Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science [Box]

Performer: Beastie Boys
Artist: Q-Tip; Biz Markie; Money Mark; Kate Shellenbach
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Full title: The Sounds Of Science: The Beastie Boys Anthology. Beastie Boys: Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (rap vocals, guitar); Adam "MCA" Yauch (rap vocals, bass); Mike "Mike D." Diamond (rap vocals, drums). Additional personnel includes: Q-Tip, Biz Markie (rap vocals); Mark "Money Mark" Nishita (keyboards); Kate Schellebach (drums); Eric Bobo (percussion); Mix Master Mike (turntables); Amery Smith, Bucky Baxter, Brooke Williams, Nelson Keane Carse, Paul Vercesi. Producers: Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin, Scott Jarvis, Fatboy Slim. Engineers: Mario Caldato, Jr., Simon Thornton. Includes liner notes and song annotations by The Beastie Boys. "Alive" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Since emerging as a hard-core group from New York City's Lower East Side in 1980, the Beastie Boys have explored the worlds of rap, funk, and punk while simultaneously managing to influence music and society on a grander scale. SOUNDS OF SCIENCE documents all of the band's innovative turns on a beautifully packaged 2-CD set complete with a 77-page booklet brimming over with track-by-track commentary. The care taken in documenting the band's activity up through 1999 is impressive. It's all here, including early punk sides ("Beastie Boys" and "Egg Raid on Mojo," featuring then-member Kate Schellenbach, later of Luscious Jackson), early marriages of rock riffs and hip-hop ("She's on It"), and the frat-goon success of LICENSED TO ILL ("Fight For Your Right," "Brass Monkey"). Also included is the unpredictable trio's groundbreaking work with the Dust Brothers on such mind-blowing sound collages as "Shake Your Rump" and "Shadrach" (presaging Beck by seven years). Even after the boys returned to playing instruments, the results bounced between fat-back instrumentals ("Sabrosa") and hard-rocking masterpieces ("Sabotage"). Throughout the '90s, hip-hop was never far away, whether it was with sci-fi bombs ("Intergalactic") or collaborations with like-minded rap visionaries like Q-Tip ("Get It Together").

Rolling Stone (12/9/99, p.75) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...an odds-and-ends compilation for committed fans....[It] covers most of the obvious career high points...it's also [filled] with esoterica: more than a dozen B sides, unreleased tracks and rarities..." Entertainment Weekly (12/17/99, p.86) - "...makes clear that while their music sometimes followed trends, more often it set them....startlingly consistent....demonstrates their greatest, most infectious quality - that they have unbridled creativity down to a science." - Rating: A+ Q (1/00, pp.130-1) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...sneakily rewrites history...offering clues as to why this group are admired, respected and enjoyed..." Uncut (1/02, p.88) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...All this is necessary, the upshot of the Beasties' untamed, undiminished exuberance which has enabled them to splice together some of the best, most infectious and unlikeliest of sounds of the past two decades..." Alternative Press (2/00, p.76) - 4 out of 5 - "...an essential part of any collection....[It] does an admirable job of representing every facet of the Beasties' oeuvre..." Muzik (1/00, p.106) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...arrives in your CD player like a cluster bomb in a toy shop....high on the yelp-rap that has remained a constant thrill throughout their career....pretty much brilliant all the way..." Mojo (Publisher) (1/00, pp.90-2) - "...it's their sheer eclectic scope which impresses here, particularly on the many unreleased outakes, rarities and new tracks..."

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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