“Chaos, Cinema & The Human Condition”
The May B-Side Quiz
May wandered through strange territory.
Controlled chaos. Political shadows. Progressive ambition. Human collapse.
Songs about machines, addiction, fear, longing, identity, and survival.
Some of these tracks changed genres.
Some terrified radio stations.
Some quietly became cult legends hiding just beyond the mainstream.
This month’s quiz pulls from all of it — psychedelic experiments, underground anthems, post-punk dread, theatrical rock, synth-driven paranoia, and soul deep enough to leave scars.
All answers are song titles.
Some will arrive instantly. Others will sit in your head until suddenly… they don’t leave.
The Questions.
1. Which Chinese artist and singer-songwriter created this track defined by "controlled chaos," and requires listeners to wear headphones to experience its intense builds and explosive breaks?
2. Following the train sounds of Paddington Station and crowd noise from Leicester Square, which progressive rock band's 1974 track chronicles an aimless character riding a train to nowhere?
3. Which legendary blues-rock outfit released this 1969 track (split into a driving vocal A-side and a classical Spanish guitar B-side) that features the brutally honest lyric, "I can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin"? Oh Well by Fleetwood Mac - Songfacts
4. Often interpreted as a song about someone trying to break through physical or political walls, which famous Argentine rock duo originally released this emotional 1973 hit?
5. Which British alt-pop band included a voyeuristic, dramatically observational song called "Underwear" on their iconic 1995 Britpop album, Different Class?
6. Considered one of the most controversial and aggressively fast thrash metal anthems in history, which pioneering metal band opens their 1986 album Reign in Blood with this notorious track?
7. Filled with complex time signatures, theatrical arrangements, and a fearless attitude that modern rock still chases, which shock-rock pioneer released this epic on their 1971 album Killer?
8. Which legendary classic rock band recorded this sprawling, heavily compressed, and blues-drenched track at Headley Grange using a mobile studio and an echoing stairwell?
9. Before Bob Geldof organized Live Aid, what was the title track of this Irish punk/new wave band's 1977 debut album, which shares its title with a Cyndi Lauper album?
10. Which Scottish synth-pop trio penned this reflective, soaring track featured on their 2021 studio album Screen Violence?
11. Known for their repetitive, hypnotic, and strangely addictive guitar work, which Beijing-based indie rock band released this underground anthem?
12. Opening with a harmonica solo and building into a progressive rock staple about the education system, which track served as the standout second song on Supertramp’s 1974 Crime of the Century album?
13. Starting as a quiet, ominous bassline before erupting into a heavy, cautionary tale about drug abuse, which track was featured on Black Sabbath's 1970 album Paranoid?
14. Which beloved Scottish indie rock band—fronted by the late, great Scott Hutchison—released this brilliant, emotionally raw, and self-deprecating track on their 2008 album The Midnight Organ Fight?
15. Famous for their psychedelic, avant-garde, and tropicalia sound, which legendary Brazilian band released this wild track?
16. Celebrated by Morrissey as the best new band in Britain at the time, which Britpop group featured this lush B-side to their debut single "The Drowners"?
17. Often cited as one of the most terrifying, disturbing, and synth-driven avant-garde songs in punk history, which protopunk duo released this harrowing track?
18. Fronted by Ray Davies, which classic British rock band delivered this brilliant, socially conscious track wrapped in a riff that still lands perfectly today?
19. With a hauntingly bleak, reverberating guitar line, which seminal post-punk band included this devastatingly atmospheric track on their 1979 debut album Unknown Pleasures?
20. Which progressive rock giant released this synthesizer-heavy track, famously about the mechanization of the music industry, on their 1975 album Wish You Were Here?
21. Produced by Giorgio Moroder, this title track for a 1982 film later became a staple of which legendary artist's catalog, and was later used by Quentin Tarantino?
22. Written by Rupert Holmes, which vocal group sparked massive 1971 radio controversy over the dark, taboo lyrical subject matter of this song?
23. Which art-rock band, fronted by Bryan Ferry, released this famously eerie, hypnotic track about a man deeply in love with an inflatable doll on their 1973 album For Your Pleasure?
24. Driven by swirling strings and Ian McCulloch's dramatic vocals, which post-punk band released this standout 1983 hit from their album Porcupine?
25. Which legendary Philadelphia soul group released this lush, Grammy-winning 1970 R&B ballad that gained a renewed cult following after being featured in a Quentin Tarantino film?
SCORE LIKERT
0–5 Casual Passenger
6–10 Underground Observer
11–15 Deep-Cut Drifter
16–20 Archivist of the Strange
21–24 Hidden Gems Native
25 Master of Chaos & Cinema
🎵 ANSWERS — TRACKS & ARTISTS
1. Bullfight — Hua Chenyu
2. Rudy — Supertramp
3. Oh Well (Part 1) — Fleetwood Mac
4. Rasguña las piedras — Sui Generis
5. Underwear (Alt/Session Version) — Pulp
6. Angel of Death — Slayer
7. Halo of Flies — Alice Cooper
8. When the Levee Breaks — Led Zeppelin
9. She’s So Modern — The Boomtown Rats
10. Asking for a Friend — CHVRCHES
11. Zhong Nan Hai — Carsick Cars
12. School — Supertramp
13. Hand of Doom — Black Sabbath
14. The Modern Leper — Frightened Rabbit
15. Ave Gengis Khan — Os Mutantes
16. My Insatiable One — Suede
17. Frankie Teardrop — Suicide
18. 20th Century Man — The Kinks
19. New Dawn Fades — Joy Division
20. Welcome to the Machine — Pink Floyd
21. Cat People (Putting Out Fire) — David Bowie
22. Timothy — The Buoys
23. In Every Dream Home a Heartache — Roxy Music
24. The Cutter — Echo & the Bunnymen
25. Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) — The Delfonics
That’s May.
Chaotic. Beautiful. Disturbing. Human.
Some tracks exploded.
Some whispered.
Some stared directly into the dark and kept playing anyway.
These weren’t just answers.
They were fragments of obsession, protest, loneliness, cinema, and noise — hidden in the flip side where the best stories usually live.
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