As their self-titled, third album and biggest hit turns 50, we pick their best work

The Carpenters’ greatest album remains the compilation Singles 1969-1973, on which the duo remixed, re-recorded and segued their hits into one glorious gush of sound, but 1972’s A Song for You runs it close, because the album tracks are as good as the singles, as on this gorgeous portrait of a tour-weary musician.

‘It felt like skinny-dipping,’ says singer Susanna Hoffs. ‘I ended up doing it for most of the album’

In 1988, it felt like the Bangles had been touring endlessly. Our second album, Different Light, with the singles Manic Monday and Walk Like an Egyptian, had been released two years earlier. Now, finally, we could take a break from living on buses together.

Overblown musical pomposity to some, the guitar solo is seen as a benchmark of brilliance to many. But which is best?

In the Guide’s weekly Solved! column, we look into a crucial pop-culture question you’ve been burning to know the answer to – and settle it

“My solos are my trademark,” announced Nigel Tufnel in 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap. Cue footage of the topless musician performing some signature fret-fondling while curling his lip in satisfaction, then swapping his plectrum for a violin. Before long, the real-life rock stars satirised by Spinal Tap were handed a second blow – when the irreverent grunge scene of the 1990s arrived, ripping up the guitar histrionics rule book, and instead favouring scuzzier playing. Yet, while not as revered as it once was, the guitar solo remains the benchmark of musical brilliance for many.

Soul classics, German film soundtracks and chugging rap – here’s a workout of bangers to get you off the couch

The Grammy award-winning rock band have received commercial success yet critics haven’t been quite as receptive – can their new album change that?

Talk to Josh Kiszka, lead singer of the band Greta Van Fleet, about his time growing up in a small town in the American midwest and you’d think he was describing the life of Huckleberry Finn. “We were outside most of the time, building rafts and taking them down the river,” the 24-year-old told the Guardian. “There wasn’t a lot of television in the house. And when all the other kids wanted cellphones, I fought that. I preferred to take a hike.”

Kiszka’s parents strongly encouraged him and his two brothers in that pursuit. “My mother even took the clocks off the wall at one point,” he said. “They were the opposite of helicopter parents. They taught us to do things independently.”