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

Answer: Gene Clark

The first two tracks, "Life's Greatest Fool" and "Silver Raven", on Gene Clark's fourth solo studio album were so firmly within the realms of country rock that what followed was even more surprising. By track three, the title track, Gene had crossed over an imaginary line and gone somewhere both musically and emotionally deep. From the title track onwards it sounded to me like ZZ Top, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and the Americana sisters of the Valkyries had all turned up in the studio to give our Gene the backing group he had always needed in order to open up his soul.

And open up his soul he did. On songs like "Strength of Strings" and "Silver Vial" it was almost like Gene Clark was pouring salt on his wounds in order to express something really important to us. A commercial flop on its release, an absolutely essential album for eternity.

Answer: Roni Size / Reprazent

When "New Forms" won the Mercury Prize in 1997, it was one of those rare moments when innovative music, popularity and critical acclaim meet. It was nevertheless controversial since many assumed Radiohead and their album "OK Computer" were going to walk away with the award.

"New Forms" could be credited with introducing the mass public to drum and bass as a serious genre of music, and what an introduction it was. It was released in many formats, but the most widely distributed was a double CD which clocked in at just under 140 minutes. To my mind, the first disc was what mattered, but that's not to say that the second lagged behind, it just seemed less urgent.

Roni Size went on to produce further excellent stuff with and without Reprazent. In 2008, Roni Size / Reprazent even remade "New Forms", although I could never really work out why.

Answer: Lynyrd Skynyrd

"Nuthin' Fancy", everyone's favourite southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd's third studio album, kicked off with Artimus Pyle counting the lads into the fabulous "Saturday Night Special". The languid tale of treachery, booze and guns was so distant from my world in Yorkshire of flat caps and fisticuffs it was oddly exotic, yet it really hit a nerve.

The opening song wasn't all the album had to offer though. Although many Skynyrd's lyrics weren't particularly insightful, Ronnie Van Zant's delivery and timing were so distinctive, soulful, and expressive that the most banal stuff took on meaning. Add to that a group who had been playing for donkey's years and you had smooth, rough, rock 'n' roll heaven.

Answer: UFO

"No Place to Run" was UFO's eighth studio album and their first after guitar ace Michael Schenker had left. In many ways it saw the group adopting a heavier, thicker sound more in tune with the times. Although some contemporary reviews were not particularly positive, it has become something of a fans' favourite and I am a huge fan. It was exactly what some critics bemoaned, i.e. a shift away from the radio-friendly sound so many hard rock outfits were adopting, that has always endeared me to the record.

How can you argue with a hard rock album which kicked off with the thumping "Lettin' Go" followed by a blues classic such as "Mystery Train"? Side one was rounded off brilliantly with the solid plodder "This Fire Burns Tonight", before the nostalgic "Gone in the Night".

Side two carried on in much the same fashion. Despite the lack of bona fide classics, it was just a great rock album from start to finish.

Answer: Peter Hammill

"Nadir's Big Chance" was Peter Hammill's fifth solo studio album. Peter Hammill's solo career and Van der Graaf Generator's history overlap somewhat, and this album was no exception. Indeed, the group had already decided to reunite after a brief hiatus. The other three members who went on to record the Van der Graaf Generator comeback album "Godbluff" later in 1975 played on "Nadir's Big Chance".

So who the heck was Nadir? He might best be described as Peter Hammill's alter-ego since the sleeve credits Peter Hammill and Rikki Nadir as having provided guitars, pianos, bass and "vox" on the album. In a way the album was a concept album with all the songs somehow referring to the trials and tribulations of the character, but it was not quite as linear as similar projects such as The Who's Tommy or David Bowie's Ziggy.

Apart from anything else, "Nadir's Big Chance" contained some wonderful songs. Hammill has stated that it's one of just two albums on which he wrote "outright pop songs", and it was certainly much more accessible than some of his other stuff.

Answer: The Stranglers

"No More Heroes" was The Stranglers second studio album. They had already released their debut album, "Rattus Norvegicus", the same year but "No More Heroes" didn't play like an album of afterthoughts and rejects but actually seemed more together than the debut.

The Stranglers were lumped in with punk, as much for their nasty attitude as for the music, and they did seem to draw on the same influences such as The Velvet Underground as their punk contemporaries. The big difference was that The Stranglers had been around the block a few times before punk had even emerged, so they were a tight, hardened unit.

The hit of the album was the title track, which has since gained well-deserved classic status. Nevertheless, the other tracks are anything but filler and all contribute in their own way to making the album a virulent masterpiece.

Answer: Soft Cell

"Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret" was Soft Cell's debut album. It came out hot on the heels of the surprise smash hit single the duo had with a cover of "Tainted Love".

The hit was of course on the album, but the other stuff was anything but filler. Most of the album's songs can be categorized as either odes to what were ostensibly the seedier side of life, or cynical fun-poking at humdrum lifestyles. However, the album's closer "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye", had a rare pitiful poignance. "Sex Dwarf" is better to dance to though.

Answer: Mountain

"Nantucket Sleighride" was Mountain's second studio album. To my mind it represents the group at their best with brutally heavy riffs and wild drumming interweaving with softer moments and almost progressive song structures and something akin to Baroque pop at times.

I, like many Brits, first heard Mountain thanks to the current affairs programme "Weekend World" which used the title track as its theme tune. In the pre-Internet days of the late 1970s and early 1980s, I wasn't aware it was Long Island heavyweights providing the tune and was as happy as Larry when I bought the album in a bargain bin only to hear the tune I'd been whistling for years.

Answer: The Walker Brothers

"Nite Flights" was The Walker Brothers' sixth studio album. It was a really weird album befitting a really weird group who had been huge stars in the 1960s, split up, and come back together for a string of strained records. On "Nite Flights" the three "brothers" came up with several songs each and recorded them. As you can imagine, what you got was an album of three very distinct parts that shouldn't really have fit together, but somehow they did.

The most artistically interesting from the average punter's point of view must surely have been Scott Walker's contributions which opened the album. Having said that, the other two Walker Brothers, Gary and John, really let their hair down on this one too. What we got was a sort of world-weary disco record that sounds like it was made by embittered misanthropists.

Answer: Jane's Addiction

"Nothing's Shocking" was Jane's Addiction's first proper studio album release although they had already released an eponymous live album.

What made Jane's Addiction so special in their early days was how original they sounded and yet how well they fitted into rock history. They sounded effortlessly weird in a way which seemed neither contrived nor phony.

Of course, lead vocalist Perry Farrell tended to soak up the limelight. His odd approach to singing as well as his image were hard to ignore. However, it was the structure of the music underneath provided by Dave Navarro on guitars, Eric Avery on bass, and Stephen Perkins on drums which gave the album its
longevity.