Only a band as great as the Beastie Boys could release dozens of singles, two best-ofs and an extensive video collection without ever including "Super Disco Breakin'."
And your weekend starts in 5, 4, 3...
Reliving all the Beastie Boys records this week, I can say that Hello Nasty is my favorite. It's a culmination of the first four albums, building on elements of Licensed to Ill, Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication while tying them together in a 22-song masterpiece that keeps on giving. How did I miss out on "Unite" over the first thousand listens?
The best part of "Super Disco Breakin'" and Hello Nasty is the chemistry. The Boys always flowed well together, but fifteen years into their adventure the Beastie Men are sharing punchlines, finishing each others' verses and cutting in and out of rhymes with professional deftness. On "Super Disco Breakin'," Mix Master Mike drives the beat, taking the wheel and letting the Beasties go nuts riding shotgun. Ever hear anyone try late '90s Beasties karaoke? It's hard enough for one guy, let alone three bouncing off each other.
Showing posts with label Licensed to Ill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Licensed to Ill. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Beastie Week: "No Sleep till Brooklyn"
One of the the best songs on Licensed to Ill takes its name from Motörhead, its riff from AC/DC and its solo from Kerry King. Who wants to tell me that the Beastie Boys aren't metal?
Maybe the Beasties themselves. Their 1986 "No Sleep till Brooklyn" video mocked the fashionable hair metal of bands like Whitesnake.
It's a funny song and video (wait for the guy in a gorilla suit,) but the Beasties are serious artists. Their greatest pop-metal mockery was in the music itself, a diamond-solid tribute to genuine hard rock and the greatest of all boroughs. Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way," released the same year, gets all the credit for bridging rap and rock. But I prefer "No Sleep," which created an actual rap-rock song, rather than meeting the two halfway at pop.
"No Sleep Till Brooklyn" is harder to define than "Fight for Your Right" or "Brass Monkey," and it didn't hit as big. But it carved out a niche that a multi-platinum genre still hasn't caught up to.
Maybe the Beasties themselves. Their 1986 "No Sleep till Brooklyn" video mocked the fashionable hair metal of bands like Whitesnake.
It's a funny song and video (wait for the guy in a gorilla suit,) but the Beasties are serious artists. Their greatest pop-metal mockery was in the music itself, a diamond-solid tribute to genuine hard rock and the greatest of all boroughs. Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way," released the same year, gets all the credit for bridging rap and rock. But I prefer "No Sleep," which created an actual rap-rock song, rather than meeting the two halfway at pop.
"No Sleep Till Brooklyn" is harder to define than "Fight for Your Right" or "Brass Monkey," and it didn't hit as big. But it carved out a niche that a multi-platinum genre still hasn't caught up to.
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