Every Beasties' fan tells a different history about their relationship with rap's favourite brats. It might have begun and ended with 'Licensed To Ill' or been re-ignited by the hype that surrounded the 1994 release of 'Ill Communication'. For these ears, 'Licensed To Ill' captured a childish imagination and stirrings in the direction of the off-license and then the Beasties were forgotten until they released what is very probably their masterpiece, 'Check Your Head'.
This is probably not an unusual pattern since, following the media hysterics that announced 'Licenced To Ill', the band then disappeared into relative obscurity to record the seminal 'Paul's Boutique'. 'Seminal' here is more than empty hyperbole - this was a groundbreaking record and I'm annoyed that I missed it. It might have changed things much earlier. However, the band had to wait until their old-school trainers and skate wear hip-hop/punk became so irresistible to the British style press that they were pasted all over the pages of The Face and ID upon the release of 'Ill Communication'. An album that was, in effect, a lukewarm version of that which preceded it.
The retrospective that this compilation offers should convince any remaining doubters that the Dust Brothers-produced 'Paul's Boutique' was not only a revelation for eclectic, funky white hipsters like Beck that followed, but also a milestone for sampling in hip-hop. Possibly holding some sort of Guinness Record for the most samples ever crammed into one album, this arrived just before the industry closed the doors on the sampler, as hip-hop emerged from the minimal sample-free 909 sound that had dominated. The perfect example of the latter style being 'Licensed To Ill', often little more than a bass-heavy programmed beat accompanied by vocals, which substituted samples for guitar from fellow Def Jam act Slayer. With Run DMC's 'Raising Hell', this album shares the title of ultimate rock/rap crossover.
'Check Your Head' remains a life-affirming mess of post-punk 'anyone can be in a band' ethics, fusing "every kinda favour in a style that'll suit ya." Hip-hop, hardcore, lounge bar, funk, psychedelia, southern soul, you name it, it's in there somewhere. Like 'Paul's Boutique', it's an extremely dense album and one which can be listened to almost endlessly. From here, where could they go? 'Ill Communication' was the obvious mistake but, when it finally arrived, 'Hello Nasty' was the answer. Turning to electro, to retro production equipment and turntablism, the Beasties were fresh once again.
'The Sounds Of Science' tells it all as the boys would like us to hear it, including everything before, after and in between these albums. For die-hards it's a useful addition to the collection and for those relatively new to the Beastie Boys it's absolutely essential. There's the new single 'Alive', tracks from the unreleased, and somewhat over-indulgent, 'Country Mike sessions', video-only remixes of their last couple of singles and even a charming Brazilian bossa attempt from Adam Yauch. Selected by the boys themselves, there are bound to be a couple of things missing from a fan's own list of personal favourites ('Car Thief' and 'Professor Booty' spring to mind) but that's just academic.
