A Good Record, Even For The Rap Hater

I don't like the Beastie Boys, but this is an album I would definitely buy. It's not as mainstream as "Licensed To Ill", and the songs are worth listening to. "Pass The Mic" and "So Whatcha Want" are definite classics. I hate rap, especially that mainstream stuff from 50 Cent and such, but this is more of an alternative rock record. Buy this. You are not likely to be let down.

Check your head

Check Your Head is certainly a record that's greater than the sum of its parts -- individually, nearly all the tracks are good but it's the context and variety of styles that give Check Your Head its identity. It's how the old school raps give way to fuzz-toned rockers, furious punk, and cheerfully gritty, jazzy jams. As much as Paul's Boutique, this is a whirlwind tour through the Beasties' pop-culture obsessions, but instead of spinning into Technicolor fantasies, it's earth-bound D.I.Y. that makes it all seem equally accessible -- which is a big reason why it turned out to be an alt-rock touchstone of the '90s, something that both set trends and predicted them.

No Beastie Boys Collection is complete without this album...

After the mischievous, shouty and rock-influenced debut of "Licensed to Ill", and then following that album up, with their masterpiece "Paul's Boutique" that mixed unparallelled use of Funk/ soul/ Rhythm & Blues/Hip-Hop sampling that completely exceeded everyone's expectations of what the band were capable of. This meant that the band were free to carry on with this "Anything goes" approach to sampling, so the loose feel of "Paul Boutique" is largely carried through, but also along with a more 'Back to Basics' approach to their rapping style (which would later be revisited on their "Hello Nasty" album). So in come, the musical styles of arrangement that seamlessly blend Parliament & Funkadelic-inspired bass with a distinctly Lo-Fi approach to hip-hop beats and instrumentation, Keyboardist "Money Mark" was also on-board to fill in the jazz-styled sonics.



For this album, the emphasis wasn't purely on the vocal skills of the M.C's (Which was something that was proved beyond all doubt on "Paul Boutique"), but instead to focus an album that as much in tune with the Groove, as it was with well-Crafted wordplay. the tracks that did carry a more towards the vocal / M.C'ing dexterity of the band....were tremendous: "Jimmy James, "Pass the Mic," "So What'cha Want", are/were arguably some the finest raps the band had devised thus far, and the time spend between albums, had truly polished their vocal skills.



But the real potential of the album is the focus on the musical side of things, and pushing forward with the magpie approach to music that opened so many people's eyes on "Paul's Boutique", and touching upon Golden-age rap, Lo-fi keyboard-jazz, throbbing punk, brash rock, elements of confident Bossa nova, intelligent pop, & a dear love for gritty funk. So what you get when you have an album that combines all these fragmented elements, is a wildly kaleidoscopic album that tracks that have: booming hard hitting, in yer face bass ("So What'cha Want"), Old skool Rap/Golden-Age freewheeling Hip-Hop ("Pass the Mic"), primitive soul inflected keyboard with a heavy helping of deft sampling (Finger Lickin' Good"), slick reggae-tinged cuts, pushed along with slinky guitar ("Funky Boss"), tremendous use of propulsive guitar, this is natural progression from rock-influenced rap ("Gratitude") & the excellent ("Time for Livin'"), sublimely downtempo funk ("Namaste") & ("Groove Holmes"). It's a incredibly diverse selection of offbeat / brilliantly & adventurously chosen material chosen to construct the album with...(so much so, that tracks such as "Pow", "Groove Holmes", "Namaste", would feature on the beastie Boys instrumental "The in Sound from Way out" album").



This is a truly incredible album of which there is no doubt, and it proved that "Paul's Boutique" wasn't a fluke. And thereby continuing with that level of sonic experimentation that they started on that album, the band produced an album this is equally as essential, and no less worthy. And remains to this day, one of the albums that'll remain as vital today as it did back in 1992. But if your new to the Beastie's, or trying their back catalogue, or indeed, just haven gotten around to buying one of their albums until now. Then as much as it pains me to say this, and being in mind, how much I've gushed about how stunning this album is.....I have to suggest that if your looking to start picking up the Beasties albums, that it's best that you start with "Paul Boutique" first, and then if your prepared to buy more of their albums (you really should do), then make this your next purchase. Taking nothing away from this exceptional release, but it's just that "Paul's Boutique" really opened up some many possibilities for the band, and its eclectic and original approach to song structures within the field of Rap, were unprecedented and (probably) still remains the album that people most people refer to, whom have listened to all of the Beasties studio albums. And it's important to probably start with that album first, as this album is more of a continuation of the groundbreaking work, on the previous album, and beautifully ties in with this remarkable album. But if you have already have "Paul's Boutique", or intend to purchase it.....then this is the next logical step, for an album that is a classic in every sense of the word. Exceptional!!!