Rolling Stone's 500 "Greatest Albums" Part 44 Quiz

Answer: N.W.A.

As debut album go, this was an important one, launching the careers of Ice Cube, Eazy-E, and Dr. Dre. They called it "reality rap", the media called it "gangsta rap". While it created a stir in many places in the USA, the FBI was not as impressed by one track, warning that it "encourages violence against and disrespect for the law enforcement office".

In 1989, the album reached number nine on the Billboard Top Soul LPs chart. In 2015, with the release of a movie of the same name, it returned to the charts, hitting number six on the Billboard 200 and number six in the UK. It was a number eight in Australia.

Maxine Headley, writing for 'BBC Music', said that on its release "'Straight Outta Compton' compelled the mainstream audience to see the hostile, underprivileged side to American living."

Answer: Alanis Morisette

In 1995, "Jagged Little Pill" was the third LP from Canada's Alanis Morissette. It topped the charts in the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. It was the album that made Morissette a household name and was to be re-released in an acoustic setting in 2005 and in a deluxe edition in 2008. In 2019, it was the basis of a Broadway show.

'Classic Rock Review' hailed "Jagged Little Pill" as "...one of the most indelible albums to emerge from the decade of the 1990s." It went on to sell 33 million copes and won five Grammys.

Answer: Kate Bush

"Hounds of Love" was released in 1985 and was the fifth album from Kate Bush. Some critics maintained it was her best. Certainly it was a commercial success, becoming her best-selling studio album, and hitting number one in the UK and reaching the top 10 in several other countries. It topped out at number 30 on the Billboard 200.

In 2020, writing for 'Far Out' magazine Jack Whatley called it "a timeless masterpiece."

Answer: Jay-Z

In 1996, "Reasonable Doubt" was the debut album from Jay-Z. It reached number 23 on the Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Some came to regard this as the artist's best album. Yemi Abiade, writing for 'The Independent' called it "...a classic LP that offered a screenshot of the hustler mentality that shaped Jay, the man and the rapper." He wrote that rarely had a rapper captured so well "the inner workings of a mind scarred by the crack era that enveloped his Brooklyn neighbourhood and turned young African-American kids into hood entrepreneurs to survive."

In a 2015 article "The 10 Best Rappers of All Time", 'Billboard' magazine placed Jay-Z at number two.

Answer: John Coltrane

Released in 1965, "A Love Supreme" became jazz saxophonist John Coltrane's bestselling album.

Many revered the album. When Nile Rodgers was asked to vote in 2020 for albums in this countdown, he placed "A Love Supreme" at number one. Not everyone agreed; in a review in August 1965 the 'Guardian' called it "An exercise in musical monotony", adding "There are good ideas to be heard floating freely, but it is the poor ones that are pursued to the bitter end and beyond."

Answer: James Brown

The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York City, was the venue at which James Brown and the Famous Flames in 1962 recorded their first live album. The Famous Flames were Brown's vocal group comprising Bobby Byrd, Bobby Bennett, and Lloyd Stallworth. The album reached number two on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. It spent 66 weeks on the chart.

James Brown, the 'Godfather of Soul', was noted for his albums, but those cut in the studio often lacked the intensity or charisma that Brown could convey in stage. 'Writing for 'BBC Music' David O'Donnell said this was "...an album that has gone down in history as one of his best, and perhaps defines him as an artist better than anything he recorded in the studio".

Answer: OutKast

"Stankonia" was the fourth LP from the East Point, Georgia, hiphop duo Andre "Andre 3000" Benjamin and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton and reached number two on the Billboard 200. While classified as hiphop, the album was a crossover success.

According to 'New Musical Express': "The album provided a critical yet playful take on modern America, while also pushing the musical expectations of what a hip-hop album can be - its experimental, rock-heavy and rave influenced sounds on the record inspired a new generation of musicians, from Janelle Monae to Kanye West."

Answer: Steely Dan

The New York State jazz rockers Steely Dan released "Aja" as the sixth long player in 1977. It reached number three on the Billboard 200 and number five on the UK albums chart. (The title track is pronounced "Asia".)

In a retrospective to mark the 40th anniversary of the release, 'Variety' noted it was "still a demarcation point for a great divide among rock listeners." 'Rolling Stone' noted that: "'Aja' will continue to fuel the argument by rock purists that Steely Dan's music is soulless, and by its calculated nature antithetical to what rock should be."

Indeed, Steely Dan continue to divide rock followers for years. Words like "pretentious" and "inauthentic" were used by detractors - who also did not like the fact that the use of session musicians (up to 100 over the years) meant the were not a 'real band'. Others regarded the group's mainstays Walter Becker and Donald Fagan as musical geniuses.

Of the nine studio and one live albums that amassed 40 million sales for Steely Dan, "Aja" was the top seller.

Answer: Guns N' Roses

In 1987, "Appetite for Destruction" was the debut album from Los Angeles hard rockers Guns N'Roses. It went on to top the Billboard 200 and was a top ten hit in Canada, Australia and the UK. Several new and extended releases followed, but in 2018, the band dropped one song, "One In a Million", from a reissue over some of the lyrics.

Selecting "Appetite for Destruction" in a 'Guardian' series of favourite albums, Dafydd Goff wrote: "Raucous and reckless, 'Appetite for Destruction' captured rock'n'roll in its strutting, preposterous glory. And it was dangerous. The pop metal I had been raised on didn't have this level of aggression. The source of all this anger was Axl Rose; mean and misogynist, furious and feral, he spat out tales of LA low life with vituperative flair. Spite had never sounded so compelling, and I was held hostage to its menacing mood."

Answer: Eric B. And Rakim.

Hailing out of Long Island, New York, the hiphop duo of Eric B. & Rakim released "Paid in Full" in 1987. It was their first album together but performed modestly on the charts.

The album was recorded in just a week and at the time, and in retrospect, was favourably reviewed by many critics. Writing for the "Guardian" in 2011, Paul MacInnes called it a "masterpiece".