BEASTIE BOYS – Ill Communication (Reissue) – 2LP – Black Vinyl

2LP – Black Vinyl

By 1994 the Beastie Boys had settled into their cultural role as the grand arbiters of cool, and ‘Ill Communication‘ is pretty much a catalog of coolness: live funk, a bit of hardcore, ingenious samples of obscure records, keyboards by analogue master Money Mark, guest shots by Q-Tip and Biz Markie, MCA‘s cop-show metal number ‘Sabotage‘, and the inevitable cascade of witty old-school rhymes.

But it’s also a surprisingly mature record from a band that had, after all, been at it for 12 years already. The original jazz-funk instrumentals hold their own with the group’s favourite sample sources. their voices are modestly buried in the mix, and they’ve tempered their old snottiness with lyrical compassion: Check out ‘Bodhisattva Vow‘, a salute to buddhist spirituality.

Tracklist:

Side A
A1 Sure Shot
A2 Tough Guy
A3 B-Boys Makin’ With The Freak Freak
A4 Bobo On The Corner
A5 Root Down

Side B
B1 Sabotage
B2 Get It Together
B3 Sabrosa
B4 The Update
B5 Futterman’s Rule

Side C
C1 Alright Hear This
C2 Eugene’s Lament
C3 Flute Loop
C4 Do It
C5 Ricky’s Theme

Side D
D1 Heart Attack Man
D2 The Scoop
D3 Shambala
D4 Bodhisattva Vow
D5 Transitions