Licensed To Ill

Performer: Beastie Boys
Engineer: Steve Ett
Producer: Rick Rubin; Beastie Boys
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: The Beastie Boys: Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, Adam "MCA" Yauch, Mike "Mike D" Diamond (rap vocals). Additional personnel includes: Kerry King (guitar). Personnel: Kerry King (guitar). Audio Mixer: Joe Blaney. Photographer: Sunny Bak. Wholly original, the first and the best rap group to make the genre universally palatable. These Brooklyn boys succeed with a combination of tremendously exciting backgrounds, from straight riff metal (on 'Rhymin' & Stealin'' and 'She's Crafty') to sample ('The New Style'). Having learnt their art by observing rather than participating while at NYU, they sound street-cred, even though some members are positively middle-class. The Volkswagen badge-stealing craze was unknowingly started by the band, who wore the pendant merely in order to mock the hippies who had worn the ban-the-bomb medallion. The rap album for people who think they don't like rap.

Q (9/94, p.123) - 4 Stars - "...LICENSE TO ILL remains the world's only punk rock rap album, arguably superior to NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS...knowing that apathy and slovenliness were just around the corner..." Q (p.132) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A]n album's worth of yelping hip hop and snarling guitar riffs....[The album] remains one of their very finest moments." Vibe (12/99, p.158) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century Melody Maker (7/22/95, p.35) - Bloody Essential - "...There's lots of self-reverential bragging, more tenuous rhymes than are usually permitted by law and, most importantly of all, an unshakably glorious celebration of being alive....A surprisingly enduring classic."

In the mid-1980s, the idea of white middle-class Jewish rappers may have provoked laughter or outright disdain, but the Beastie Boys' albums and singles have shown that they are anything but a joke. After hip-hop and rock fused into the music of choice for rebellious American youth, it became increasingly clear that the Beastie Boys deserved to be regarded as true musical innovators. The release of 1989's PAUL'S BOUTIQUE began the Beasties' transition from lewd, party-seeking prankers to sophisticated, party-throwing sonic pioneers, with band members ditching the six-packs and gold chains in favor of Buddhism and social activism. The trio's newfound maturity and good-natured vibe only enhanced their success, leading to a continued streak of hit albums. Not bad for three New York City weisenheimers.

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