261. Beastie Boys, "Check Your Head"

 


After the disappointing sales of Paul's Boutique (an album that will surely appear later on this list), the Beastie Boys did what any self-respecting rap/rock band would do: bummed around LA for a few years, rented a former ballroom on Glendale Boulevard, threw parties, and listened to lot of records.  After a while, the stuff they were listening to - the Meters, Sly Stone, Lee "Scratch" Perry - started to creep into the songs they were working on, and this album is the result.  It sounds like a mash-up, a pastiche of genres and stylistic experiments, and the Beasties went back to playing instruments and being a band again after the mostly sample-driven Paul's Boutique.

The results are mixed.  There's some unquestionably good stuff on here, like the singles "Pass the Mic," "Jimmy James," and probably the best-known song "So What'Cha Want."  I like "Jimmy James" in particular; it's built entirely on samples, as far as I can tell, everything from Jimi Hendrix to a drum beat from The Turtles.   "Gratitude" starts with Ad-Rock's guitar and evolves into a punk-rap crossover with an organ break.  "Something's Got to Give" is a weed-scented vibe that anticipates Sublime (for good or ill).  But c'mon, there's some filler here too.  "Lighten Up" has a great funk groove but doesn't feel finished.  "Time for Livin'" is the kind of thing they could probably toss off in a minute or two, and sounds like it.

There are a lot of people who love this album, don't get me wrong.  It's sometimes referred to as the Beastie Boys' second best album, but with Paul's and Ill Communication both in the mix, I don't see how that's possible.  I see it more as a transitional album between the snotty kids of Licensed to Ill and the snotty, but brilliant, adults of Ill Communication.  YMMV.

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Nah.

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