The World’s Longest Rock Sentence: September B-side Quiz

 

The World’s Longest Rock Sentence

How many songs and bands can you find hiding inside one increasingly ridiculous sentence?

We've done quizzes. We've done clues. We've made you identify bands from photographs.

So naturally, the next logical step was to make things considerably more complicated.

One sentence. Sixty hidden rock references.

Every reference is either a song title or a band/artist name, and they are buried in one increasingly ridiculous story.

Some you'll spot immediately.

Some are hiding in plain sight.

And some? Well… that's why we call this Hidden Gems.

The rules

Read the sentence once without stopping.

Then read it again.

And again.

Every time you recognise a song or artist, write it down.

There are 60 in total, appearing in a specific order.

And yes, we've thrown in a healthy number of B-sides and deep cuts.

Because making this easy would rather defeat the object, wouldn't it?

🤯 The Sentence

The Who arrived at Baba O'Riley just as The Doors decided to Break On Through, while Pink Floyd attempted to Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, forcing Radiohead to insist that Everything in Its Right Place before the Pixies started shouting Where Is My Mind?, at which point Soundgarden had Fell on Black Days and Pearl Jam responded with Indifference, causing the Foo Fighters to become completely Exhausted.

Then Rise Against came Dancing for Rain, although The Cure were already wandering through A Forest, where R.E.M. were asking What's the Frequency, Kenneth?, while Talking Heads chased a Psycho Killer who claimed that David Bowie had encouraged his Rock 'n' Roll Suicide, which upset The Smiths, who wondered How Soon Is Now?, before Joy Division announced Twenty Four Hours of chaos and New Order surrendered to Temptation.

By then Sonic Youth were experiencing a Teen Age Riot, The Clash had summoned The Magnificent Seven, the Ramones declared I Wanna Be Sedated, and Queens of the Stone Age confessed The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret, while the Arctic Monkeys discovered a Fluorescent Adolescent hiding behind Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, who produced a Red Right Hand and pointed it directly at The Replacements, who introduced everyone to Alex Chilton.

Unfortunately, Soundgarden returned with Jesus Christ Pose, Alice in Chains answered with Brother, Black Sabbath climbed aboard Planet Caravan, Deep Purple shouted Fools, Led Zeppelin prepared for The Battle of Evermore, Rush went looking for The Trees, and Marillion finally realised that all they had ever wanted was Kayleigh.

And that, quite obviously, is where the sentence ended.

Obviously.

📊 How Deep Into the Crate Did You Get?

Score

0–10

You found the front door.

11–20

The digging has begun.

21–30

Respectable crate-digging.

31–40

You're getting seriously dusty.

41–50

Deep-cut territory.

51–59

Someone needs to hide the record collection.

60

You are officially part of the problem.

🎯 And That's the Sentence

Sixty songs and artists.

Some obvious.

Some obscure.

Some B-sides.

Some deep cuts.

And quite possibly a few tracks you've completely forgotten you knew.

That's the fun of Hidden Gems: sometimes you don't need another song.

You just need someone to remind you that it exists.

So… how many did you find?

🔎 The Answers — In Order

Press Play 

The Who — Band

Baba O'Riley — The Who

The Doors — Band

Break On Through (To the Other Side) — The Doors

Pink Floyd — Band

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun — Pink Floyd

Radiohead — Band

Everything in Its Right Place — Radiohead

Pixies — Band

Where Is My Mind? — Pixies

Soundgarden — Band

Fell on Black Days — Soundgarden

Pearl Jam — Band

Indifference — Pearl Jam

Foo Fighters — Band

Exhausted — Foo Fighters

Rise Against — Band

Dancing for Rain — Rise Against

The Cure — Band

A Forest — The Cure

R.E.M. — Band

What's the Frequency, Kenneth? — R.E.M.

Talking Heads — Band

Psycho Killer — Talking Heads

David Bowie — Artist

Rock 'n' Roll Suicide — David Bowie

The Smiths — Band

How Soon Is Now? — The Smiths

Joy Division — Band

Twenty Four Hours — Joy Division

New Order — Band

Temptation — New Order

Sonic Youth — Band

Teen Age Riot — Sonic Youth

The Clash — Band

The Magnificent Seven — The Clash

Ramones — Band

I Wanna Be Sedated — Ramones

Queens of the Stone Age — Band

The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret — Queens of the Stone Age

Arctic Monkeys — Band

Fluorescent Adolescent — Arctic Monkeys

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds — Band

Red Right Hand — Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

The Replacements — Band

Alex Chilton — The Replacements

Soundgarden — Band

Jesus Christ Pose — Soundgarden

Alice in Chains — Band

Brother — Alice in Chains

Black Sabbath — Band

Planet Caravan — Black Sabbath

Deep Purple — Band

Fools — Deep Purple

Led Zeppelin — Band

The Battle of Evermore — Led Zeppelin

Rush — Band

The Trees — Rush

Marillion — Band

Kayleigh — Marillion

🎸 One Last Thing...

If you've made it this far, you've earned the right to ask one important question:

Can we make it even longer next time?

Probably.

But for now, put the answers in order, turn the song titles into a playlist, and see what happens when sixty pieces of rock history are thrown into the same musical blender.

The World’s Longest Rock Sentence.

Because apparently, a normal sentence wasn't complicated enough.

And somewhere underneath all the chaos…

there's a Hidden Gem waiting to be found.