Decode the Band from Its Initials

[D] Barenaked Ladies | These Canadians named themselves as a joke in 1988, then conquered radio with witty wordplay and rapid-fire vocals that became their signature sound.

[A] Red Hot Chili Peppers | Four funky Californians who mix rap with rock, featuring Flea's slap bass and Anthony's unique vocal style across four decades of hits.

[B] Creedence Clearwater Revival | John Fogerty's voice brought bayou rock to California suburbs, creating swamp music miles from any actual swamp in just four explosive years.

[D] Dave Matthews Band | This violin-featuring jam band turned college campuses into concert venues, building a massive following through bootleg tapes and marathon live shows.

[C] Black Eyed Peas | Originally underground hip-hop artists who added Fergie and transformed into global pop superstars, dominating charts with futuristic beats and auto-tuned hooks.

[A] Stone Temple Pilots | Scott Weiland's baritone vocals and Dean DeLeo's guitar riffs created grunge anthems that outlived the Seattle scene they were accused of copying.

[B] Guns N' Roses | Slash's top hat became rock's most iconic accessory while Axl's voice shredded through Sunset Strip tales of excess and rebellion.

[C] Nine Inch Nails | Trent Reznor alone in a studio created industrial masterpieces, turning personal demons into dance floor anthems wrapped in walls of noise.

[A] Rage Against the Machine | Tom Morello's guitar sounds like helicopters and sirens while Zack de la Rocha raps revolutionary politics over earthquake-heavy funk metal grooves.

[D] Queens of the Stone Age | Josh Homme tuned his guitar down to C standard, creating desert rock so heavy it feels like driving through sand.

[B] Insane Clown Posse | Two Detroit rappers in clown makeup created Juggalo culture, turning horror themes and Faygo soda into an unlikely underground empire.

[C] New Kids on the Block | Five Boston teenagers taught America the meaning of boy band hysteria, paving the way for every group that followed.

[D] Crosby Stills and Nash (and Young) | Folk rock supergroup whose harmonies were so perfect they sometimes forgot Neil Young wasn't always part of the original trio.

[B] Electric Light Orchestra | Jeff Lynne proved orchestras belonged in rock music, crafting spaceship symphonies that made strings cool for headbangers and classical fans alike.

[A] Bachman-Turner Overdrive | Randy Bachman left The Guess Who to form this working man's rock band, proving Canadian prairie towns could produce arena anthems.

[C] Fine Young Cannibals | Two members of The Beat recruited Roland Gift, whose unique voice turned their experimental pop into late-eighties chart gold worldwide.

[D] Bell Biv DeVoe | Three New Edition members went solo together, inventing new jack swing and warning everyone that certain girls are indeed poison.

[A] Dave Clark Five | Beatles rivals who actually outsold them briefly in 1964, proving that sometimes the drummer really should be the band leader.

[C] Of a Revolution | Ohio State students who built their empire one fraternity party at a time, becoming kings of the college circuit without radio.

[B] Blue Öyster Cult | Smart guys writing smart metal about Godzilla and death, proving cowbell could make any song better according to Saturday Night Live.

[D] Trans-Siberian Orchestra | Paul O'Neill combined metal with Christmas carols, creating holiday spectacles where pyrotechnics meet Beethoven in sold-out arenas every December.

[A] Motor City 5 | Detroit revolutionaries whose three-chord manifestos and feedback experiments inspired punk before punk existed, all while wearing American flag capes.

[C] Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Liverpool synthesizer wizards who made machines emotional, scoring John Hughes films while secretly influencing every electronic act that followed.

[B] Average White Band | Scottish funk masters whose groove was so authentic that many assumed they were from Philadelphia, not Scotland's east coast.