#497/2146
November 15 1986
Beastie Boys
License to Ill
Genre: Rap Rock
5 out of 5
Highlights:
Rhymin’ and Stealin’
The New Style
Girls
Fight for Your Right (To Party)
No Sleep Till Brooklyn
Brass Monkey
Slow and Low
It’s so hard for me to get my head wrapped around how long Beastie Boys have been in our lives. When I was in college I visited the NYU radio station, since a friend of mine was trying to get a show there and I distinctly recall someone talking about and playing “Cookie Puss”, which I thought was hilarious and belonged on Dr. Demento.
And then the video for “Fight For Your Right to Party” was everywhere. And, before I knew it I was in Los Angeles, standing on a curb, outside a UCLA dorm party, hearing this album blasting from within and thinking, well, our time has passed. Like we were the characters at the end of St. Elmo’s Fire. Too old for that party but not quite ready for adulthood.
I never listened. Never bought any. Only occasionally heard them on various outlets.
But…
This is really the first “Rap/Rock” album, yes? I mean, I know RUN-DMC was the first hybridization, but this one is the one that has created it’s own genre.
Holy fuck.
In the context of listening to THOUSANDS of albums that were released in various forms, music begins to lose it’s vivacity. What I’m looking for is ingenuity. Verve. Energy. This one is the kick in the ass pop music needs.
In the vein of “Born in the U.S.A.”, the massive hit, “Fight for Your Right (to Party)” was a goof on the people who would, eventually, embrace the song as some kind of anthem. It’s catchy as all hell and, let’s be serious, this is really where “Rap/Rock” starts. It’s this template that will be embraced and built on by the likes of Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit and Bloodhound Gang in about a decade. (If my band was around today, I would beg them to cover it.)
No comments:
Post a Comment