Rolling Stone's 500 "Greatest Albums" Part 41 Quiz

Answer: The Band

Recorded literally in a pink house at Woodstock, New York, this album came after The Band had backed Bob Dylan in sessions that would become "The Basement Tapes". Dylan gave them "I Shall Be Released" and co-wrote two other tracks, but did not play on the recording.

"Music From Big Pink" was released in 1968 as the debut album of The Band. It reached number 30 on the Billboard 200.

Answer: Taylor Swift

When you are noted for your country songs, what better way to surprise listeners than with a new sound that included rock, pop and folk, or so thought Taylor Swift for her fourth album, released in 2012. "Red" went number one with a bullet on the Billboard 200 when it debuted at the top with sales of over one million copies. It was also a number one in Australia, Canada, and the UK.

"Billboard" magazine later wrote that "Red" was Taylor Swift's best album, noting that there were many more great songs than just those selected for release as singles. On the album's first release, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" hit number one on the Hot 100 and "I Knew You Were Trouble" was a number two.

Answer: Lucinda Williams

In 1998, "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road" was the breakthrough album from Lake Charles, Louisiana, native Lucinda Williams. It reached number 65 on the Billboard 200 and number 14 in Canada and won won her a Grammy.

In a retrospective review, "The Austin Chronicle" noted that the album had had a difficult birth. "...its creation featured battles with producers, multiple re-recordings, and the eventual dissolution of Lucinda Williams' longtime road band, anchored by Austin's Gurf Morlix". In an interview with the "Guardian", Williams acknowledged that the album might not have come into being if a British punk label had not "taken a chance": with her songs.

Answer: Metallica

LA heavy metal rockers Metallica released "Master of Puppets" as their third album in 1986. It reached number 29 on the Billboard 200. In 2017, "Rolling Stone" compiled a list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" and placed "Master of Puppets" at number two.

Formed in 1981, Metallica were inspired by the British punk rock explosion. They went on to sell more than 90 million albums. They had been been "instrumental in bringing 'thrash' and 'heavy metal' music genres into the mainstream," Eamon Stack wrote for "BBC Music". He described the album as "hard, fast, rock with substance".

Answer: R.E.M.

In 1992, R.E. M. took "Automatic for the People" to number two on the Billboard 200. It reached number one in the UK.

The album sold 15 million copies and, as John Lusk noted for "BBC Music": "By the time they released this album in 1992, REM had already made the transition from cult college rock band to a rather unlikely stadium act. After the 'shiny happy' pop of their breakthrough 'Out Of Time', the ruminative 'Automatic For the People' turned them into one of the biggest bands on the planet for a while."

Answer: Drake

Toronto, Ontario, rapper and former child actor Aubrey Drake Graham released "Take Care" in 2011. It was his second album and reached number one in Canada and on the Billboard 200 in the USA.

While the sales were good, over four million, and so were many of the reviews, some critics were less impressed. The "Guardian" gave the LP a one-star review "It's mostly condescending to women and consists of self-pitying whinges about expecting sympathy for liking strippers." Alex Macpherson wrote. John McDonnell, for "NME" wrote, though, that this was "an affecting masterpiece."

Answer: The Stooges

The Stooges got together in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 and was formed by James Newell Osterberg and Sam Lay. No extra points for knowing that Osterberg was the birth name of Iggy Pop, but that is something you'll get right the next time you see it asked.

Also known as Iggy and the Stooges, to pigeonhole them you would have to say punk rock or hard rock. "Fun House" was released in 1970 and was their second album. It did not unduly bother the compilers of the charts in any country, but that did not seem to matter. Their place in music history was claimed in other ways. "Classic Rock" called them "America's first punk band". Iggy Pop reminisced: "We wrote the first rock opera. About a mouse. We beat The Who by a couple of years". In the "Guardian" in 2015, Stevie Chick wrote: "Everyone loves the Stooges now, but everyone hated them when they first emerged."

Answer: Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott

In 1997, "Supa Dupa Fly" was the debut album from Portsmouth, Virginia's Melissa Arnette Elliott. It got to number three on the Billboard 2009 and topped the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

It was more than a smash hit, Rosie Swash later wrote for the "Guardian", it "helped set a precedent for experimentalism in hip-hop in the noughties."

Answer: The Jimi Hendrix Experience

In 1967, "Axis: Bold as Love", the second album from the Jimi Hendrix Experience was described as "pure magic" by Rolling Stone magazine. It reached number five in the UK and number three on the Billboard 200.

This was, according to AllMusic, a solid collection of great tunes in which "Hendrix stretched further musically than the first album, but even more so as a songwriter".

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

In 1978, there was some disappointment with "Darkness at the Edge of Town", Bruce Springsteen's fourth album. Some felt it did not match up to the standards of "Born to Run". That said, it did peak at number five on the Billboard 200 and reached number 14 in the UK.

In 2020, NME produced a list of "Every single Bruce Springsteen album ranked in order of greatness" and placed "Darkness..." at number two. Meanwhile, guitar.com believed "After three years of legal wrangling following the breakout success of 'Born To Run', Bruce Springsteen assembled the E Street Band armed with a righteous anger and created a brooding album that saw The Boss find his 'adult voice'".