The Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill (1986)

By request! (In this particular case, "by request" means that a reader actually sent me a CD. Thanks!)

Admittedly, this kind of music isn't my thing and I probably would think differently about this album if I'd heard it when it was released. But in 1986, I was listening to more jazz and classical as I pursued a music degree. Nevertheless, I recognize a few of the titles so I'm not completely unfamiliar with what's here. So here goes my first listen to the complete album.

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It's a fun album with lots of manic energy. I imagine it would be a great album to spin while hanging out with friends and imbibing by the pool, but I doubt I'll listen to this one again. More of a humor album than a rap album, maybe? As I mentioned after listening to Paul's Boutique, I like the backing tracks but I don't care much for the Boys' voices. But the album has been certified diamond (10 million copies sold) so what do I know?

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "Beastie Boys' crash and burn abandon is right on the money"
• Billboard: "energetic, decidedly adolescent, and ultimately satisfying"
• Stereo Review: "Stupid beyond all reason"
• High Fidelity: "among the most entertaining LPs you'll ever hear"
• Rolling Stone: "one hard-rockin' cartoon"
• Spin: "arguably the first album by a white band that succeeds both as posterior-punting rock and blaster bombast"

In its 2020 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone ranked Licensed To Ill at #192.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #1
• Billboard R&B: #2
• CashBox: #1
• Rolling Stone: #1

Tracks: I was previously familiar with Fight For Your Right, Girls, and Brass Monkey and those cuts are bringing back late '80s memories of watching videos on MTV and going to college parties.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: When I was earning my public school teaching credentials back in 1987, I had to spend 30 hours observing students and school culture in an normal classroom setting. Typical stuff. While most of my fellow music majors tried to get placed in a secondary school music classroom for their 30 hours, your humble blogger - a noted contrarian - asked to spend time in a 2nd grade classroom. At some point while watching second graders that semester, I noticed one student hiding something in his jacket and showing it to his friends. Grade school contraband! He had his eyes glued to the teacher because he didn't want her to catch him, so while he was doing that, I sidled up next to him and whispered, "Whachoo got?"

He looked at me in terror, thinking he was busted. He slowly opened his jacket to show me his older brother's Licensed To Ill cassette. He was showing his friends the album art on the j card, in particular the 3MTA3 and the crushed blunt. I doubt he understood any of it but who the hell knows. In any case, he dropped his head and started handing me the cassette but I just told him to put that away for the rest of the day and don't bring it back. As of this writing, students in that 2nd grade classroom would now be 44-45 years old. 😒

Previously revisited for the blog:
Paul's Boutique (1989)

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (1989)

This CD arrived at my doorstop, a gift from a reader who couldn't believe that I had never heard it - I simply had to hear it because it's one of the best albums ever! Something you should never say to a contrarian like myself, but I'll try to keep an open mind.

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I've given it a full listen and come to this conclusion: as disjunct as this thing is, I love the stolen, errr.., I mean sampled grooves, but could do without the whiny rapping over said grooves. Is there an instrumental version available? I can appreciate the pastiche artistry and the fact that it was ground-breaking in the field of sampling, but a little bit goes a long way. By the end of track 5, I was playing a musical version of "Where's Waldo" and trying to identify the sample sources while completely ignoring the lyrics. As we middle-age white guys are wont to say: "I'm hating the player but loving the game."

Early hip-hop music usually sends me scrambling for the source material of the best samples and this album is no different. And, truth be told, I'd rather listen to the Idris Muhammad original. I have no doubt that I'd feel differently if I had heard this album when I was 23 instead of now when I've got a 23 year old son.

Note: the delicious irony of sampling Led Zeppelin on a track titled What Goes Around was not lost on this listener.

The Paul mentioned in the title is Sir Paul McCartney, isn't it? And the last track, B-Boy Bouillabaisse, is their homage to the side 2 of Abbey Road? Bold.

Update: In its 2020 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone ranked Paul's Boutique at #125.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #14
• Billboard R&B: #24

Tracks: My top tracks are High Plains Drifter, Hey Ladies, Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun, and Shadrach (maybe the coolest Biblical allusion ever?).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, although this album dropped just one week before I got my first "real" job and two weeks before my wedding. You could say I had other stuff going on.

I did recognize the tune Car Thief as my buddy Blake played it for me about 10 years ago because he's Ricky Powell (metaphorically).

To my memory, this is the first hip-hop album I've ever listened to in toto, so it's a landmark day here at blog headquarters.