Beastie Boys albums poll

"We went into the studio and we did the song 'Cookie Puss' as a joke. We were making fun of Malcolm McLaren and the whole downtown art scene that was exploiting hip-hop" - Adam Yauch, 1987

"I am not sure if the Beastieland tapes still exist, but it is quite possible that there are still cassettes of it. I myself had the masters at one time as well as cassette copies. At the moment, I can't even remember any of the other song titles, but I know the concept very, very, very well. You know that picture of the band skipping hand in hand across the cover of the Cooky Puss picture sleeve? That was shot in New York's Washington Square Park. It was one photo from a fairly large series which were taken for what was going to be the first full length Beastie Boys album on Ratcage Records, with Polly Wog Stew having on been an EP. It was going to be a major affair. The name of the finished LP was going to be Beastieland. The packaging was going to feature a gatefold sleeve and a game. The game was designed somewhat along the line as the popular children's boardgame Candyland, but with all the downtown spots featured in it. The concept of the LP was all the band's idea. It was very clever and cool and the songs were a considerable departure from the Polly Wog Stew, but carried that same sense of humor as a one can tell by listening to Cookie Puss." - Dave Parsons, 2002

I gave Hello Nasty a few spins over the weekend. Back in 98 I quite liked it, but thought it tried to do too much; it's actually pretty wicked, nine years later, isn't it? There's a lot of variety, obviously, maybe too much, and too long too, but there's a lot of... heart in it? It's quite a sensitive record. Very... 'musical' too. Not quite 'Geir-friendly' but a lot of tracks don't rely on beat & shout. I enjoyed it more than I ever did at the time.

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The Beastie Boys audiobook is their best album.

Hello Nasty is not better than Ill Communication or even close to as good, the problem is that only 40 to 58 people voting in this poll had any sense

I think Hello Nasty is their best album

Ad Rock makes a sincere case for Hello Nasty as their best in the new book.

yes but he is still wrong

I really like Hello Nasty and the rhymes are a blast but i still think it's only their fifth best. PB is an endlessly fun listen, and it's maybe the best NYC album ever, while HN gets to feel a little stiff after awhile.

Artists are often the worst judges of their own work.

I get that he had the best time making it and it was where all of their various approaches coalesced into a coherent whole but at the same time the songs just aren't as good imo, it felt predictable in a way the first three albums def were not.