Rolling Stone's 500 "Greatest Albums" Part 23 Quiz

Answer: Rich

In 2003, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" was the first album from 50 Cent. It went to the top of the Billboard 200 and also topped the Canadian charts. It was a number two in the UK. It sold 12 million copies and was the biggest-selling LP of the year.

Curtis James Jackson II was born in Queens, New York City, and was known as a rapper, producer and television producer. The former crack dealer had an eventful life, his mother was murdered when he was eight and he started selling drugs at 12. At the age of 25 he was shot nine times, allegedly over a song he had written.

The album was described by BBC Music as: "...the antithesis to the pop looped chart friendly sound of mainstream hip hop and offers listeners a fresh innovative approach."

Answer: Unplugged

Released in 1994, this was an acoustic set recorded as part of the MTV "Unplugged" series of concerts. It was to reach number one across the world, including the USA, UK, Canada and Australia. To the consternation of the show's producers, Nirvana did not merely play their own hit records, they had wanted to do something different from other artists and included several covers, including one of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold The World". (It was also not a totally acoustic since Kurt Cobain ran his guitar through a concealed amplifier.)

This was to be the last full-length recording session from the band: frontman Cobain died by his own hand a few months later.

Answer: Holy

In 1973 Jimmy Page produced Led Zeppelin's fifth album, "Houses of the Holy" and it was partly recorded at Mick Jagger's country retreat in England. Page said he had wanted to do something similar to the sessions in which Bob Dylan and The Band recorded their "Basement Tapes". It was to top the charts in the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia.

Incidentally, the song "Houses of the Holy" was not used on this recording. The social media site FaceBook for a time banned use of the image on the album's cover. In a 2013 readers' poll, "Rolling Stone" ranked this fourth out of Zeppelin's top ten albums.

Answer: Diary

In 2003, "The Diary of Alicia Keys" was the second long player from New York City's Alicia Augello Cook. It went to number one on the Billboard 200 and topped the UK R&B charts. It won a Grammy for Best R&B Record.

Answer: Bends

Radiohead were probably the second most famous thing to come out of the town of Abingdon, Oxfordshire - after the MG motor cars that were made there for many years. (Or maybe the third if you count Old Speckled Hen ale.)

"The Bends" was the second album from the quintet and was released in 1995. It reached number five on the UK album charts. "New Musical Express" described it "...as a fraught, compassionate, violently disturbed rock classic...".

Answer: Curtis

In 1970 Curtis Mayfield recorded and produced "Curtis" as his debut. He also wrote all the songs. The album was a number one on the US R&B charts.

Mayfield was a native of Chicago, Illinois, and was at the forefront of soul music in the Windy City in the 1960s and 1970s both as a solo artist and lead singer with the Impressions from 1958. He was an innovative guitarist and his style was quickly copied. His songs were to be recorded by many others. "Encyclopaedia Britannica" noted: "Mayfield played a crucial role in transforming black popular music into a voice for social concern during the struggle for civil rights."

Answer: Rodeo

"...no major band had gone so deep into the sound and feeling of classic country (without parody or condescension) as the Byrds did on Sweetheart...", Mark Deming wrote on AllMusic. "...the Byrds dared to declare that C&W could be hip, cool, and heartfelt," he added. Part of that may have been through the influence of Gram Parsons who had just joined and was steeped in country music lore.

Released in 1968, this was the fifth album for The Byrds, but was not a commercial success. In 2018, "Ranker" rated this the fourth best Byrds album. In a list of "The Best Byrds Albums of All Time", their number one was "Younger Than Yesterday".

Answer: Entertainment!

In 1979, "Entertainment!" was the debut album from English post-punkers Gang of Four. It reached number 45 on the UK album charts. The 1970s were a time of turmoil and change in Great Britain, and not just through the rise of punk music. Leeds University, home of the Gang of Four, had not just punk bands but openly Nazi punk bands. On the other hand were left wing bands like Gang of Four. Pitched battles ensued at the venue. There was "terrible violence", Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill later said.

Alexis Petridis wrote in the "Guardian" in 2020: "'Entertainment!' sounded completely fresh, unshackled from the past: dedicated to subverting standard rock formulae, they somehow managed to come up with music that rocked."

Answer: Light

Formed in 1964 in New York City, with Lou Reed and John Cale at the helm the Velvet Underground unveiled a sound and a vision that influenced many others. Andy Warhol saw them play at Greenwich Village and became their manager. "White Light/White Heat" was the second LP, and the last with Cale on board. It just crept into the Billboard 200 at number 199.

ABC News judged that there were few bands as influential as Velvet Underground, although John Cale said in another ABC interview "We were hated, pretty much". That may have been because the band was at odds with the hippy, happy love culture of the time. Cale added: "We hated the summer of love with a vengeance. Apart from all the flower children and everything else, it was just silly. Woodstock, we were happy they ended up in the mud. Serves them right."

Answer: 411

Hailing from The Bronx, New York City, Mary J, Blige released her first album, ""What's the 411?", in 1992. It reached number six on the Billboard 200. Writing for BBC Music, David O'Donnell said: "'What's The 411?' is, arguably, one of the most important albums of the nineties.

Not only did it signal the arrival of the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, but it also broke every rule in the book, fusing hip hop beats with R&B melodies." In informal conversation 411, or 4-1-1 means rumour or gossip.