Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums
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50 free Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Few lists start as many arguments as Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. First published in 2003, revised in 2012, rebuilt from a fresh vote in 2020 and updated again in 2023, it has crowned different winners, lifted hip-hop and soul classics, and sent some old favourites tumbling down the order. This quiz covers the albums at the top of each edition, the famous sleeves and stories behind them, the biggest climbers and fallers, and how the ranking itself was put together. Every question names the edition it refers to, because a placing can change a lot between versions. It is for anyone who has ever argued about a top ten. Casual listeners will recognise most of the music, and collectors can test themselves on the finer points of the voting.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which 1967 album, with a cover crowd of famous faces designed by Peter Blake, topped Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band held first place again in 2012, then fell to 24th when the list was rebuilt from a new vote in 2020.
Q 02Which Marvin Gaye album, a song cycle narrated by a returning Vietnam veteran, topped Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
What's Going On
What's Going On rose from sixth place in 2003 to first in 2020, in a revision where rap albums figured three times as much as before.
Q 03Which 1969 album, its cover showing four bandmates on a zebra crossing, ranked fifth on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Abbey Road
Abbey Road rose from 14th in 2012 to fifth in 2020; it was the last album its makers recorded together, though another was released after it.
Q 04Which Nirvana album, with a swimming baby on its cover, ranked sixth on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Nevermind
Nevermind rose from 17th in 2003 to sixth in 2020; its label had hoped it would sell around 250,000 copies.
Q 05Which Fleetwood Mac album, made amid the band's romantic breakups, ranked seventh on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Rumours
Rumours jumped from 25th in 2003 to seventh in 2020; John and Christine McVie had divorced shortly before the sessions began.
Q 06Which Michael Jackson album, produced by Quincy Jones, ranked 20th on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Thriller
Thriller placed 20th in 2003 and again in 2012, and it remains the best-selling album of all time.
Q 07Which Beach Boys album, crafted by Brian Wilson while his bandmates toured, ranked second on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds was placed second in recognition of its influence on the album ranked first, and the top of the list stayed unchanged in 2012.
Q 08Which artist made the highest-ranking hip-hop album on Rolling Stone's 2020 list, placed 10th overall?
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, made after the Fugees went on hiatus, credits her with writing and producing almost every track.
Q 09Which pop artist designed the banana cover of The Velvet Underground & Nico, 13th on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol made the banana a sticker on early pressings, which buyers could peel back to find a flesh-coloured banana underneath.
Q 10Which rap group, produced by the Bomb Squad, had the highest-ranked hip-hop album on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Public Enemy
Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back placed 48th in 2003, the only hip-hop album in that list's top 100.
Q 11Which Prince album, the soundtrack to a 1984 film he starred in, ranked eighth on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Purple Rain
Purple Rain exists because Prince told his manager he would not renew their contract unless he got to star in a studio film.
Q 12Which Bob Dylan album, tied to the breakdown of his marriage to Sara, rose to ninth on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Blood on the Tracks
Blood on the Tracks climbed from 16th in 2003 to ninth in 2020; its 17 candidate songs were completed on a farm in Minnesota.
Q 13Which Stevie Wonder double album leapt from 56th in 2003 to fourth place on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Songs in the Key of Life
Q 21Which Pink Floyd album, in Storm Thorgerson's prism sleeve, was the band's top entry on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon ranked 43rd in 2003 and 2012 and 55th in 2020; all four members picked the prism from seven sleeve designs.
Q 22Whose Tapestry, a winner of four Grammys in 1972, climbed to 25th on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Carole King
Carole King became the first solo female artist to win the Grammy for Record of the Year with the record, her second studio album.
Q 23Which punk band's only studio album, the subject of an obscenity case, ranked 41st on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Sex Pistols
Songs in the Key of Life nearly never happened: in 1975 its maker was seriously considering quitting music and emigrating to Ghana.
Q 14Whose album Blue, written partly on an Appalachian dulcimer, ranked third on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell made the record after her breakup with Graham Nash, having discovered the dulcimer at the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival.
Q 15Which trumpeter's Kind of Blue, a landmark of modal jazz, ranked 12th on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Miles Davis
Miles Davis handed each player a set of scales to improvise within, and the magazine called the result one of the most important albums in jazz.
Q 16Which Clash album, its cover showing a bassist smashing his guitar, ranked eighth on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
London Calling
London Calling was the only record under 40 years old in the 2012 top ten; the bass smashed on its cover went on display at the Museum of London.
Q 17Which Rolling Stones album, taped in a villa basement in France, ranked seventh on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Exile on Main St.
Exile on Main St. was made after the band left England over unpaid taxes; it slipped to 14th in 2020 but stayed their highest-ranked album.
Q 18Which Bob Dylan album, home of the hit single Like a Rolling Stone, ranked fourth on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited kept fourth place in 2012 and was re-ranked 18th in 2020; the magazine called it one of those albums that changed everything.
Q 19Which band placed four albums in the top ten of Rolling Stone's original 2003 list, including numbers one and three?
The Beatles
The Beatles filled first, third, fifth and tenth place in 2003 and 2012; by 2020 only one of the group's albums was left in the top ten.
Q 20Which Bruce Springsteen album, modelled on Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, ranked 18th on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Born to Run
Born to Run took sessions stretching from January 1974 to July 1975, six months of them on the title track alone; it stood 21st in 2020.
Sex Pistols had already been fired from two record labels and banned from playing live in parts of Britain when the album came out.
Q 24Which guitarist's debut, Are You Experienced, produced by Chas Chandler, ranked 15th on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix had struggled as a backing guitarist on the R&B circuit before signing with Chandler in 1966; the album stood 30th in 2020.
Q 25Whose debut Horses, produced by former Velvet Underground member John Cale, rose to 26th on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Patti Smith
Patti Smith recorded the album at Electric Lady Studios in September 1975; it had ranked 44th on both the 2003 and 2012 lists.
Q 26Which band's Hotel California, its first album with Joe Walsh, fell from 37th to 118th on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Eagles
Eagles saw the album drop 81 places in the 2020 revision, even though it has sold over 42 million units worldwide.
Q 27Which band's Appetite for Destruction, the best-selling debut album in the US, was 62nd on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses held the same position on the 2012 and 2020 lists with the album, which is certified 18 times platinum in the United States.
Q 28Which singer's greatest-hits set Legend, the best-selling reggae album ever, ranked 46th on Rolling Stone's 2003 list?
Bob Marley
Bob Marley and the Wailers' collection has sold an estimated 27 million copies worldwide; the original list also admitted greatest-hits sets.
Q 29Which rapper's Bad Boy Records debut, Ready to Die, ranked 22nd on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
The Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G. also topped the magazine's ranking of the greatest hip-hop albums with this debut, part-produced by label founder Sean Combs.
Q 30Which Nas album, his debut about growing up in the Queensbridge Houses, ranked 44th on Rolling Stone's 2020 list?
Illmatic
Illmatic was chosen by the Library of Congress for the National Recording Registry the year after the 2020 list placed it 44th.