Posted by KB on 1/23/2019 to
Reviews In Brief
In the throes of reading the Beastie Boys Book
by Michael Diamond (Mike D) and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock), which I do strongly suggest, and am at the point where they were recording "Licensed to Ill" so I decided to re-visit the album. Looking back 33 years upon the album I would bet that none of us fully understood who the Beastie Boys were. Three, white, middle class kids from NYC, who as teens, loved hardcore punk and drifted to rap and hip hop when it was in its infancy. They had a hardcore band and decided that they wanted to do rap instead, enlisting a young DJ Double R (Rick Ruben) to be their DJ and producer and teaching themselves to be MCs (I am simplifying the story quite a bit).
by Michael Diamond (Mike D) and Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock), which I do strongly suggest, and am at the point where they were recording "Licensed to Ill" so I decided to re-visit the album. Looking back 33 years upon the album I would bet that none of us fully understood who the Beastie Boys were. Three, white, middle class kids from NYC, who as teens, loved hardcore punk and drifted to rap and hip hop when it was in its infancy. They had a hardcore band and decided that they wanted to do rap instead, enlisting a young DJ Double R (Rick Ruben) to be their DJ and producer and teaching themselves to be MCs (I am simplifying the story quite a bit). After a few gigs and sessions they record LTI. At the time when you listened to the album they sounded like whiny ass cocky punks. Period. Listening to it now, and including the new knowledge from the book, I actually get it- finally. They were all talk with a deep sense of humor poking fun at their bravado and the music they loved. What I originally dissed at being a novelty white rap act was actually more dense, with clever rhymes, beats of the time and crunching guitar.
Does "Licensed To Ill" hold up? Yes and no. Immediately you hear their hardcore influence and Rubens' love for metal. The songs with more of THAT do hold up (Fight For the Right, No Sleep Till Brooklyn- these songs justify buying this album). The songs with the pedantic, basic 80s Run DMC beats don't really. But what one does hear is what is to come. The explosive sampling brilliance and beats on "Paul's Boutique", which I find amazing that PB is only their second album (listen to Time To Get Ill). What you also hear is the fun quirkiness they had showing that this had to be enjoyable or they weren't going to do it (Girls, Brass Monkey).
Like yours truly, revisit this album and I think you will find what I did, that in the end "Licensed To Ill" was, not their best, but the starting block for the Beastie Boys innovative rap career, sadly cut short with Adam Yauch's (MCA) death in 2012 to cancer.
Favorite Songs: Rhymin & Stealin, She's Crafty, Fight For Your Right, No Sleep Till Brooklyn, Brass Monkey, Time To Get Ill
Check Out and Buy:
Beastie Boys- Licensed To Ill
