(THIS) POLL REVERE(S) — ILM Artist Poll #19 — Beastie Boys RESULTS

http://i.imgur.com/uxqFL.jpg

First we voted, now we get results.

Today I'll be counting down Beastie Boys albums, along with "honorable mention" tracks (61-51).
Top 50 tracks start rolling out tomorrow.
After that's finished, I'll countdown votes for the best music videos (tbqh, I haven't tabulated those yet and don't feel like doing it today).

So without further ado...

Since only ten albums received votes, here are all ten:

http://www.ljplus.ru/img4/l/e/lestp/bbinsound.jpg

10. THE IN SOUND FROM WAY OUT (1996) [28 points, 1 vote]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51UpZLb%2BjRL._SL600_.jpg

9. AN EXCITING EVENING AT HOME WITH SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO EP (1989) [30 points, 1 vote]

In Sound kind of fucked up my perception of CYH as I owned it before that album. It's okay, if a bit redundant in that one could easily make a cdr comp of most of these tracks anyway these days. It also doesn't include Futterman's Rule which is awesome. Still, previously unreleased tracks like Son Of Neckbone make it worth owning.

http://www.djarson.com/picts/products/00000299_mdm.jpg

8. DJ GREEN LANTERN PRESENTS: NEW YORK STATE OF MIND (2006) [40 points, 1 vote, 1 first place vote]

^this mix is absolutely ESSENTIAL

What was the points system for albums?

Same as the top five spots for tracks (40, 36, 33, 30, 28).

http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users16/beatrixkiddo79/default/10-beastie-boys-5-boroughs--large-msg-126090343544.jpg

7. TO THE 5 BOROUGHS (20014) [2 votes, 58 points]

*(2004)

http://colmhogan.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/beastie-boys-hot-sauce-committee-part-two2.jpg

6. HOT SAUCE COMMITTEE PART TWO (2011) [84 points, 3 votes]

http://bastonate.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/ill-communication.jpeg

5. ILL COMMUNICATION (1994) [775 points, 25 votes, 1 first place vote]

http://i3.fastpic.ru/big/2009/1023/c1/8d8f4e0ca31d4129199c19fed5eb32c1.jpg

4. HELLO NASTY (1998) [775 points, 25 votes, 2 first place votes]

Both too low!

Wow, point tally jump from Hot Sauce to Ill Comm is astonishing (but not really a surprise)

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0lf0t5kTG1r7uxloo1_cover.jpg

3. LICENSED TO ILL (1986) [875 points, 26 votes, 5 first place votes]

http://img.sharedmp3.net/files/pics/1021/1020195/img_1_pr.jpg

2. CHECK YOUR HEAD (1992) [966 points, 28 votes, 5 first place votes]

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/30481.jpg

1. PAUL'S BOUTIQUE (1989) [1,012 points, 28 votes, 14 first place votes]

Not exactly full of surprises, that list, but what can you do.

Sometimes things are obvious because they're right.

Okay, on to honorable mentions: tracks category...

There's a tie at #60

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XWZsSzO_Jg

TIE 60. "LIGHTEN UP" (1992) [61 points, 3 votes]

Haha, some degree of consensus on the top five then! Surprised CYH pushed PB so hard, but it is very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MLwfkQcMcE

TIE 60. "FUNKY BOSS" (1992) [61 points, 3 votes]

you probably coulda done a top 5 albums and i dunno top 40 tracks, it's a little silly when these things become "their entire catalog, ranked"

Well, 118 tracks received votes, so this is only about the top half.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqqKkTtvr_c

59. "SLOW RIDE" (1986) [63 points, 3 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvFcMu-AvZs

58. "HEART ATTACK MAN" (1994) [66 points, 4 votes]

Watch Yauch destroy that fucking bassline.

Well, 118 tracks received votes, so this is only about the top half.

― Johnny Fever, Sunday, May 13, 2012 3:46 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

ok but c'mon the top 60 is basically the top 2/3rds of the 5 albums people actually like, isn't it

Chill, some dude. I'm just killing a rainy Sunday afternoon here. Also, the Heart Attack Man performance makes the honorable mention portion worth it imo.

yeah sorry 4 trolling, carry on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwenqnZnX2g

57. "SLOW AND LOW" (1986) [69 points, 3 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnHCX7jkAbs

56. "TRANSITIONS" (1994) [71 points, 2 votes]

Love the Heart Attack Man performance.

Transitions - maybe one of my very favourite instrumentals of all time

Heartattack Man is totally essential to Ill Communication- bursts out of nowhere, smacks you in the funnybone, leaves without trace.

Also makes me wonder why hardcore and hiphop didn't get married in this way more often. Who else did stuff like this other than maybe Bad Brains?

I voted for both Funky Boss and Heart Attack Man, so thanks for this bonus bit (and the video).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ri1Yb4YKOc

71. "EGG RAID ON MOJO" (1982) [71 points, 4 votes]

fuck me

55. "EGG RAID ON MOJO" (1982) [71 points, 4 votes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu0dGCEXT3Y

54. "ALIVE/ALIVE AT YAUCH'S HOUSE" (1999) [73 points, 4 votes]

Alive is a track I like way more now than I did 13 years ago. Glad it crept up this high.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8Rs-I2K148

53. "LIVE AT PJ'S" (1992) [77 points, 4 votes]

Check the cd longbox!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSOe4VgJORk

52. "MULLET HEAD" (1994) [80 points, 3 votes. 1 first place vote]

Thanks to the bonus round, every first place vote will be accounted for. :)

Looooooooooove Live at PJ's...the way Ad Rock comes in on that is just all-time KLASSIK

Egg Raid on Mojo is fkin great too, didn't vote for it but it was on my shortlist

Also live at PJ's outro 'If you're drivin don't drink, and if you're drinkin don't drive" reminds me of my best friend's Dad - he was an AM radio DJ in my hometown & had a latenight sports-talk show, and his sign off was 'If you're going to drink and drive, drink milk and say alive' :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNB8pNqwrKw

51. "TOO MANY RAPPERS (ft. NAS)" (2009/11) [82 points, 4 votes]

Also makes me wonder why hardcore and hiphop didn't get married in this way more often. Who else did stuff like this other than maybe Bad Brains?

― Scary Move 4 (dog latin), Sunday, May 13, 2012 4:29 PM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Bad Brains had appx zero hip-hop influence afaik

I think about this alot though. I think the lineage is
• "Cookie Puss"
• The last 10 seconds of "Change the Style" by Son of Bazerk
• The first Body Count album
• The hxc tracks on Check Your Head and Ill Communication
• The Roots' "!!!!!!" [this is track three off Phrenology and YouTube is no help]

Bonus round tally

TIE 60. "LIGHTEN UP" (1992) [61 points, 3 votes]
TIE 60. "FUNKY BOSS" (1992) [61 points, 3 votes]
59. "SLOW RIDE" (1986) [63 points, 3 votes]
58. "HEART ATTACK MAN" (1994) [66 points, 4 votes]
57. "SLOW AND LOW" (1986) [69 points, 3 votes]
56. "TRANSITIONS" (1994) [71 points, 2 votes]
55. "EGG RAID ON MOJO" (1982) [71 points, 4 votes]
54. "ALIVE / ALIVE AT YAUCH'S HOUSE" (1999) [73 points, 4 votes]
53. "LIVE AT PJ'S" (1992) [77 points, 4 votes]
52. "MULLET HEAD" (1994) [80 points, 3 votes, 1 first place vote]
51. "TOO MANY RAPPERS (ft. NAS)" (2009/11) [82 points, 4 votes]

I made a mistake upthread - Son of Neckbone was a b-side from Sure Shot.

wow -- "Live at PJ's" sounds dreadful.

57. "SLOW AND LOW" (1986) [69 points, 3 votes]

^ my only vote to place so far. too (slow and) low.

plus many/much cheers & thanks to dr. johnny! looking forward to the rest of the results...

^ my only vote to place so far.

since this is a good band that I care about deeply, can we not shit up this thread with this garbage

eh, was mostly an excuse to say thanks, johnny. save your "glory days" flexing for later.

― i am the official internet police officer, and i am here to SHIT ON YOUR THREAD (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, May 13, 2012 4:01 PM (8 minutes ago)

I like the thread, I'm shitting on your shitty post

yeah, that much was clear. enjoy whatever sad thrill you get out of your internet hardman routine.

fucking people, i tell you...

There have been 20+ of this sort of ballot poll and the statistical updates in the results threads are SOP. I really don't think you are capable of getting loud enough to shout it all down.

It's okay, if a bit redundant in that one could easily make a cdr comp of most of these tracks anyway these days.

If you had access to the multitracks to make the instrumental versions of the CYH tracks that had vocals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e8j3-TuzCs

50. "GIRLS" (1986) [83 points, 5 votes]

that's the one song of their that i can't reach for the dial fast enough when it comes on, glad to see it pulling up the caboose on the top 50.

Ha! Fitting start.

btw, their most-played songs on alternative radio, in order of most spins, at least as of a few years ago: Fight For Your Right, Intergalactic, Sabotage, No Sleep Til Brooklyn, Brass Monkey, So What'cha Want, Girls, Paul Revere, Sure Shot

I cut "Girls" because it's a little too ugh, but I admit to a lot of affection for it. Some dorky friends of mine in college reworked it as a theme song for our dorm (all honors kids), as "Nerds." (Nerds! Do their homework/Nerds! Got no girlfriends/Nerds! etc etc etc)

I would listen to "Nerds".

braggin 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PLfjhQG97I

49. "SHE'S ON IT" (1985) [93 points, 4 votes]

"I had nothing to do with it, man! My voice isn't even on that song. Those fools made the record when I was outta the studio. But I'm not makin' any excuses -- it's a jackass song." - MCA on "Girls," from a 2004 Entertainment Weekly interview

haha yet another reason MCA was way cool

i voted for "She's On It" but it was an admittedly contrarian move

fuck yeah

i majored in advanced beastie in college

She's On It is tops...and I have a fondness for Girls cuz it's silly

How on earth did Girls beat Slow Ride?

it's 20 times as famous?

it's better?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WgFhBzVrvI

TIE 47. "TIME FOR LIVIN'" (1992) [95 points, 5 votes]

i fkn love this song so much, it was in my 20 (I can't remember where)

*flails around cubicle pogoing wildly*

(sorry, no decent video options for this one...)

TIE 47. "FINGER LICKIN' GOOD" (1992) [95 points, 5 votes]

yah woo, time for livin! my favorite BBs punk track. glad it beat "girls", which i kind of hate, catchy as it is.

plus: How on earth did Girls beat Slow Ride and Low?

eatin' crazy cheese like you'd think i'm from paris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLFlW3UaQuU

46. "FLUTE LOOP" (1994) [104 points, 5 votes]

Flute Loop is really great on its own. Always kind of got camouflaged by the rest of the album for me, but I'm lovin' it right now.

I can't imagine any reality where a song from the last three albums actually charts on this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ilZshY6uUo

45. "ROCK HARD" (1985) [115 points, 5 votes]

Never would have figured "She's On It" and "Rock Hard" would be so low...I'm living in some alternate Beasties universe.

both great but I cut 'em

yeah, i like "rock hard", but it isn't better than the comparable stuff on licensed to ill. just a bit more obscure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aQdsHH4PkM

44. "SONG FOR THE MAN" (1998) [126 points, 8 votes]

I love Rock Hard and I totally forgot to vote for it ;_;

I love "Rock Hard" and voted for it. Happy to see "Flute Loop" place as I felt horrible for cutting it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64lWVE3Tg2A

43. "BODHISATTVA VOW" (1994) [128 points, 6 votes]

i voted for "She's On It" but it was an admittedly contrarian move

i like "rock hard", but it isn't better than the comparable stuff on licensed to ill. just a bit more obscure

I think the truth of those statements is going to be highly subjective. For me, they're neither contrarian picks (again, I assumed one or both would be top 10) nor even close to being obscure.

Rock Hard is pretty obscure

i didn't necessarily mean contrarian in a 'oh it's bad/hated' but just in a hey i remember that song, what the hell i will vote for it even though it's not on spotify and i can confirm at the moment whether i actually like it all that much

Without Spotify there is no music.

Lol @ "Rock Hard" not "even being close to obscure"

Besides, like, rap radio in 1985, where would anyone even hear "Rock Hard"

it didn't even have a video!

Without Spotify there is no music.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, May 14, 2012 1:56 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

well, not at my desk at work, no. i wasn't making the point that "She's On It" is obscure because it's not on Spotify or anything, to be clear (although i was surprised that it's not even collected on any of their compilations).

I only know "Rock Hard" cuz of a CD-R of Beastie rarities burned for me about eight years ago.

Yeah, Rock Hard has never been preserved in the cd age, I don't believe. If you want to hear it, you've got to track down the original Def Jam single.

Sampling AC/DC means it never will be properly collected.

ah i see

But it's been widely and easily available on the net for fifteen years.

"Rock Hard" is great, and fuck AC/DC for not letting them release it. They obviously had no qualms about BDP sampling the same riff for "Dope Beat."

Whiney OTM that She's On It at least had a video/was in Krush Groove and I actually saw copies of the 12" in record shops. "Rock Hard" didn't get anywhere near that kind of push, and was a huge collector's item pre-internet.

Just one more point, as it doesn't really matter. Christgau had "Rock Hard" in his top 10 singles for '85 (#7); I own the 12-inch (got it and Cookie Puss at some weird warehouse sale in the late '80s). If it's not on CD, that's a good point--didn't realize that. I guess what I'm saying is it's far from obscure for me--i.e., a subjective call.

"Rock Hard" is mindblowing though.

^^That's the key point.

I love that EZ Snappin's definition of "not obscure" is "it's on the internet"

we're all famous!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NOakdZolYQ

43. "POSSE IN EFFECT" (1986) [136 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]

^ that's #42 btw

I bet all of License to Ill made the top 60.

ga-ron-teed

Just about the post the same thing re: every LTI track. Surprised to not see any Paul's Boutique yet.

"posse in effect" is so great

#2 on my ballot

your crew's all soft and I'm disgusted

Super sick track. That's my #1. Everything I love about the Beasties condensed to under three minutes. Hits every topic: girls, beer, records, New York, kicking your ass, and humor.

Glad "Bodhisattva Vow" made it. (More actually psychedelic than anything on PB, imo.)

I see "bodhisattva vow" as part of a song cycle of psychedelic MCA solo jams, with "year and a day" and "flowin prose"

"posse in effect" also great cause it's one of the licensed to ill tracks that never sounds dated, it will always be some electroshock future vision of teen hooliganism

xpost

Yup. But "Bodhisattava" has some kick to it, too. Not just floaty flowery.

I love that EZ Snappin's definition of "not obscure" is "it's on the internet"

― thommys got bendz (Whiney G. Weingarten)

If there are almost 18 million results for it and a youtube of it is the first google option then yes, it's not obscure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFP79Dlc928

41. "3 MINUTE RULE" (1989) [138 points, 6 votes]

(plz to pardon the stupid youtube...it's not the proper instrumental, just somehow has the vocals way buried in the mix.)

I'm so rope they call me mr roper

ddddoo wah diddy and bust em with the pre-roll

(only Johnny Ryall on youtube was a demo, and this thread already has enough embeds anyway)

40. "JOHNNY RYALL" (1989) [143 points, 9 votes]

If there are almost 18 million results for it and a youtube of it is the first google option then yes, it's not obscure.

that's silly. to search for it, you have to know of it. and the way most people are gonna get to know most beastie boys songs is through the albums. or by reading about their general history and discography somewhere. or in this day and age, via a youtube link, which, sure, might be "rock hard" as easily as anything else.

still, i doubt that most casual beastie boys fans even know that "rock hard" exists, whereas they all surely know of their albums. that's why i think the phrase "a bit more obscure" makes some sense, and that's where this all started.

here's johnny ryall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pKNmLMs7ugw#t=288s

Cool, I didn't realize that whole album thing had it broken down by track.

can we just say the word "relatively" is usually IMPLIED in front of the word "obscure" and that context is everything and move the fuck on?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XflfiylNNXY

39. "THREE MC'S AND ONE DJ" (1998) [145 points, 8 votes]

I cut this last. I thought I loved it but it turns out I don't.

Johnny Ryall, a real person who made records or not?

no.

I thought mike d said yes? and then there's this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuhGGth0_M4

Love the video for "Three MCs" as much as the song. Which is a fair amount in both cases.

I'm going by the 33 1/3 book on Paul's Boutique:

Johnny Ryall was a vagrant who frequently turned up on the stoop of Diamond's New York apartment building after the Licensed to Ill tour. No one recalls his real name, but he was rechristened by Diamond's roommate at the time, Sean Carasov, who also invented a history for the amiable beggar. "I had this brain fart that he used to be a rockabilly star. He had that look," says Carasov "Actually, he kinda looked like the fifty-miles-of-bad-road version of Chet Baker."

I do love the video.

this version has a shot of the 45, you can see the name johnny ryall under some sharpie scribbles, perhaps the fictional backstory became so detailed it began to intrude upon reality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBInorRr9p4

If there are almost 18 million results for it and a youtube of it is the first google option then yes, it's not obscure.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, May 14, 2012 2:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oooh, a whole 69,306 views on YouTube. I'm sorry, my glasses are a little fogged up there, dad, is that Justin Bieber?

huh, i always figured they were actually saying "johnny royale" and just called it "johnny ryall" as a joke

johnny ryall is great, huge nostalgia for this

those sharpie scribbles are apparently an inscription from johnny himself!

Hey Whiney that song was like a million posts ago, how about you pick a new fight about a new song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99v9-4uk9ZQ

38. "SKILLS TO PAY THE BILLS" (1992) [152 points, 8 votes]

How and why did that track get left off Check Your Head?

forgot to vote for this! So damn good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teQqelBTw7g

37. "SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE" (1992) [157 points, 7 points]

I always visualize that song with the MTV promo that played it over shots of the Los Lobos "Kiko" video

THIS ONE IS CALLED RECTIFY

is there a good beasties comp of like non-album tracks from like "Rock Hard" --> "Alive"

i might have to cobble it myself in a spare weekend sometime

last one for today...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZdMuIq3NLY

36. "REMOTE CONTROL" (1998) [169 points, 9 votes]

"Three MC's" made my top ten, I think.

50. "GIRLS" (1986) [83 points, 5 votes]
49. "SHE'S ON IT" (1985) [93 points, 4 votes]
TIE 47. "TIME FOR LIVIN'" (1992) [95 points, 5 votes]
TIE 47. "FINGER LICKIN' GOOD" (1992) [95 points, 5 votes]
46. "FLUTE LOOP" (1994) [104 points, 5 votes]
45. "ROCK HARD" (1985) [115 points, 5 votes]
44. "SONG FOR THE MAN" (1998) [126 points, 8 votes]
43. "BODHISATTVA VOW" (1994) [128 points, 6 votes]
42. "POSSE IN EFFECT" (1986) [136 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]
41. "3 MINUTE RULE" (1989) [138 points, 6 votes]
40. "JOHNNY RYALL" (1989) [143 points, 9 votes]
39. "THREE MC'S AND ONE DJ" (1998) [145 points, 8 votes]
38. "SKILLS TO PAY THE BILLS" (1992) [152 points, 8 votes]
37. "SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE" (1992) [157 points, 7 points]
36. "REMOTE CONTROL" (1998) [169 points, 9 votes]

is there a good beasties comp of like non-album tracks from like "Rock Hard" --> "Alive"

nope. gotta do that shit yrself

That Sounds of Science 2-disc thing from 1999 (whence "Alive" originally came) has some, but it's hardly comprehensive. The individual Capitol/Grand Royal cd reissues are pretty stacked, but you'll still have to dig around in dark corners for the Def Jam stuff.

Bad Brains had appx zero hip-hop influence afaik

I think about this alot though. I think the lineage is
• "Cookie Puss"
• The last 10 seconds of "Change the Style" by Son of Bazerk
• The first Body Count album
• The hxc tracks on Check Your Head and Ill Communication
• The Roots' "!!!!!!" [this is track three off Phrenology and YouTube is no help]

― thommys got bendz (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, May 13, 2012 9:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Rock N Roll by Mos Def

ha, yeah!

i wasn't making the point that "She's On It" is obscure because it's not on Spotify or anything, to be clear (although i was surprised that it's not even collected on any of their compilations).

Out of their whopping two multi-territory, wide-release, non-instrumental compilations, half of them were compiled by the band and not Capitol, and that one does include She's On It (although as the sleeve notes point out, only because Malcolm Young still declined a personal request to allow Rock Hard on.)

The Rock Hard 12" got re-released about five years ago on the Def Jam Classics imprint btw.

How and why did that track get left off Check Your Head?

The Beasties have always been firm believers in singles having b-sides

i'd rank the obscurity of beatie boys tracks this way...

0: hit singles
1: fan-favorite album cuts and non-hit singles
2: other album cuts from their first five albums
3: other album cuts from their last three albums
4: non-album tracks and outtakes etc that have appeared on major compilations or as album-reissue bonus tracks
5: non-album tracks etc that were officially issued, but remain uncompiled (or rarely compiled)
6: outtakes and ephemera that were never officially issued and remain uncompiled, but which leaked somehow (boots, w/e)
7: stuff that has never even leaked and that basically no one outside the band has ever heard

all the shit we're talking about is at least moderately obscure, relatively obscure. seems a dumb word to get hung up on.

can you rank every song on your ballot on the 1-7 scale thanking you in advance

my head hurts

can you rank every song on your ballot on the 1-7 scale thanking you in advance

sure, i'll pm you

I've been looking at a few online lists of greatest/favourite Beastie Boys songs (Rolling Stone, three or four others), and looks like I am way off on "Rock Hard"--not a single mention, even on a list of 38. Guess I'm just lucky that my friend Peter got me interested in them early. "She's on It," a little less clear--it actually made the Top 10 in the UK, and is still their third biggest hit there.

Mr Veg started with Beasties from Cooky Puss and was all over the Rock Hard EP, he had always led me to believe it was a lot more popular than it appears it was, so I'm kinda with you there, clemenza...still, hard to believe that a huge-sounding song like that didn't just blow up everywhere, lol

If "Rock Hard" had gone #1 a year-plus before Licensed to Ill, I might never have been subjected to "The Final Countdown."

http://www.heavyharmonies.com/bandpics/europe.jpg

oof

i'd rank the obscurity of beatie boys tracks this way...

You missed the Country Mike LP in between 5 and 6, recalibrate your scale before emailing Whiney

The Country Mike album is so bad. I hope nobody voted for any tracks from it.

Posse In Effect is way too low!



*37. "SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE" (1992) [157 points, 7 points]*

Something's Got to Give was in my top 5 - so profoundly stoned, with that spaced-out Planet Caravan vocal effect. When I first heard it I thought that another band could use this as the template for their whole sound.

The Beasties have lots of songs like that; things they never quite repeated but which you could see being worth exploring for a whole career - Gratitude being another. In fact, much of CYH is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4-F6QFcNxQ

35. "B-BOYS MAKIN' WITH THE FREAK FREAK" (1994) [172 points, 8 votes]

Aw man some of the pics on that utube are great! I love AdRock

Ad-Rock's always been the cutest.

I'm happy, though somewhat surprised, to see "B-Boys Makin' With The Freak Freak" this high. I've always loved it, but most of my friends see it as minor Beasties at best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKNmLMs7ugw&t=10m44s

34. "HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER" (1989) [202 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]

Eh, timecode embeds are a fail. Click through if you want to hear it.

How will i ever hear "High Plains Drifter"

we can sing it for u

imma

high

high

plains

plains

driftah

Can I do the drum fills

Lol @ this dope beastie boys song being carried by Don Henley's drumming #endoftheinnocence

only good thing Henley ever did imo

well he hasn't died yet so

cause I'm mello like jell-ello

cool like lemonade

xpost we wait in hope

my man turned to me and said WHY ARE YOU HERE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pKNmLMs7ugw#t=644s

made my getaway and thought that i had it made

otis seemed cool

you've got a mailbox on your bumper and bald front tiiiiiiiiire

houdini out the cuffs

OUTTA THE CAR LONGHAIR
your goose is cooked

SUUUZZZEEEE IZZZ UHH HEEAADDBAANNGGEEERR

\m/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hlMi6PvUDE

awesome

prefer Poison's cover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyfV9sOhwnc

33. "COOKY PUSS" (1983) [202 points, 11 votes]

damn that's low

(I didn't vote for it)

I voted for it, but down at the bottom of my ballot. I'm known on occasion to break out with a "I said I HOUSE ya" for no good reason.

While C.P. himself was unforgettable if you were growing in up in NY/NE/FLA regions, I'd forgotten about Cookie O'Puss, who gets a passing shoutout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4TieV3QirU

I remember wanting a Fudgie the Whale cake for my birthday, but one of my friends got one for theirs and that changed my mind. Carvel ice cream was so nasty. Do they still exist?

some kind of licensed (and merely rectangular) ice cream cakes labeled "Carvel" are available in the freezer section of my local supermarket here in NC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1nClHbCUqs

32. "THE MOVE" (1998) [227 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]

A late cut. The best song on the first half of Hello Nasty.

I GOT THE ILL PERIPHERAL

woulda been higher if I'd remembered to vote for it

harpsichord break is alltime imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxZbJXnhuw0

31. "SHE'S CRAFTY" (1986) [234 points, 11 votes]

noooooooooooooow I like nothin better than a pretty girl's smile
and I haven't seen a smile that pretty in a while

love she's crafty!!

remember wanting a Fudgie the Whale cake for my birthday, but one of my friends got one for theirs and that changed my mind. Carvel ice cream was so nasty. Do they still exist?

nonsense -- best soft serve ice cream for years. Quite a few remain open in Miami.

Yeah there's a Carvel over by my office here in Folsom. i kinda like their icecream!

Back to B-Boys Making:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smrJ7459pj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvRBUw_Ls2o

30. "BODY MOVIN'" (1998) [250 points, 12 votes]

Love the video, but not a huge fan of the song. Despise that Fatboy Slim remix.

yeah, the prevalence of that fatboy slim remix is baffling

steel drums sample on the original pretty much makes the song for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUgFBBTELB8

Yeah, original version is like 500% better than the dumb remix.

like the fatboy slim "body movin'" remix used in that video soooo much more than the album version

>:(

contrarianizer, more like

Body Movin is probably the best thing on Hello Nasty. or, at least, it's the one that stands out to me as the most memorable. still didn't vote for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imXOfBSMguA

29. "STAND TOGETHER" (1992) [252 points, 14 votes]

CYH's "secret weapon" as previously mentioned

A secret weapon I happily left off my ballot and most often skip when playing the album.

weirdo

yeah, happy to be non-contrarian abt stand together. great song.

I gave it my #20 on a whim at the last minute when I cooled on 3 MCs. More for its potential in truth - I can imagine growing to love it.

http://youtu.be/v1W8es-VHQs?t=6m43s

28. "THE NEGOTIATION LIMERICK FILE" (1998) [264 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote]

Now this one I can get behind. It was instantly my favorite on Hello Nasty and remains so.

great underrated song

My #3. Love it.

http://youtu.be/G1nClHbCUqs?t=01s

27. "SUPER DISCO BREAKIN'" (1998) [283 points, 13 votes]

here we are!

xp Carvel still exists.

The lyrics of "Body Movin" are totally fun and I somehow still remembered all of them when I heard it a few days ago for the first time since like 1999. I never loved its production on any specific version, but who cares...

I didn't vote for it though, but it's not that bad.

I had my hopes up for "Something's Got To Give" placin just a lil higher than that.

"Super Disco Breakin" was my highest-ranked Hello Nasty cut. Such a great high-voltage album opener.

who checks their rear view when the siren comes in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rDklqPG5pU

26. "I DON'T KNOW" (1998) [295 points, 13 votes]

man you guys really like Hello Nasty

i'm not a big hello nasty fan, but i did vote for i don't know. sounds like thurston moore being a sad hippie with a bent flower.

sounds like thurston moore being a sad hippie with a bent flower.

ha! it really does.

voted for both of these

Very sad Thurston. Good call on that comparison.

I saw someone who looked like a hippie last week holding a flower and I started humming "I Don't Know."

"I Don't Know" is nice and all, but one thing this poll reaffirmed for me is I really prefer loud yapping Beasties to dreamy/experimental Beasties.

I'm sure everyone agrees with you. "I Don't Know" is a good palate cleanser though, like Pellegrino after a night of drinking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIKsqWkwJ_A

25. "JIMMY JAMES" (1992) [323 points, 15 votes]

fuck yeah

Turtles' "I'm Chief Kamanawanalea" is my favorite break/drumloop ever

such a great opener

killer.

"I Don't Know" is a good palate cleanser though, like Pellegrino after a night of drinking.

Yup. In the context of the album I like it just fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqajEd_DKgk

24. "PROFESSOR BOOTY" (1992) [331 points, 14 votes, 1 first place vote]

My #1, though more for memories around it than it being their absolute best.

Professor, what's another word for pirate treasure?

booty
booty
buh buh booty
booty

that's what it is

i think i like that part, and the other samples, more than the track/rapping

So don't touch me
Cause I'm electric
And if you touch me
You'll get shocked!

Ride around town on my low-rider bicycle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5g79zfjdts

man you guys really like Hello Nasty

Hello Nasty is a good album! I think that's a pretty noncontroversial statement. Also, it's going to place exactly 1 song in the top 25, so it's not like it's beloved here above all else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBShN8qT4lk

23. "FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT (TO PARTY)" (1986) [334 points, 15 votes]

I hope no bad people show up.

i think i like that part, and the other samples, more than the track/rapping

― The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to (contenderizer),

exactly why it made my ballot

"Fight For Your Right" at #23 isn't quite as silly as "Whole Lotta Love" at #33 but it's still in the annals of ILM tracks poll foolishness

yeah, good grief @ ILM

boo

man, that videoe is dopey

That is ridiculously, insanely low. For shame.

I mean, there's not even one thing wrong with it.

all will be forgiven if paul revere is #1

everything about Fight is top 10 classic, I don't understand what is WRONG with ilx sometimes.

YOU GODDAMN DIRTY APES

:)

Isn't it just the ubiquity problem? It's a great song that I wore out in 1987; I don't hear the Beastie Boys often on the radio, but there's one station that will play "Fight for Your Right" now and again and nothing else.

Didn't vote for it. Though it made me a fan in '86, I'm cool with never hearing it again. Same with Paul Revere. Sorry.

Cf. "Satisfaction," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "Sweet Home Alabama," countless others.

"The ubiquity problem" is some bullshit.

ugh seriously

yeah nbd it's just a stone cold classic that you are all killing with indifference, jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez louise

I frickin HATE the ubiquity argument, it makes me IA

i've never held ubiquity against any song i actually like, except maybe during the moment of its peak popularity. once it becomes just another "golden oldie", i'll love it again just as i did before it got played to death. veggiegrrl otm:

everything about Fight is top 10 classic, I don't understand what is WRONG with ilx sometimes.

YOU GODDAMN DIRTY APES

DL -- are you actually saying you don't get tired of songs you once thought were great? Or do you approach these polls as if there's a correct answer?

I used to love the ubiquity argument but it was all I ever heard and now I'm sick of it.

i may get tired of them for a while, but if i really liked them in the first place, i'll eventually get over the "tired of them" part and come back around. i can always find room in my heart for the songs i love, even the popular ones.

them = ubiquitous songs

Getting tired of songs you've overplayed yourself, or that have been overplayed by other people, seems like a fact of life for me--you acknowledge the song's greatness, remember when it's the only thing in the world you wanted to hear, but don't place it high on list of favourites if you don't want to hear it right now.

WmC--good one.

I'd like to wager that a lot of ppl ITT know every single word to Fight without even playing it and if pressed you could still remember the first time you heard it or recount jumping around your bedroom to it or whatever and somehow that is completely meaningless because...why I have no idea

Ha WmC.

Quite often I'll pull some of the singles from my ballot 'cos I figure the rest of you will take up the slack, but no way was I pulling Fight For Your Right. I had it at #4, and was worried that was too low.

It is everything to love about pop music, right there.

but don't place it high on list of favourites if you don't want to hear it right now.

no way, because otherwise my list of favorites would be dominated by whatever happened to sound fresh to me atm, and would take no account of how important things have been to me over the entire course of my life

shame shame shame on anyone who slighted "fight for your right" just because it happened to be hugely popular a quarter century ago

Fight For Your Right was never my favorite off of that record. I know I'm sorta gonna regret not picking more than 2 LTI songs for my ballot, but I did what I could do with 20 spots.

fight for your right, sweet home alabama and satisfaction are all awesome. whole lotta love is a steaming POS

And yes, I can come out the other side on that, too. For a long time, I stayed away from Taxi Driver--there was one time where I'd just seen it too many times. About five years later, it was like seeing it for the first time all over again. That happens too.

Contenderizer: that's one way to approach a list, but it's not the only way. I'd never list anything I didn't want to hear or watch right now. I'm trying to achieve some kind of 10- or 20-year mean. Other people do it your way.

shame shame shame on anyone who slighted "fight for your right" just because it happened to be hugely popular a quarter century ago

You know, you're constantly complaining about people not understanding you--that's in now way what I said! I'm not punishing the song...

I didn't slight it because it was popular, I slighted it because it doesn't do anything for me anymore. That it was popular just means I still hear it even though I'd rather not.

"not trying to achieve..." I meant to write.

I'm exactly where EZ Snappin on this. It seems so simple.

You know, you're constantly complaining about people not understanding you

fair enough, but i was mostly kidding. i'm sure we all have enough to be ashamed of even before we figure in the beastie boys ballots.

http://youtu.be/pKNmLMs7ugw?t=7m47s

22. "EGG MAN" (1989) [334 points, 16 votes, 1 first place vote]

anyway this is my jam

This one I'm bummed I cut so thanks to all who voted for it.

xp Of course there's no correct answer. I just don't have that response to songs. In various polls I've placed songs like Waterloo Sunset or Enjoy the Silence high because it doesn't matter how many times I hear them they're still great. I only get tired of a song if (like Satisfaction) I didn't truly love it in the first place. I've worn out songs at certain times but they've always bounced back. I'm amazed that so many people consider something as good as Fight For Your Right played out. When the feds take away the right to party I'll know who to blame.

Quick Spotify playlist - Check Your Head samples

http://open.spotify.com/user/nathanwoolls/playlist/6WRX29zIBqdEF8FJAliKOz

I didn't slight it because it was popular, I slighted it because it doesn't do anything for me anymore. That it was popular just means I still hear it even though I'd rather not.

^^^

EggMan still does it for me tho

K-PAP

<i>When the feds take away the right to party I'll know who to blame.</i>

^ otm

No one's calling it played out! We just don't like it anymore. It happens.

The Superfly groove, the Psycho strings...all of it is just a grooveathon and I freaking love it

xpost well you're wrong and one day you'll realize what you've done and the party will be long gone and it'll be all your fault

I only get tired of a song if (like Satisfaction) I didn't truly love it in the first place.

Last thing I'll say, I've sidetracked this enough already. I can think of many, many songs I once loved that I got tired of. I do not, for a second, start wondering if that means I never loved them in the first place. Of course I did.

Egg Man - wow, I'd never read the words before. I just blabbered along in ignorance. Magnificent.

xp great work again nate

The party will never die. We have LMFAO now! (Half-kidding.)

Last one for today...

that party sucks and you know it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb7g6urLjzI

21. "BRASS MONKEY" (1986) [346 points, 16 votes]

awwwww yeah

YO BABY WASSUP

don't dare tell me Hold It Now.. won't be in the Top 20? that's gotta be everyone's fave off ..ILL right?

Hold It Now? It's good but it ain't a favorite

Shame, shame, shame--I cast thee out!

can it, party pooper

with vg on "hold it". it's okay, but not one my LTI favorites.

Hold It Now is great. In my top 10.

I didn't vote for it either. I was making a point, but I've already forgotten what it was.

Hold It Now is great. In my top 10.

it is great, don't get me wrong. if was gonna vote for 10 songs off LTI, it would totally be #8.

I could've happily put all of LTI on my ballot

time for your nap, clemenza

Please--I'm very sensitive about my (nods off mid-sentence).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d9/Soundsofscience.jpg/220px-Soundsofscience.jpg

"Hold It Now, Hit It" is my second favorite LTI track.

what's your favorite?

"Rhymin' And Stealin'"

nice

I didn't vote for Hold It, tho I get the appeal. Paul Revere placed the highest from LTI for me

Rhymin has to be in my top 5 of all-time awesome album openers --- and one of my LTI faves

I'd heard "Fight For Your Right" but when I got the album and the Levee drums kicked in I was all WHOA.

Kicks like a mule. Gets me every time.

ali baba and the 40 thieves, ali baba and the 40 thieves, ali baba and the 40 thieves, ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES, ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES, ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES

I actually like Fight for Your Right more now than I did when it came out, but I really didn't like it when it came out. Took me hearing more of the album to decide they weren't no-talent jerks.

"Brass Monkey" otoh was in my top 5. On the soundtrack to countless college parties.

ali baba and the 40 thieves, ali baba and the 40 thieves, ali baba and the 40 thieves, ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES, ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES, ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES

^ why it ranked so high on my ballot

SKIRT CHASIN FREE BASIN KILLING EVERY VILLAGE
WE DRINK!
AND ROB!
AND RHYME!
AND PILLAGE!

More Spotify:

Licensed to Ill samples http://open.spotify.com/user/nathanwoolls/playlist/7DG1SXpa10VXL5ZUsPegdj

Ill Communication samples http://open.spotify.com/user/nathanwoolls/playlist/1fs0cieI8XM9LO0F39xDgr

The flute sample from Sure Shot is crazy, never heard it before.

Hold It Now.. really predicts Paul's Boutique imo. had i heard it back in the day i doubt i'd have been startled by PB you know?

ali baba and the 40 thieves, ali baba and the 40 thieves, ali baba and the 40 thieves, ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES, ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES, ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES

^ why it ranked so high on my ballot

― The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to (contenderizer),

Hold It Now Hit It was my #2.

I had Paul Revere & Fight in my top 10 and No Sleep & Rhymin in the bottom 10. Cut the New Style and She's Crafty at the last minute, so depressing

my top 5 were from LTI tbh

listening to Rhymin' right now and it still gives me goosebumps. I am most chill cuz I'm rhymin' and stealin'.

PISTOL IS LOADED I SHOT BETTY CROCKER
DELIVER COLONEL SANDERS DOWN TO DAVY JONES LOCKER

that line and the delivery following makes me want to break and throw things, I love it so much

I wouldn't give up on seeing "hold it, now hit it"

"fight for yr right" was not one of my favorite tracks on LTI, it was OK but seemed like a "she's on it" retread and, compared to the other stuff on the album, was punching below their weight. then the single hit and it became really annoying really quickly. at this point I don't hate it and get the cultural significance but also never need to hear it again.

Hold It Now is my #1, easy

oh ed you're just jealous it's the BEA STIE BOYS

ha

did you vote whiney?

it was OK but seemed like a "she's on it" retread

Perhaps. I prefer to view it as a refinement of a previously attempted style.

ha

did you vote whiney?
--diamanda ram dass (Edward III)

ivoted.jpg

I mean, "Fight For Your Right" and "Girls" are barely rap songs, which is why they rank so low for me. Even alt-rock stuff like "Sabotage" and "Gratitude" have more rapping on them!

"Hold It" and "New Style" were probably the purest "of-their-era" rap songs in the entire Beasties discography, which is why its probably been sampled the most by rappers!

my appreciation of "fight for your right" has nothing to do with how rap it is or isn't. i just like it.

but that's me. don't suppose there's anything wrong with rapness rankings.

I feel like Sabotage and Gratitude have equally as much rap as FFYR, but get the rock thing so much more correct.

Cosign.

my appreciation of "fight for your right" has nothing to do with how rap it is or isn't. i just like it.

― The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to (contenderizer), Wednesday, May 16, 2012 12:18 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

but that's me. don't suppose there's anything wrong with rapness rankings.

― The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to (contenderizer), Wednesday, May 16, 2012 12:19 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'll get this out of the way before JF gets back to his countdown...So "I just like it" is okay, but "I just heard it too often" is cause for the third degree; and "don't suppose there's anything wrong with rapness rankings," but there is something wrong with basing your list on what you happen to like best when you make up the list? Just trying to get this straight.

FFYRTP was on my list, but relatively low. I was 7 when it came out. I'm not really fussed by LTI much at all. PB through HN are "my" Beastie Boys, and that's cool with me.

rapness

read this as rapanese

I didn't vote for 'FFYR' but that's only because there are 20+ other BBs songs I prefer - I still think it's great. Think I mentioned in the voting thread but 'Intergalactic' is the only one of theirs I actually got sick of - I loved it when it first came out but I just heard it so many times in crap bars/rock clubs and it wore thin in a way that their other big songs didn't. It's not like I think this means it was actually a crap song all along but my ballot was based on what I like *now* and right now it'd be nowhere near my top 20.

Dug out the Sounds of Science anthology and the sleevenotes are great - each song gets discussed by one member.

Yauch on Fight For Your Right: "It was a joke that went too far… So I guess that the story could have a couple of possible morals. One might be, 'Be careful of what you make fun of or you might become it.'"

Yauch on Song for the Man: "Listening to the lyrics of this song, one might say that the Beastie Boy 'Fight for Your Right to Party' guy is a hypocrite. Well, maybe; but in this fucked up world all you can hope for is change, and I'd rather be a hypocrite to you than a zombie forever."

(xpost) Same here. Sorry for even bringing it up again--yesterday's detour around "Fight for Your Right" just struck me as really strange. But I know the Top 20 is today, so I won't mention the matter again. Final irony: I actually almost voted for "Fight for Your Right" (on a very abbreviated ballot), but instead went with a couple of the other metallish songs on Licensed, both of which still hit me full-force when relistened to some stuff (trying to figure out what I could and couldn't play for my students when I discussed MCA's death).

I feel like Sabotage and Gratitude have equally as much rap as FFYR, but get the rock thing so much more correct.

― how's life, Wednesday, May 16, 2012 4:53 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

if you don't think Sabotage has more actual rap than FFYR, then I don't know what

did you vote whiney?

― diamanda ram dass (Edward III)

ivoted.jpg

― thommys got bendz (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, May 15, 2012 11:29 PM (Yesterday)

then I think that guarantees "hold it now hit it" placing :)

not to be all "old deej" about it too, but before "FFYR" and "No Sleep" were all over rock stations and MTV, "Hold It Now" was the song that actually resonated on rap radio in the 80s. Lots of Elvisy stories about dudes not knowing they where white etc etc. It really is the "heads" choice if that means anything to anyone, and it obviously does every time D-40 makes fun of me for liking "Cadillacs on 22s"

^ this is all true but I voted for "hold it now" cuz it was a jam then and it's a jam now, the bass hits on that are superb for alltimes

and not to pull some losing my edge shit here but really whiney how old were you in 1986?

I'll get this out of the way before JF gets back to his countdown...So "I just like it" is okay, but "I just heard it too often" is cause for the third degree; and "don't suppose there's anything wrong with rapness rankings," but there is something wrong with basing your list on what you happen to like best when you make up the list? Just trying to get this straight.

― clemenza, Wednesday, May 16, 2012 3:20 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i gave you a hard time because i was (not really) incensed at the low placement of "fight for your right", and i suspect that a lot of people elided or slighted it due to its onetime ubiquity and/or obviousness. wanted to strike a small blow for "first love best love", not that any of this really matters.

with whiney, i was just lolling at the absurdity of rating beastie boys songs according to their rapness.

It's a good thing all your suspicions were wrong and you apologized for it.

xposts to clemenza: fwiw sometimes I think I'm not cutout for music polls, much as I enjoy them. Mainly because I'm not grown up enough to brush off a song I love polling lower than I want it to. seems like a lot of ilxors itt ranked Fight a lot lower than I expected, and so I just need to put on my big girl pants and get over it, lol

honestly I don't think there's anything wrong with basing your ballot of what you want to hear now. which is a long-winded way of saying, um, truce?

Get a grip VG, spats are the essence of these polls.

50. "GIRLS" (1986) [83 points, 5 votes]
49. "SHE'S ON IT" (1985) [93 points, 4 votes]
TIE 47. "TIME FOR LIVIN'" (1992) [95 points, 5 votes]
TIE 47. "FINGER LICKIN' GOOD" (1992) [95 points, 5 votes]
46. "FLUTE LOOP" (1994) [104 points, 5 votes]
45. "ROCK HARD" (1985) [115 points, 5 votes]
44. "SONG FOR THE MAN" (1998) [126 points, 8 votes]
43. "BODHISATTVA VOW" (1994) [128 points, 6 votes]
42. "POSSE IN EFFECT" (1986) [136 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]
41. "3 MINUTE RULE" (1989) [138 points, 6 votes]
40. "JOHNNY RYALL" (1989) [143 points, 9 votes]
39. "THREE MC'S AND ONE DJ" (1998) [145 points, 8 votes]
38. "SKILLS TO PAY THE BILLS" (1992) [152 points, 8 votes]
37. "SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE" (1992) [157 points, 7 points]
36. "REMOTE CONTROL" (1998) [169 points, 9 votes]
35. "B-BOYS MAKIN' WITH THE FREAK FREAK" (1994) [172 points, 8 votes]
34. "HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER" (1989) [202 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]
33. "COOKY PUSS" (1983) [202 points, 11 votes]
32. "THE MOVE" (1998) [227 points, 10 votes, 1 first place vote]
31. "SHE'S CRAFTY" (1986) [234 points, 11 votes]
30. "BODY MOVIN'" (1998) [250 points, 12 votes]
29. "STAND TOGETHER" (1992) [252 points, 14 votes]
28. "THE NEGOTIATION LIMERICK FILE" (1998) [264 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote]
27. "SUPER DISCO BREAKIN'" (1998) [283 points, 13 votes]
26. "I DON'T KNOW" (1998) [295 points, 13 votes]
25. "JIMMY JAMES" (1992) [323 points, 15 votes]
24. "PROFESSOR BOOTY" (1992) [331 points, 14 votes, 1 first place vote]
23. "FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT (TO PARTY)" (1986) [334 points, 15 votes]
22. "EGG MAN" (1989) [334 points, 16 votes, 1 first place vote]
21. "BRASS MONKEY" (1986) [346 points, 16 votes]

Breaking into the top 20 in just a few minutes...

xp I thought part of the fun of poll results was to get comically irate for five minutes about something which doesn't matter. I'm never actually that bothered. Apart from when people voted Autechre the best dance duo of the 90s - fuck those guys.

It's a good thing all your suspicions were wrong and you apologized for it.

lol, eat my shorts

http://youtu.be/pKNmLMs7ugw?t=29m26s

20. "CAR THIEF" (1989) [359 points, 16 votes, 1 first place vote]

Car Thief is great but the demo is even better.

yeah the demos is *nasty* innit. way nastier than anything off ..ILL lyrically iirc.

Car Thief is cool. I like the way it dovetails onto the back of Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun, they kind of feel like two parts of the same song

^ otm

http://youtu.be/aBG1AUYxu4Y

Dust Joint [Car Thief Demo]

<3 that "car thief" demo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSYsIrzwU7c

19. "THE NEW STYLE" (1986) [361 points, 13 votes, 1 first place vote]

No big deal--I was just fighting for my right to say, "That's a great song I used to love, I just wore it out." Onward!

with whiney, i was just lolling at the absurdity of rating beastie boys songs according to their rapness.

― The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to (contenderizer), Wednesday, May 16, 2012 12:13 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

whyever would a rap fan do this to one of the most important rap groups ever?

whiney do you want me to tag you in for an IA rant? let me know

contenderizer's whole "it's nor REEEALLY rap anymore" attitude when white new york punkrats or white Tumblr teenagers do it is mad tiresome

white Tumblr teenagers

Plz don't pollute this beautiful poll thread, k thx.

Questlove wrote some cool stuff abt MCA/Beasties after he passed, this part is worth quoting re: The New Style

(Circa 95, Roots on tour with the Beasties) ...it was just the four of us. shooting some hoops in the truck storage area (a tradition for those guys before showtime) and they were already to switch up some songs in the lineup. i played the back grabbing rebounds passing it back to them kinda like a ball boy’s role for the team about to hit the court warming up.—they were a song short in the new lineup and were tryna figure out what they could muster up. so then i went for the gusto:

“how about “The New Style”? y’all aint done that in like forever.—-

there was silence….

and then…

“wait who starts it?…..

“center stage on the mic….”

“because your girlfriend is cattin….”

“ahmir what’s my line?……”

“oh yeah ‘Father To Many Married To None…..”

‘should we just do 2 verses?”

i lost it “y’all crazy?!?! the breakdown is the best part of the entire song! why do “New Style” if you don’t let all the fly “skimmers feel the beat…..mmmmmmmm drop!”

i convinced em.

they rehearsed the song like 4 times in a row acapella to an audience of me as Dave Seville meets Doug Fresh (what you thought i was gonna let them do my JAM and me not keep the beat?)

http://www.okayplayer.com/news/mca-what-does-it-mean-by-questlove.html

aw

I know right? warm and fuzzies

[/warmfuzzies]

whyever would a rap fan do this to one of the most important rap groups ever?

i like punkrock. i do not rate the quality of punk songs according to their punkness.
i like jazz. i do not rate the quality of jazz songs according to their jazzness.
i like rap. i do not rate the quality of rap songs according to their rapness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf1YF_MH1xc

18. "ROOT DOWN" (1994) [362 points, 16 votes]

idgi
xp
'Root Down' i totally get!

Root Down is just so goddamn funky I love it. Even when I think I'm tired of it, it's still got...somethin'

"Root Down" is dope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Y0cy-nvAg

17. "NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN" (1986) [368 points, 15 votes, 3 first place votes]

"No Sleep" is actually the song i like that i've gotten a little weary of from rock radio overplay over the last few years (whereas "Fight" has actually grown on me more). voted for both, though.

Love the intake of breath to start.

MCA's in the back cuz he's skeezin' with a hoo-wah

well, at least "no sleep" went top 20

While you're at the job workin 9 to 5, Beastie Boys at the Garden cold kickin it liiiiii-iiiive

not a huge "no sleep" fan but it's got better rhymes than "fight for yr right"

our manager's crazy, he always smokes dust, he's got his own room at the back of the bus

another plane another train another bottle to the brain

<3 car thief and new style

I wanted so much to show the "No Sleep" video to my grade 6s. Couldn't do it. I hope it takes second place for videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB0NM6reiRE

16. "HOLD IT NOW, HIT IT" (1986) [450 points, 16 votes, 3 first place votes]

there it is

1st place votes = me + whiney + ?

Don't beat me to a bloody pulp but something about the whistle-noises in this track makes it kinda grate on me a little? I love the rhymes but unless I'm listening to the album as a whole I don't listen to it on its own much at all.

I forgot how much I love "the new style"

i am okay with this "new style" that is going on

<3 car thief and new style

― diamanda ram dass (Edward III), Wednesday, May 16, 2012 5:37 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hold it now's "I come from Brooklyn cos that's where I'm FROM" is all-time

now that I do agree with

New Style and Hold It Now still blow me away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdJ5e70Q8mw

15. "GRATITUDE" (1992) [496 points, 22 votes, 2 first place votes]

I didn't vote for it but it is def classic

Don't beat me to a bloody pulp but something about the whistle-noises in this track makes it kinda grate on me a little?

never go to a latin DJ night

gratitude such a weird song, also great

xpost lol okay

I hate alarms and whistles and shit like that

awesome! who else gave it first place? this song is such a slice of molten bass fuzz. first rifff i learned after a friend taught me about pentatonic scales.

yeah that riff is killer

"gratitude" is a weird song, and a great one. on relistening, i was struck by how distinctive the beastie boys particular rap/rock fusion was circa check your head and ill communication. nobody else was writing songs like "gratitude", "stand together" and "sabotage", much less mixing those hybrid sounds up with rap, straight hardcore and funky slow jams. surprises me that this approach wasn't more directly copied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qORYO0atB6g

14. "INTERGALACTIC" (1998) [505 points, 22 votes]

most ppl mixing rap and rock failed miserably

xp

kinda pleased "Intergalactic" missed the top 10, never liked it

this always make me think of the BBs on "celebrity deathmatch"

planetary intergalactic

I still kinda like Intergalactic but it's nowhere my favorite off HN...def not a top 10 for me

i always think I must be sick of this, but then i hear it and it turns out i'm not.

i mostly just like when the robot has an erection

but then it's one of only 2 tracks i like on HN

mario c like to keep it clean
gonna shine like a sun beam
keep on rappin cuz that's my dream
got an A from kool moe dee for STICKIN to THEMES

this is my fave

When I wrote graffiti my name was Slop
If my rap's soup my beats is stock
Step from the tables as I start to chop
I'm a lumber jack DJ Adrock

the phrasing on that section is just DOPE to me, I love it

in general, though, hello nasty lacks nasty

I'll stir fry you in my WOK

i do have a fondness for the Biz Markie-inspired pronunciation of "Beatsie Boys"

otm

Gratitude was my #2. I don't find it weird or distinctive as such, it just hits the buttons as a cracking pop tune.

most ppl mixing rap and rock failed miserably

I really, really wish I had been into Check Your Head when I was at school. They would've improved my life condiderably. My band was always trying to do Rage songs, veering off into the miserablism of grunge. The Beastie Boys' playfulness, and indeed way with a pop hook, would've been so way cooler. Not to be embarrassed to have fun.

I never even noticed that at this point they were a rock band 'til we did this poll. Even Sabotage, it never clicked 'til now what they were doing. I guess because they looked so different and their personas were the flip of everyone else's.

Ah, if only.

Gratitude was my number one, iirc.

Despite its mid-careerness and the falloff in mic skills, I thought "Intergalactic" would be top 10 for sure. Possibly their best single after LTI, though not the best song. "Shake Your Rump" is a better song, but a worse single, I think. Not gonna get into my reasoning there, but I'm pretty sure both were top 5 on my ballot anyway.

"shake your rump" was top 5 for me, but "intergalactic" came in fairly low. cool and catchy pop tune, but the rhyming just isn't their best, and and it lacks the manic energy of my favorite BBs tracks.

the day after MCA died I was at a kentucky derby party and I asked the host to put on some beasties. he played "intergalactic" and everybody danced their asses off. after the line "like a pinch on the neck from mr spock" me and my 8yo daughter threw up the live long and prosper sign. ah, life.

Intergalactic still isn't played out. A perfect pop song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzRKkXk56iE

13. "GET IT TOGETHER (ft. Q-Tip)" (1994) [538 points, 25 votes]

I freak a fuckin beat like the shit was in a blender.

^ high rapness index

Ad Rock's down with the Ione
Listen to the shit cos both of them is bony

Intergalactic still isn't played out. A perfect pop song.

― Scary Move 4 (dog latin), Wednesday, May 16, 2012

yah seriously this made my top five

Despite its mid-careerness and the falloff in mic skills, I thought "Intergalactic" would be top 10 for sure. Possibly their best single after LTI, though not the best song. "Shake Your Rump" is a better song, but a worse single, I think.

otm

awesome! who else gave it first place? this song is such a slice of molten bass fuzz. first rifff i learned after a friend taught me about pentatonic scales.

it was my #2, and definitely would have been my #1 in eighth grade. i love that outro so much

Get It Together was my #2

Danced my ass off to this & Eggman at every house party I went to in college.

CAUSE SHE'S THE CHEESE AND I'M THE MACARONI

"Get It Together" was #1. Just like, for the record.

i love intergalactic. it really hit the spot for 13 year old me.

i wish there were more songs with the Beasties and various Native Tongues cats mixing it up

"Get It Together" was #1. Just like, for the record

"was my #1" obviously.

Fuckin' Hell the 45 min BB gig from Glasgow that Grantland put up as part of their MCA tribute is amazing!

some dude otm -- Tip slots in so nice with the Beasties, both groups of dudes were totally chill and fun-loving, positive vibes but there's that nice edge to the Beasties that just makes the mix exciting...lotsa good whatif thoughts there. coulda done a whole Native Tongues REKKID together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEM3dW2oWW4

12. "PAUL REVERE" (1986) [549 points, 20 votes, 2 first place votes]

To this day I still say "Phone is ringin'...oh my god." for the LOLs.

*takes of big girl pants*

WHAT

THE

FUCK

ilx you can't be serious with Paul Revere NOT in the top 10

that is a big surprise

but back on Get It Together I love Q-Tip cracks up & starts laughing, it's so great

and now back to Paul Revere

raaaaaaaaaaaagh

can live with "paul revere" outside the top 10. it's great, but not one of my 10 favorite beastie boys tracks, so...

so...

I see what you did there.

if we end up with some To The 5 Boroughs ish in the top 10 I will stab someone

wtf Paul Revere should totally be top 10. I had it at #3

http://youtu.be/pKNmLMs7ugw?t=40m33s

11. "B-BOY BOUILLABAISSE" (1989) [561 points, 22 votes, 3 first place votes]

i think at this point it's pretty certain that the entire top 50 is devoid of any 21st century tracks

I had no idea what to do with Bouillabaisse, it's so unlike anything else. Love some bits, other bits are just okay. Ended up with it at #6.

Actually I'm perfectly fine with the overplayed LTI tracks sliding out of the top ten, it would have been boring and predictable if it was just a parade of those tracks at the end of the poll.

my number 1. the Boys' prog epic.

A Year And A Day was always my favourite, all beautiful and manic at once.

I should have voted for this. Would have if it were busted down into its component parts. HATE the thing about thrwing the mattress in her face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEVfHmjKOrM

10. "SHADRACH" (1989) [569 points, 24 votes, 2 first place votes]

I think this poll's starting to PEAK now, Al.

thought you were talking to me for a sec

WINE
AND WOMEN
AND SONG
AND SUCH

i thought 'brass monkey' was crazy low but wtf at 'paul revere' not making top ten. good lord.

lol I feel like we already covered shadrach in great detail

Had no idea what the hell they were saying other than "Shadrach", i.e., "Meshach and Abednago" always tranlsated as nonsense to me (I had never seen the lyrics until the voting/campaigning thread). Made it really difficult to sing along to this song, but as it is so infectious I sure tried anyway.

the Book of Daniel?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadrach,_Meshach,_and_Abednego

some monotheist you are, grandavis!

have never really understood what the Book of Daniel has to do with loose booty