with "Sergeant Pepper" and the moment had passed. Wilson gradually withdrew from the music scene and it was not until the late 1990s that he returned. "Smile" emerged as a concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 2004 and the album came later.

Answer: Raincoats

The Raincoats were the post-punk duo of Gina Birch and Ana da Silva who released their eponymous debut album in 1979. They later admitted they really did not know what they were doing at the time so created a sound that was their own.

The album received good critical reviews and Kurt Cobain named it as one of his favourite albums. It reached number five on the UK Indie Charts. After The Raincoats stopped performing in the mid 1980s, Cobain helped get them back on the scene again.

Answer: Asleep

Released in 2019, this was the debut studio album from Billy Eilish. She was aged 17 at the time and previously had uploaded her own songs to the internet. The new album went straight onto the Billboard 200 at number one and was also a number one in the UK and in eight other countries. The single "Bad Guy" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Writing in the :Guardian" in 2019, Tara Joshi called it "...an entrancing, off-kilter album that luxuriates in youthful imagination, longing and darkness, yet doesn't take itself too seriously."

Answer: Anything

On this 1972 double album, Rundgren played most of the instruments himself. Rundgren was the product of the 1960s Philadelphia garage band scene. In 1967 his band Nazz supported The Doors. In 1969 he moved to New York City to produce records.

After his first two LPs failed to make much of a showing on the charts, "Something/Anything?" came. Number 29 on the Billboard 200. It was to be his highest placing. The single "Hello It's Me" rose to number five on the Hot 100. This had been the first song he had written and was re-recorded for the "Something/Anything?" album.

Rundgren was regarded as something of a maverick and one who did not court chart success, preferring to make his own way and produce the kind of records he wanted to.

Answer: Messiah

"Black Messiah" gave D'Angelo (Michael Eugene Archer) and the Vanguard a number five on the Billboard 200. Usually classified in the genus of neo soul, R&B, and progressive soul, D'Angelo was a singer multi-instrumentalist and producer.

His breakthrough album was "Brown Sugar" in 1995 and the second, "Voodoo" went straight into the Hot 100 at number one in 2000. After that D'Angelo went absent without leave for 14 years before "Black Messiah" was released. It was worth waiting for and won a Grammy, as well as reaching number five on the Billboard 200.

Answer: Diana

After its release in 1979, "Diana" became the largest-selling LP of her career for Diana Ross. It reached number two on the Billboard 200. The single "Upside Down" reached the top of the Hot 100.

Diana Ross, with or without The Supremes, was among the best-selling Motown artists ever. Together there had 12 number ones on the Hot 100; as a solo artists, Ross topped the Hot 100 six times. The Detroit-born Diane Earle was noted not just as a singer but also as an actor. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Billie Holiday in "Lady Sings The Blues" in 1972.

Answer: 1989

Released in 2014, "1989" was the fifth album from Taylor Swift. It reached the top ten in numerous countries world-wide. It was the fourth of eight successive long players to reach number one on the Billboard 200. Worldwide sales topped 10 million. In the UK, "New Musical Express" (NME) hailed this as Swift's "radical reinvention".

Answer: Proud

As a career summation, "Proud Mary: The Best of Ike and Tina Turner" had its limitations: it featured songs from the beginning and end of their career together, but little from the middle period. The tracks reflected the power of their singing. Few have bettered "Nutbush City Limits" (which Tina wrote) or "River Deep, Mountain High".

It is fascinating to note for all the admiration that was shown, and their television shows, the duo had just one US hit LP: "Workin' Together", which was a number three on the Billboard R&B charts. It spawned their cover of John Fogarty's "Proud Mary", which reached number four on the Hot 100.

While they presented a harmonious public relationship, all was not well in the marriage of Ike and Tina. This was explored in the 1993 movie "What's Love Got to Do with It?".

Answer: Kaleidoscope

"Kaleidoscope" was the debut album from the precocious 20-year-old Kelis. It brought together her singing with the production team of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. "This marriage of the two creative forces forged an album that rewrote the RnB rulebook," Daryl Ealsea wrote on "BBC Music".

Sales, though, did not match up to the enthusiasm of the critics. It reached just number 23 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and number seven on the UK R&B Albums charts.