Amazon.com essential recording: By 1994 the Beasties 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 favorite 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. --Douglas Wolk
Definite Beastie Boy songs on here Out of the five original albums, the golden years, this stands as being their second worst. It's got plenty of cool tracks, but some of the tracks aren't great either. There isn't many horrible songs on this album besides Sabatoge (which sucks), but songs like Do It, The Scoop (?), Ricky's Theme, these songs just aren't up to snuff, and forgettable. I won't waste your time explaining ever single ________ detail or how they changed their sound They definitely, however, added more though, they tried new things and made plenty of cool experiments and new styles. Just trust me on that one. Track listing time (______!).
1.Sure Shot-They don't fail with this one. Great flute sample, and the beat is great and heavy. 2.Tough Guy-Nice break, but it's nothing too special. Nowhere in the calibur of hardcore punk bands like Minor Threat or Black Flag. 3.B-Boys Making with the Freak Freak-Totally unconvential and funky rap song. The "stick my _____ in the mashed potatoes" line is gold, and then goes back to the chorus repeating the title of the track. Nice! 4.Bobo On The Corner-Can you ________ imagine Eric Bobo (percussionist from Cypress Hill) playing on a rainy urban corner? 5.Root Down-One Phrase: "Oh My God That's the funky _______". That alone is enough. 6.Sabatoge-Despite it's trying to rock stature, this song is an all around ______ fest. I'm not going to lie, I hate this song. 7.Get It Together-If Q-Tip (from ATCQ!) trading lines with the Beastie Boys sounds appealing to you, listen to this song. Even if you haven't, listen anyway. 8.Sabrosa-Jazz-Funk Music for $#%.' 9.The Update-A crashing drumbeat, snaking bassline, keyboards, and a percussion-lauded beat. And "Children Of the Ark!" sampled! 10.Futterman's Rule-A cool mish-mash of... ________! Too bad it doesn't have much of a soul, until conjuring up breathtaking scenes in the brain. Great track. 11.Alright Here This-One of my favorites. Great beat. 12.Eugene's Lament-Weepy Violins and hip-hop beats. 13.Flute Loop-Kind of like Sure Shot, only short. BOOO! 14.Do It-It's funky and sounds good once in a while, but it's just mediocre, standard Beastie Boys track. 15.Ricky's Theme-Totally boring, souless instrumental. 16.Heart Attack Man-A better hardcore punk song than Tough Guy, but still not mind blowing. 17.The Scoop-See #14. It's, however, a bit better. 18.Shambala-See 10#. Only the style is actually rooted in Chinese music. Yes, it's Buddhism, and sets the tone for... 19.Bodhisattva Vow-With monk chants floating over a smooth beat, MCA raps about his finding of Buddhism. The Style is kind of meh, since I really don't give a _______ about Buddah. But the Chinese Percussion instruments crashing sample is simply ________ sweet. May be one of the coolest things on A Beastie Boys record. Yeah! *Applause* 20.Transitions-To end the album, here's a cool instrumental. Just what I need from the last track.
Sounds great enough right? There's enough on this album to last you a while, as it's almost an hour. I'll let you do the rest, but there's definitely some great music on this album. Greatly reccomended, if that works.
8.0/10
afro-schmaltz These jew boys bring on the fizzle. you know what i'm talkin' bout? I'm mean the hip-hop flippy di flop jizzle on my tizzle, just that tasty white boy funk straight from da bronx. you best check it out. homeskillit.
SHOOT TO THRILL Arguably their greatest album ever.It's has so many different musical styles it's unbelieveble.Many consider Check Your Head a better effort but this is as good as they ever got.This album gets my personal vote for best album of 1994.
one of the best records you have great jazz work,lyrical work,and good hardcore tracks what else could you want?If your new to this then pick this up.
"What do we know about partying or anything else??!" I know what you're thinking. "Eggplant giving a hip-hop album not only higher than one star, but FIVE?!?" People, people. This is not just a hip-hop album. "Ill Communication" offers not only GOOD hip-hop, but funk, punk, rock, jazz, fusion, et cetera, in one fresh-sounding album that's always good to listen to. This just might be my favorite Beastie Boys album (and I have all but "To The Five Boroughs").
It may be eleven years old now, but "Ill Communication" may as well have been recorded yesterday. It doesn't sound dated at all. The hip-hop songs, like all of the Beasties' work, is actually damn good and fun (Good rap! Who'da thunk it?), with catchy samples and beats (check out the infectious flutes in "Sure Shot" and "Flute Loop", not to mention that funky bassline in "Root Down"), you also get some nice, mellow instrumental numbers ("Ricky's Theme", "Bobo On The Corner", et cetera), two energetic punk songs ("Tough Guy" and the humorous "Heart Attack Man"), and all kinds of other assorted influence, here in one nice little package... let's not forget the album's biggest hit, the rocker "Sabotage", with its memorable music video.
Buy it if you're sick of the Kayne Wests of the world. No wonder I listened to the old tape I had of this so religiously back in seventh grade.
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