― brent d., Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― Dan Perry, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― the pinefox, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
― DG, Monday, 12 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
They're swirling down the toilet at breakneck pace now, that last track was awful as was the last album. Tom, re your comment about the rapping -- I thought MCA was pretty good for a while there, as on "A Year And A Day" and "Professor Booty." But the other two suck, yeah, for sure. Great videos, though, which no one has men
― Mark Richardson, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
They have been consistently 4-5 years ahead of their time with every album they put out. LICENSE TO ILL: White brat rap that pulled it off the street and into your house (via MTV). Weren't afraid to sample the most obvious beats. PAULS BOUTIQUE: Only the best rap album ever. The 70s beats and style predated the general populus' 70s revival by 4 years. CHECK YOUR HEAD: By the time everyone else was catching onto the 70s thing, the Boys come out with something COMPLETELY different. They combine punk, funk, soundtrack stuff, classic rap, play their own instruments, etc... Constantly pushing the boundaries.
Need I go on? Well, they might have faded *slightly* after that, but the rest of the albums are still really good and do still show growth. Also, look at their instrumental stuff. Quite good and varied. Impressive resume for 3 snotty kids from Brooklyn.
― Tim Baier, Tuesday, 13 February 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link
By far Hello Nasty is their most noble and mature album they have ever recorded and, too me, the one that represents them the most sincerely.
― Jimmy S, Monday, 12 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 12 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― ethan, Monday, 12 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Anyway, the Beastie Boys ARE "palefaced pretenders", if by that you mean that they wear their influences on their sleeves. But, dismal and annoying "License to Ill" aside, they've chanelled that influence into innovation nearly unmatched in hip-hop. "Paul's Boutique", "Check Your Head" and "Ill Communication" are certified classics in my book, each great in its own unique way. So, despite wanted to slap their annoying faces with "License to Ill" and wanting to do it again with the try-to-hard old-schoolness of "Hello Nasty"...Classic.
― Dan I., Monday, 12 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― bob snoom, Monday, 12 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Let it remain
― Slade donn, Thursday, 24 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― bob snoom, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Samantha, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― dbini, Saturday, 26 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tracer Hand, Saturday, 26 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Karl J Kretzschmar, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Gillian Brady, Sunday, 11 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Nate Patrin, Sunday, 11 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
These guys plainly know their shit and not only do they possess the musical skills, they are 'setters, they appear to be self-depreciating and they rip the fucking piss. These are good things, by the way. The cops vid - I know it's tired but it still reigns as the joint I'm afraid. And for all the ho-hum tracks, they write enough killers to be forgiven the toss.
I like em. I respect em. They played the game to their rules. And won. Sure they're a pain in the ass. But you need these boys: totally classic.
― Roger Fascist, Monday, 12 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
Are they marking their own albs down at the Record and Tape now?
― Andrew L, Monday, 12 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gareth, Monday, 12 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― mark s, Monday, 12 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
I liked their schtick, LOVED their magazine, was happy to see their vids, enjoyed their pranks. I don't question their worth as an industry. I just think their achievements in irreverance on CD are pretty minor. "So Watcha Want" is their only transcendent hip hop single, and anyone who thinks Paul's Boutique is the greatest rap album of all time just isn't listening for the same things I look for in rap music, things that usually have something to do with, you know, rapping.
― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 13 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
(btw, I don't think the Beatles were perfect so I ain't saying the Beasties are, dig?).
More people should voice their two cents on this group. They're more fun than any other ex-beerbrawlers-turned-new-age-buddhists. Allegedly MCA has an emo band. Their protest song has Zoolander quotes. They need an editor bad. They take an ungodly amount of time between albums. They're white rappers. Ad-Rock, who kicked the cutie in the patootie and needs girls to do his laundry, is dating Kathleen Hanna. They really look awkward when they play their own instruments. And when they're on, they make me happier than any other group ever.
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 00:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 00:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
nasty = nasty little man = public relations firm (dealing w/ beastie boys but more importantly ATP) = "hello nasty" = receptionist's phrase.
They're the San Francisco of hip-hop.
wtf? they are the west islip of hip-hop. not to mention they live in your town... just cuz they "pimp" harputs does not mean BB = SF... ew gross.
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
reminder: this is the beastie boys thread.
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:40 (twenty-one years ago) link
As an SF resident, I can't tell if I'm supposed to be offended or not...
― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
btw when is your both show shakey mo?
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
I hope you haven't heard LL Cool J.
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
I'll defend the Beasties (on some levels), I just don't get where this weird regional insult is coming from, or what it has to do with anything...
― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:44 (twenty-one years ago) link
HI! I have heard LL COOL J! OMG! HAHA! LOL! ^_^
sounds good shakey mo, let me know the details.
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 01:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
― girl scout heroin (iamamonkey), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 02:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
Beck's "Odelay" was a critical orgasm, but it was little more than Paul's Boutique Part 2 (and I'm guessing the upcoming Tenacious D record will be Part 3).
hahahaha. sigh.
― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 02:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 02:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 02:24 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Evan (Evan), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 02:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
roger adultery not to thread!
― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 03:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Kris (aqueduct), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 03:27 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ally (mlescaut), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 04:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 05:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
― M Matos (M Matos), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 07:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 19 March 2003 08:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
"Intergalactic" was for me THE Beasties single: I was 23, going out a lot, and this retronuevo rap track at the height of summer 1998 seemed to gather all related threads: lounge pop, post-Beck ramshackle, etc.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 16:53 (two months ago) link
This old post really hit on something for me re: the 90s beastie albums
CYH and, to a lesser extent, IC both seemed like they were about joining the Beasties' gang; like by buying, listening, and getting into those records you became a Beastie Boy friend by proxy, one of the guys they were hanging out with on the back of IC, or one of the people in the photos in the sleeve of CYH.Hello Nasty seemed like the gang had gone, and they were ready to be friendly with the whole world. Or something.― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 10 May 2012 14:54 (eleven years ago) link
Hello Nasty seemed like the gang had gone, and they were ready to be friendly with the whole world. Or something.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 10 May 2012 14:54 (eleven years ago) link
― intheblanks, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:01 (two months ago) link
I love the first half of check your head, but i find myself kind of getting bored by its second half. By ill communication they are so much better at crafting the instrumental interludes, and everything is just so much more noisy/dubby/jazzy to me, such that I kind of disagree with the idea that IC is basically "check your head, pt. 2"
― intheblanks, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:04 (two months ago) link
which i feel was the conventional critical take back in the 90s
― intheblanks, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:05 (two months ago) link
otm, this is the peak of the "recombinant pop" era, Hello Nasty is definitely on that train
― intheblanks, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:06 (two months ago) link
Huh it's the opposite for me, IC has some indelible hits but the funk & instrumentals on CYH are much sharper and more distinct.
xp
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:08 (two months ago) link
IC was the first album where it felt like they weren't putting out something totally new and innovative. It's a strong album, but it's similarities to CYH was a sign that the creativity was starting to wane.
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:11 (two months ago) link
CYH > IC for the longest time until maybe 5 years ago when my opinion flipped. similar feeling of getting bored more at the halfway mark of CYH whereas IC ends on a real high note.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:14 (two months ago) link
i would rank them PB>CYH>HN>IC>L2I
Licensed to Ill was such a massive album and nowadays PB is so ingrained in the cultural consciousness that it's sometimes easy to forget it was enough of a commercial disappointment that the B Boys felt like maybe they were an '80s thing, and the world of 1992 was vastly different. so for them to come back with something like CYH that sounded so fresh and cool was an eye-opener for many who slept on PB. i hadn't really paid attention to them after 1986 tbh, too busy listening to metal and hard rock, but at a time when everyone was listening to everything (maybe 1991-1993 was the peak era for this), they fit right in so well and suddenly everyone loved them again. they were so loose and funky and it was a sick sound. i think the first five are classics overall, i think IC only losing points for being a little less inspired than the top 3 and the funk instrumentals feeling like vv solid outtakes from CYH (though the peaks rank with their best), and L2I for being a little dated.
― omar little, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:16 (two months ago) link
CYH has more edge and is just a great messy splattergun collage of ideas hitting you in the face whereas I agree that IC still has a bit of that feel but seems slightly more considered and fully-formed. They're both great
― your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:42 (two months ago) link
Also, did I ever tell you guys my annoying pet theory:
LTI : S+EPB : CRCRCYH : WZIC : BTCHN : TT
This checks out for me in so many ways
― your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 17:44 (two months ago) link
― intheblanks, Wednesday, February 28, 2024 11:06 AM (forty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
what made that song so cool is that everyone seemed to have a different favorite part, just so much going on at once. I had one friend who wasn't really into the Beasties or hip-hop at all but still loved this song because of all the crazy noises on it. and yeah all of Hello Nasty is kind of like that, so many wild sounds and insane production effects, even the minor tracks like "Dedication" are a trip
― frogbs, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 18:03 (two months ago) link
IC feels like an expansion of CYH to me, it feels more "out" for lack of a better term...guys who are listening to "on the corner" a lot v. guys who are listening to the meters a lot
Obviously the meters are geniuses, i'm not saying that the meters are in any way worse than "on the corner"--just that the vibe of IC feels different enough to me that I've never viewed it as a slightly inferior version of their previous album
― intheblanks, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 18:09 (two months ago) link
like some have said upthread, stuff that seemed like filler to me on HN when it came out sounds pretty damn awesome to me when i put the record on nowadays--it's a front-to-back great record imo
― intheblanks, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 18:11 (two months ago) link
also wanna shout out this B-side which I'm guessing was jettisoned in favor of "And Me" - gotta be one of the weirdest songs a hip-hop group ever came up with
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA60LH0Phko
― frogbs, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 18:17 (two months ago) link
that is cool, never heard it! thanks
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 18:21 (two months ago) link
You know what's an odd little tune? "I Don't Know." It's almost a bad song. Their goofiness redeems it.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 18:39 (two months ago) link
I truly love that one
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 18:54 (two months ago) link
Me, too. The lyrics are pretty on the nose, but if you ever wondered how Buddhist thought - such as it could be said to exist - played into MCA's process on a conscious level, it's there. (I like hearing Miho Hatori, too.)
― mike powell, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 19:23 (two months ago) link
yeah great tune. "Twenty Questions" (which didn't make the cut but was vying for that spot) is even odder
― frogbs, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 19:30 (two months ago) link
can't be remotely rational about this because really I think pb is the 'best', but I spent a week at butlins holiday park when I was 12 and lic. 2 ill was the only tape I had for my walkman so i listened to it for maybe 10 hrs a day every day that whole week. thus it will always be my favourite. many years later I queued overnight to get u2 tickets and for some stupid reason the only tape I had with me was check yr head, it was too cold to sleep so I spent about 15 hrs straight with that one so I think of it fondly as well.
― oscar bravo, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:17 (two months ago) link
Ill Communication > Hello Nasty > Paul's Boutique > License to Ill > Check Your Head is my personal rrank
Honestly I even enjoy the last three records but they are so comically below the opening run that it feels silly to include them
― intheblanks, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:23 (two months ago) link
the only interesting thing about the post-HN records is how Mike D becomes by far the best rapper in the group in their old man phase
though now that i typed it, that's actually not that interesting
― intheblanks, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:26 (two months ago) link
blows my mind that To the 5 Boroughs is 20 this year
― frogbs, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:34 (two months ago) link
"License" might be the one I play the most these days, followed by bits and pieces of "Paul's" and "Check," though I never make it through the entirety of each in one sitting. I have noticed, anecdotally, that young people (under 20? under 30?) don't seem to get this group. See also: Beck. Even me, I was in the car the other day, and "Where It's At" came on, and I thought to myself, huh, this song is a little bit like being yelled at by a crazy person on the train for three minutes.
Anyway, Beasties, gotta love 'em, but sometimes their more ... adenoidal qualities are not what the moment calls for. When I do put them on, I never listen to anything past "Check," but maybe I will play "Ill Communication" at dinner.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:35 (two months ago) link
out of all the groups from the last several decades i've played for my kid, the ones he's connected with most enthusiastically are Gorillaz, Beastie Boys, and Orbital (specifically Snivilisation for some reason.)
― omar little, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:37 (two months ago) link
why does every beasties revive devolve into ranking their albums within 4 or 5 posts, frogbs was doing good work here
― A street taco cart named Des'ree (Deflatormouse), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:39 (two months ago) link
My kids like the Beasties but only know what comes on the radio in the car, which is the Licensed to Ill singles plus "Intergalactic." But I think their general sense of them is that they're cool. Their favorite is "Brass Monkey."
They also LOVE Gorillaz, one of just a few artists where their tastes overlap. I took them to see the last tour, it was a great family outing.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:42 (two months ago) link
The incredible thing to me about hello nasty is that they pulled it off at all, really speaks to their talents as a group. Waiting more than four years between albums, over the great alt-rock kill-off of the mid-90s----then doing a record where they're doing cheesy early-80s rhyme routine pastiche for most of it....and it was actually awesome and a big hit! truly incredible
― intheblanks, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:51 (two months ago) link
"I have all three of your albums!"
"pffft that was 1000 years ago. Now we have seven!"
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:52 (two months ago) link
maybe Fry said "four", I forget
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:53 (two months ago) link
He said four, because Futurama was post-Hello Nasty.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:56 (two months ago) link
ah thx, wouldn't that be five?
― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 20:59 (two months ago) link
Oops, yeah five
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhvv0WubJSs
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 21:03 (two months ago) link
xps The under-20 crowd seem to love that Olivia Rodrigo song that sounds just like Beck!
― Josefa, Wednesday, 28 February 2024 21:04 (two months ago) link
"I Don't Know" is the 'eye of the duck' of Hello Nasty. Take it out and the whole thing doesn't loom quite the same. I love it
― your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 21:12 (two months ago) link
Look
― your mom goes to limgrave (dog latin), Wednesday, 28 February 2024 21:17 (two months ago) link
possibly in delivery! the thing I learned from interviews (or maybe the book) is that they always wrote collaboratively. so Adrock would show up to a session with some lines, and propose "I think Mike could do this part" and they generally had a consensus on any split
never any quibble about who wrote what or rapped what
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Thursday, 29 February 2024 01:47 (two months ago) link
anyone have the "original" version of Intergalactic stashed? the one that has lyrics about Spock and Uhuru and includes a line like "the spice is the worm and the worm is the spice"
seems apropos this week
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Thursday, 29 February 2024 15:55 (two months ago) link
never mind. of course it’s on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDKST8N3gSo
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Thursday, 29 February 2024 15:57 (two months ago) link
whoa, I remember hearing about an early version of the track but had no clue how different it was. I think it's mentioned in the Sounds of Science book somewhere, they were working on the album and didn't really have a single and one of the guys (maybe not even one of the Boys) was like "you still got that intergalactic, planetary thing? maybe do something with that"
― frogbs, Thursday, 29 February 2024 16:28 (two months ago) link
hadn't heard that, seems p cool. so the orig uranus rhyme was 'i'm from uranus that shit is heinous.' *hunt3r ducks hides and chortles*
― a single gunshot and polite applause (Hunt3r), Thursday, 29 February 2024 16:32 (two months ago) link
yeah, it was on the web in the 90s but I can't remember if it was on their official site or "leaked"
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Thursday, 29 February 2024 16:48 (two months ago) link