There Ain't Half Been Some Great Albums: C Quiz

Answer: Yes

"Close to the Edge" was English progressive rock group Yes's fifth studio album and one of their most successful, both critically and commercially. The whole of side one is taken up by the title track, which is split up into four parts. On side two, you've got "And You and I", and "Siberian Khatru". Unusually for a song of its length (over ten minutes), "And You and I" was released as a single, albeit just the first two parts. Even more surprisingly, this butchered, single version did reasonably well.

The title "Close to the Edge" was rather prophetic and the follow-up album, "Tales from Topographic Oceans" went right over the edge into a sea of voluptuary nonsense.

Answer: The Carpenters

"Close to You" was the second Carpenters' album, and their first success. The debut album had been released as "Offering" in 1969 but flopped. Following the breakthrough success of "Close to You", "Offering" was repackaged and retitled as "Ticket to Ride".

The albums (semi-)title track "(They Long to Be) Close to You" was the big hit and one of the group's signature tunes. It had already been recorded several times prior to the Carpenters' version, including once by its co-author, Burt Bacharach, in 1968.

"Close to You" is a great easy listening pop album. Both Karen and Richard just oozed talent and managed to bring even the lesser songs alive.

Answer: Entombed

Entombed's debut opus, "Left Hand Path", had introduced many metalheads to the so-called buzzsaw guitar sound, and on "Clandestine" their reputation as the (arguably) number one Swedish death metal band of the day was consolidated. The buzzsaw guitar sound had actually originated in a group called Nihilist and a guitarist called Leffe Cuzner. When Nihilist split up in 1989, Entombed and Unleashed both rose from the ashes, and both bands had that unmistakable guitar sound.

Entombed must have thought they had taken the Swedish death metal sound as far as it could go on "Clandestine" because by the following album, "Wolverine Blues" (1993), they had moved onto something which became known as death 'n' roll.

Answer: Beastie Boys

The trio of ne'er-do-wells known as the Beastie Boys had burst onto the mainstream music scene in 1986 with "Licensed to Ill" but to a certain extent picked up the tag as a novelty/comedy act. They put that record straight on the second album, "Paul's Boutique", and then got the balance just right on the third.

"Paul's Boutique" is probably a greater serious musical achievement thanks to its range and depth, but "Check Your Head" is a lot more fun. It's also a lot punkier, something the band would take even further on the fourth album "Ill Communication". "Ill Communication" was even more wide ranging in its ingestion and regurgitation of so many musical styles, but for me "Check Your Head" remains the classic Beastie Boys' album.

Answer: Pixies

"Come On Pilgrim" was the Pixies' debut album, albeit a mini-album. Incredibly, the tracks were actually recorded as a demo tape and simply remixed for release on vinyl. The reason seems to be the perception (of the record label 4AD) that so many bands fail to capture the excitement evident on their demos when they get a record deal, so why bother? Most of the remaining songs from the demo, known as "The Purple Tape", also surfaced on later Pixies releases.

"Come On Pilgrim" is so different from anything that had come previously. The Pixies get shoved in the feckless category of Alternative Rock, which I suppose just means the "nobody knows what this is" category. They have always been categorized as Awkward Rock in my head.

Answer: Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band

"Clear Spot" was Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's seventh studio album. It came after the equally brilliant "Spotlight Kid", and before the less inspired "Unconditionally Guaranteed".

Captain Beefheart's recording career is characterized by an apparent struggle between making avant-garde experimental music, and stuff people would want to buy. I'm not sure he ever resolved this dilemma, and in fact gave up and led the life of a reclusive painter for the last twenty-eight years of his life. Nevertheless, on occasion it really came off when he managed to make avant-garde music within the realms of popular music, and "Clear Spot" is one of those.

Putting on any Captain Beefheart album (yes, even "Bluejeans & Moonbeams") makes me a happy lad, he's so much fun. Putting "Clear Spot" on sends me straight to seventh heaven.

Answer: The Wailers

"Catch a Fire" was The Wailers fifth studio album. It's generally considered the album that brought the group to the mainstream listening public's attention and took them, or at least the group's front man Bob Marley, towards international stardom.

The album's opening track "Concrete Jungle" was as good an opener as you'll find on vinyl. The sound is so sharp but equally warm it cuts through time and space like a knife. The attitude coming through is equally cutting and the lyrics are overtly political but much less blatantly than on later Bob Marley and the Wailers' tracks. I reckon they are all the more potent for that reason.

The album goes through an array of emotions, some great fun songs, some darker, some brooding. Fantastic all the way through.

Answer: Joy Division

"Closer" was Joy Division's second album. It is a more sophisticated affair than the group's punky debut album from the previous year. Apparently much of "Closer" was written in the studio since they had put all their live set on the first album. The group's most successful single, "Love Will Tear Us Apart", wasn't on the album, which didn't produce any singles.

By the time the album came out in July 1980 the group's lead singer, Ian Curtis, had killed himself. The rest of the band went on to become the much more mainstream New Order.

Answer: Melt-Banana

"Charlie" was Melt-Banana's third album, and marked a turn towards slightly (and I mean slightly) more accessible material. It's still all pretty much played at breakneck speed, but there is a hint of the pop sensibility that would become more apparent on later releases.

Melt-Banana were formed in Tokyo in 1991 by vocalist Yasuko Onuki. She soon hooked up with guitarist Ichirou Agata who became the only other mainstay. The group's sound revolves around Agata's bizarre OTT guitar work, and Onuki's equally unusual approach to vocals. The former is characterized by a harsh, highly-distorted sound completely lacking in the usual warmth we expect from a guitar. The latter is a frenzied almost hysterical yipping and screeching. Apparently Onuki delivers all of this in English but you'd never guess. If that sounds like your bag, I recommend "Charlie" or any other Melt-Banana releases.

Answer: Rush

"Caress of Steel" continued Rush's shift in style from the straight-ahead rock approach of their eponymous debut to the more elaborate, complex song structures which had been introduced on the second album, "Fly by Night". Indeed, the whole of side two of "Caress of Steel" is taken up by "The Fountain of Lamneth" which lasts almost twenty minutes and is split up into six parts. Pure joy to fans of the genre, a self-indulgent nightmare for lovers of the traditional short and sharp pop song.

"Caress of Steel" was a commercial flop at the time of its release and has always been somewhat overlooked and underrated, even by Rush fans. Apparently the group fell foul of the record company bosses who urged them to do something more mainstream on the follow-up, but our heroes stuck to their guns and came up with the classic "2112" in 1976.