Rolling Stone's 500 "Greatest Albums" Part 21 Quiz

Answer: Over

In 1997, "Come On Over" was the third album from Windsor, Ontario, native Eilleen Regina Edwards and it immediately hit a number of high notes, including becoming the best-selling country album of all time and best-selling studio album by a female artist. It topped the country charts in the UK and the USA and was also a number one in Canada and Australia.

Curiously it took 74 weeks for the album to reach the top of the UK Album charts, and was remixed along the way to give it more of a 'pop feel'. Only one track remained the same as the US album version. Worldwide the album sold more than 40 million copies.

Answer: Regal

B.B. King was 39 when he recorded "Live At The Regal" in November 1964 at the Regal Theatre in Chicago. This was a bluesman at the height of his powers. The guitar sound that influenced so many was clear to be heard and was allied to a singing voice that could be powerful and tender in turn.

As Matt Stocks noted on "Classic Rock" in 2014: "B.B. King was a true artiste in every sense of the word, and the introductions and skits around the songs performed put him even further ahead his contemporaries."

Answer: Fever

In 1989, Tom Petty released "Full Moon Fever" as his first solo album after leaving the Heartbreakers. Co-produced by Petty, Jeff Lynne and Mike Campbell, it got to number three on the Billboard 200 and number eight in the UK.

This was seen as an altogether different album from what fans of the Heartbreakers had grown accustomed to. As Chris Jones noted on 'BBC Music' in 2009: "What also marks this as different from previous work was the movement away from harder edged rock, using the production methods of new pal Lynne to coat more introspective songs with lush, multilayered acoustics and keyboards. It also marked the point where Petty knew he was a big enough name to step out sans a band moniker".

Answer: So

In 1986, "So" was the fifth album from Peter Gabriel. It topped the albums charts in the UK and Canada and was a number two in the Billboard 200. The single "Sledgehammer" was a huge international hit. This was Gabriel's breakthrough after his Genesis days and solo LPs that were well appreciated but sold only moderately.

Answer: Rust

Yet another entry on our list for Neil Young, this time "Rust Never Seeps" his 1979 live album (although overdubbed in the studio). It was a number one in New Zealand and hit number one on the Billboard Cash Box Top 100 Albums. It topped out at number 55 in the UK. In 2020, the "Guardian" newspaper listed "Rust Never Sleeps" as the best of 45 Neil Young LPs.

Answer: Access

Daft Punk were the French electronic duo of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter - though they always wore helmets on stage that concealed their faces. "Random Access Memories" was released in 2013 and was the fourth and final original album. It was a world-wide smash hit and it would probably be easier to list the places that the album did not reach number one. Pharrell Williams was a guest vocalist.

There were some varied critical comments, though. Jim Carroll in "The Irish Times" felt the album "never convinces as much as it should" while Will Hodgkinson in "The (London) Times" wrote : "Random Access Memories" is a blend of disco, robotic vocals, soft rock and smooth easy listening that really shouldn't work but does - brilliantly. It captures the melancholic beauty of the nightclub, the feeling that the party must inevitably end, with moments of reflection and a sense of space."

Answer: Blue

In 1994 this was the first album released by the Los Angeles alternative rockers Weezer. It was a respectable debut, reaching number 16 on the Billboard 200 and number 10 in Canada. A single entitled "Buddy Holly" was released on what would have been the rock and roll great's 58th birthday and reached number two on the Billboard alternative airplay chart.

Answer: Splash

Kim Deal set up The Breeders while still a member of The Pixies and in 1993 "Last Splash" was the second album from the new outfit. Described by Stevie Chick at 'BBC Music' as "...a curate's egg of twisted pop, weird art-rock textures and the kind of genius that makes sense to roughly 0.836% of the general populace..." this was a platinum seller. It reached number 33 on the Billboard 200 and number five n the UK albums chart. Chick also believed that "Last Splash" was "every bit the equal to the Pixies' similarly idiosyncratic discography."

The Breeders had several periods of activity from 1989 to 1995, 1996 to 2003, and continuing from 2008.

Answer: Van

In 1978, the self-titled album from alt rockers Van Halen made it to number 19 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than 10 million copies in the US alone.

This was a band built around the genius that was Eddie Van Halen. In a 2020 obituary in the "New York Time", Jon Pareles wrote "Eddie Van Halen played not just fast but hyperfast. He played loud. He was flashy, assertive and explosive, often interrupting one virtuosic display with an even showier screech or run or glissando. As the lead guitarist in Van Halen, he plucked, tapped, strummed, bent, flicked, pinged and scraped his strings, simultaneously supporting his band's lead singers and goading them with manic counterpoint."

Answer: Writing's

Released in 1999, "The Writing's On The Wall" was the second LP from the Houston, Texas girl group Destiny's Child. A couple of hit singles from the album propelled them to the big time and a number five on the Billboard 200. But the band was riven with internal discord and quit in 2005 after 15 years, claiming they wanted to end it all on a high note.