Discography Digest: Beastie Boys

[This is the fourth entry in a series — including David Bowie, Pearl Jam, Leonard Cohen and Queen — in which I listen to an artist’s entire discography of studio albums in chronological order over the course of a week.]

As a 90s teenager, I thought the Beastie Boys were the apex of cool. “Sabotage” and “Sure Shot” were wild, but it was the “Hello Nasty” era that really captured my imagination. They were funny. They were serious. They were hip hop. They were rock and roll. They had a mad scientist vibe while also acting like they gave a shit. They were three smart guys who acted like a trio of morons. That said, I didn’t truly become a big fan of their full catalog until several years later.

The story of the Beastie Boys is the story of overcoming expectations. When their debut album, “License to Ill”, broke through, they was dismissed as drunken, slacker halfwits whose “Fight For Your Right” would make them one-hit wonders. Instead of going away or living up to their sophomoric reputation, they grew up — not just musically, but personally as well. They went from writing misogynistic lyrics to being vocal feminists. (Adam Horovitz married feminist musician Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill.) They went from slackers to activists — including creating the Tibetan Freedom Concerts to raise awareness of human rights violations.

Before we dive into the catalog, here’s a quick rundown of each Beastie and how to recognize his voice:

1. MCA (Adam Yauch) — His voice is the easiest to identify. It’s timbre is raspier and pitch is lower. He was the laid back, cool Beastie. Sadly, MCA died of cancer in 2012. (He’s my favorite Beastie Boy.)

2. Mike D (Michael Diamond) — Mike D has the most high pitched and nasally voice. I think it sounds thinner and more strained than Ad-Rock’s voice, which leads us to …

3. Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) — The Beastie Boys didn’t have a front man. But if they did, it would be Ad-Rock — both in voice and persona. If MCA and Mike D’s voices were two extremes, Ad-Rock was the middle ground in between. I struggle sometimes to tell the difference between Ad-Rock and Mike D, but Ad-Rock’s voice is generally fuller and rounder. (If it helps, he does all of the lead vocals on “Sabotage”.)

The Beastie Boys catalog includes 8 studio albums from 1986 to 2008, and it took me two days to listen to in its entirety. And away we go …

License to Ill (1986) — Rolling Stone famously headlined its review of the Beasties’ debut as, “Three Idiots Create a Masterpiece,” and there’s truly no better way to describe this album. It’s 13 tracks of cocky, snotty, annoying bros rhyming about cheap beer and underage girls. The Beasties claim that “Fight For Your Right” was intended as an ironic parody of party songs, but its worldview and attitude completely align with the rest of the album. That said, it’s amazing, fun and timeless. It’s worth noting that some of the tracks (including “Slow Ride”, “Posse in Effect”) lack focus and have pretty thin production.

Favorite Song: “She’s Crafty”

Paul’s Boutique (1989) — From the beginning, it’s easy to tell that there’s something different about this album. Because New York City bled through on every track of “License to Ill”, the Beasties pushed themselves to evolve and made most of “Paul’s Boutique” in Los Angeles. In so many other ways, the trio — tired of being dismissed — is clearly pushing themselves to do something newer and bigger. There’s still some of the love of the “girlies” — it’s debatable just how ironic songs like “Hey Ladies” were supposed to be — but they start to tell more interesting stories like those of Johnny Ryall and the Egg Man. The real story of this album though is the layer upon layer samples — 105 in total.

Favorite Song: “The Sound of Science” (but “Shadrach” is the most fun)

Check Your Head (1992) — The Beastie Boys started as a punk band. “Check Your Head” blends their punk roots with the hip hop that they’d grown into — not to mention healthy doses of soul-jazz, reggae and bossa nova. Today it’s easy to overlook how groundbreaking this was in 1992. It has a real lo fi, DIY feel, with the band playing many of their own instruments throughout.

Favorite Song: “Stand Together”

Ill Communication (1994) — After their lowkey third album, the Beastie return with “Check Your Head”’s better and more energetic sister album. It maintains the previous album’s punk-rock aesthetic, Money Mark keyboards and Wah-Wah-heavy guitar, but it’s much more effective. This is super front-loaded, and it starts to wander toward the end. “Ill Communication” is also significant as it shows the band’s personal growth — notably nodding to their previous misogyny and noting that “the disrespecting women as got to be through.”

Favorite Song: “Sabotage” — I wanted to be contrarian and name either “Sure Shot” or “Root Down” … but listen all a’yall. It’s a sabotage.

Hello Nasty (1998) — This is the one and only Beastie Boys album that I was really into when it was released, so this one holds a special place for me. “Hello Nasty” sees the addition of Mix Master Mike, who would remain the band’s DJ for the remainder of their run. While the last two albums were eclectic genre-blenders, they both had a very specific sound, which the Beasties largely abandon on “Hello Nasty” for collection of global, electro-funk, beatboxing, melodic, retro-futurism hip hop. It’s also really fun. People criticize “Hello Nasty” as being unnecessarily long and unfocused. However, if I had to vote for “Too Much ‘Hello Nasty’” or “Not Enough ‘Hello Nasty’”, you know where I’d land.

Favorite Song: “Body Movin’”

To The 5 Boroughs (2004) — A straightforward and simplified hip hop album, this didn’t age well. It’s their most political album, and hearing the Boys repeatedly reference 9/11 and rage against George W. Bush — including the cringeworthy, “We’ve got a president we didn’t elect / The Kyoto treaty he decided to neglect” — make this album a timepiece more than an album to continuously revisit.

Favorite Song: “Ch-Check It Out’”

The Mix-Up (2007) — It’s an instrumental album. The Beastie Boys have played their own instruments on previous albums, and that was cool when offset with their vocal and sample-laden production. “The Mix-Up” strips away much of that to reveal the truth: Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch and Michael Diamond are not very good instrumentalists. It’s a cool, funk-filled album, but they’re not playing to their strengths here.

Favorite Song: “Off the Grid’”

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011) — As the final Beastie Boys album, this is really enjoyable. It’s surprisingly aggressive while still being accessible and upbeat. It’s not breaking any new ground, but — being the opposite for “The Mix-Up” — they go doing what they do well. (Nearly) ending the final album with Mike D’s son rapping “Brass Monkey” is a perfect and poignant way to close the door.

Favorite Song: “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win”

Final Analysis

Most Essential: “Paul’s Boutique” — There aren’t as many hits as others, but this is the masterpiece.

Least Essential: “The Mix-Up”

Overlooked Gem (Album): “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two”

Overlooked Gems (Songs): “Stand Together”, “Get It Together” (featuring Q-Tip), “Remote Control”, “Triple Trouble”, “Lee Majors Come Again”

Best Moment: A third of the way through “Ill Communication,” the 1–2–3 of “Root Down”, “Sabotage” and “Get It Together” is so solid. This trio is peak Beastie.

Catalog Observations