Beastie Boys Ill Communication CD

The Beastie Boys: Mike "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar); Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, acoustic bass, electric bass); Mike "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums).
Additional personnel: Q-Tip, Biz Markie (rap vocals); Eugene Gore (violin); "Money" Mark Nishita (keyboards, organ); Amery Smith (drums); Eric Bobo (percussion).
Producer: Beastie Boys, Mario Caldato, Jr.
Recorded at G-Son Studios, Atwater Village, California and Tin Pan Alley, New York.
"Sabotage" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 37th Annual Grammy Awards.
Ill Communication follows the blueprint of Check Your Head, accentuating it at some points, deepening it in others, but never expanding it beyond the boundaries of that record. As such, it's the first Beastie Boys album not to delve into new territory, but it's not fair to say that it finds the band coasting, since much of the album finds the group turning in muscular, vigorous music that fills out the black-and-white sketches that comprised Check Your Head. Much of the credit has to go to the group's renewed confidence in -- or at least renewed emphasis on -- their rhyming; there are still instrumentals (arguably, there are too many instrumentals), but the Beasties do push their words to the forefront, even on dense rockers like the album's signature tune, "Sabotage." But even those rhymes illustrate that the group is in the process of a great settling, relying more on old-school-styled rhyme schemes and word battles than the narratives and surreal fantasies that marked the high points on their first two albums. With this record, the Beasties confirm that there is indeed a signature Beastie Boys aesthetic (it's too far-ranging and restless to be pegged as a signature sound), with the group sticking to a blend of old school rap, pop culture, lo-fi funk, soulful jazz instrumentals, Latin rhythms, and punk, often seamlessly integrated into a rolling, pan-cultural, multi-cultural groove. The best moments of Ill Communication rank with the best music the Beasties have ever made, as well as the best pop music of the '90s, but unfortunately, it's uneven and rather front-loaded. The first half overflows with brilliant, imaginative variations on their aesthetic: the assured groove of "Sure Shot," the warped rap of "B-Boys Makin' With the Freak Freak," the relentless dirty funk of "Root Down," the monumental "Sabotage," and the sly "Get It Together," highlighted by a cameo from Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest. After that, the album seems to lose its sense of direction and momentum, even if individual moments are very good. Any record that can claim jams as funky and inventive as "Flute Loop" and "Do It," or instrumentals as breezy as "Ricky's Theme," is certainly better than its competition, but there are just enough moments that rank as obvious filler to slow its flow, and to keep it from standing proudly next to Check Your Head as a wholly successful record. Even if it is a little uneven, it still boasts more than its fair share of splendid, transcendent music, and it really only pales in comparison to the Beasties' trio of classic records. By any other measure, this is a near-masterpiece, and it is surely a highlight of '90s alternative pop/rock. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
First time around they were written off as more of Presley's snot-nosed ancestors, shamelessly appropriating breaking black musical styles. Then, after creating an undisputable hip-hop masterpiece (1989's PAUL'S BOUTIQUE), they were tossed aside because they'd seemingly lost their commercial value. But now, having successfully made their "new style" over and debut it at Number 1, the only thing the Beastie Boys can be dissed about is their media over-exposure.
The phattening pleasures of ILL COMMUNICATION's 20 tracks come when they visit the old school--whether with DJ Hurricane on the wheels of steel in "Sure Shot," or freestyling classic Beastie rhymes with Q-Tip on "Get It Together." Or when they turn that classroom onRolling Stone (5/13/99, p.54) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Rolling Stone (6/2/94, p.68) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Their mission remains intact: to explore the unifying threads between hip-hop and punk, taking their basic elements--the scratch of a needle across a vinyl groove, a pounding snare-bass thump, the crunch of a power chord--and slicing them up with a ginsu knife...."
Spin (12/94, p.78) - Ranked #19 in Spin's list of the `20 Best Albums Of '94' - "...spice their trademark Toucan-Sam style wise-cracking with jazz samples....and Meters-meets-Santana instrumental chillouts, while 'Sabotage' is flat-out the best hard rock song of the year..."
Entertainment Weekly (6/3/94, p.54) - "...it's the most tantalizing ear candy in years, the incessantly inventive sound of brats dismantling pop and trying to reassemble it in their own ingeniously klutzy ways....ILL COMMUNICATION is a cacophony of sleazy wah-wah guitars, voices screaming out from alleys behind buildings, and other joyful chaos, and the Beasties revel in it like kids in a crammed, smelly playground...." - Rating: B
Q (12/99, p.82) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."
Option (8/94, pp.91-92) - "...In recent years they've managed to hit new heights of musical sophistication without ever compromising the geekoid charm that is at the heart of their cool..."
Village Voice (3/94, p.5) - Ranked #2 in the Village Voice's 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
Village Voice (2/28/95) - Ranked #15 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
Billboard (p.29) - "[E]verything -- lyrics, samples and production -- locks seamlessly, giving rise to the group's most mature and satisfying album."
Q (Magazine) (p.134) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] mix of hard-edged funk, punk thrash and noodling instrumentals, but with tentative signs of maturity..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.60) - Ranked #54 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "Swapping their metal-thieving brat-rap for a most hyperactively eclectic maturity..."
NME (Magazine) (12/24/94, p.22) - Ranked #3 in NME's list of the `Top 50 Albums Of 1994.'
NME (Magazine) (5/28/94, p.35) - 8 - Excellent - "...ILL COMMUNICATION is a deliberately positive noise that encourages us to start taking responsibility for a change..."
Pitchfork (Website) - "ILL COMMUNICATION is the album that let them infuse their turn towards sincerity with a renewed sense of playfulness, solidifying their transition from the gleefully exaggerated bad-boy anarchists of their first two albums to a trio of (slightly) more mature, trend-setting enthusiasts."