Paul's Boutique

Unique work of genius.

I wanted to like it and it wasn’t bad, but no song really grabbed me

Mixes the juvenile energy of licensed to Ill and shows them warming to the stronger aspect of musicianship of Ill communication, and the record shines in the more clean-cut runtime. Their best, even if the shouting wears a little on the listener.

Is it perfect? Probably not. Is it one of three albums I listened to for an entire year of drives to school and fell in love with? Yes. I think the Bouillabaisse is probably where it lags a bit, but this thing is just filled to the brim with amazing hits, great beats, and goofy interwoven rhyme schemes from the boys. A personal favorite from way back, and one I’ll never get tired of.

Not my personal favorite album, but this one has left an indelible mark on all genres of music - like it or not.

This album, and Public Enemy's Fear Of A Black Planet, are the reason why certain sampling laws were introduced and why records like this can't be made in the current day and age without being bankrupt before release unfortunately. And it's a shame. https://kottke.org/19/12/every-sample-from-pauls-boutique-by-the-beastie-boys

My first time listening to a full beastie boys album and I didn't realize their style was so varied! This was fun, but no song blew me away.

I only know a handful of songs by the Beastie Boys, but this album has their standard sound: punk rap, with voices like Nelson Muntz. They have surprising samples sprinkled throughout. They just seem to be having a blast when they make music. I’m not a rap guy, but I’d listen to this again. Mid 4 for the fun!!

Day 1: It's okay, but won't be my favourite. Irritating songs and the vocals are getting pretty repetitive and don't get me to hear more from them.

Wow! I can't believe I had never listened to that all the way through before.

Not for me.

I did not like this album - not the Beastie Boys I am used to.

Meh

My second favourite album of all time just being Blur's 13. Perfection start to finish. Car Thief in particular.

Top top sampling, some super funky beats but just feels a little disjointed at times. Some songs will have some really excellent sections of beastie boys bars but feeling a little incongruent with the rest of the song. Excellent production, great sampling and some nice scratching but ultimately only 3 or so songs really did it for me.

HUMPTY DUMPTY WAS A BIG FAT EGG

I should have figured that an entire Beastie Boys album would be even more chaotic than any of their singles. A great chaos, though.

Great beats! Wouldn't want to listen to a whole album ... Good in moderation. High energy.

Hell yeah. This album is an all-timer.

3.5

Same thing I mentioned about my previous Beastie Boys. I see, respect, and understand the impact and influence, and I should on paper love their music. In practice, I just don't care for it, and that's okay. That doesn't take away from how important they were

Only 2 albums ago, I received "Phrenology" by The Roots. That was an album that made me fall even more in love with rap and hip hop. That is the complete opposite of what this album has done. Like, what the fuck is this? These guys sound like they're 13 all the while they are shouting at me in their whiny voices. And while all of this is going on, the ear grating instruments are doing whatever the fuck they are doing in the background. This is by far one of the most annoying albums I have ever listened to. Never again.

Required listening for music fans. “Johnny Ryall” and “Shadrach” are favorites.

I am not a fan. They sound squeaky and obnoxious which is not my thing. I do like them when they have a really fast beat because I can get past it but most of their beats are slow. They have some cool beats though and I like what they did with the cow bell in hey ladies. I also enjoyed 5 piece chicken dinner. It gave me whiplash though because I was not expecting it after all of the other songs sounded the same.

Dropping science like Galileo dropped an orange. There’s always a special spot in my ears for Beastie Boys, this album kept a great tempo and was so entertaining to listen through. The sampling was on point, the beats were tasty and the lyrics were a great mix of goofy, irreverent and at the same time absolutely well written and clever. Favorite songs - Johnny Ryell, Egg Man, The Sounds of Science, Looking Down The Barrel of a Gun 5/5 Dropped oranges.

Not really my jam. Too brash for my tastes. Was glad when it was over.

3.5 it was pretty good. The songs that had more instruments than just drums were much better. The ones that didn’t felt very empty

Day 11, first 5 star rating <3

Classic

Short but good music

I wasn’t Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun when I listened to this one, but To All the Girls, I ain’t no High Plains Drifter. Just setting the record straight.

Not my favorite Beastie Boys album but certainly nothing to scuff at by any means. Absolutely a masterpiece of sampling and pushing boundaries during the time in which that was much much more difficult than today. Really breakthrough stuff but again nothing super catchy or hooky enough to reel you in, like latter albums do IMO.

It had nice flow, but overall it’s kinda not my thing

The Beastie Boys are just not my cup of tea. I don't care for their music.

Didn't really care for this album as much as previous Beastie Boys records I've heard. Kind of forgettable with some interesting sample choices.

# 151 : Not as bad as it seems. Not bad, not good. Wouldn't go back to this, it's not my style. I don't like being yelled at LOL. Fav Track : Egg Man

YES!!!!

Good listen, a bit too much of a good thing at times. I enjoyed the out-of-the-box walls of samples but it felt a bit overstimulating and busy at times. The good stuff was very good though. Also, points to the boys for knowing so much about Japanese baseball. Top tracks: Shake Your Rump, Egg Man, Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun, Car Thief, Shadrach

Really cool. I see why Madonna wanted to fuck these Jewish nerds now

Classic. At once dense and sprawling. Liked it more this time than the last time I listened.

Great album, you can hear how the BB’s matured a bit and went outside the box to allow their sound to evolve. Love the album cover!

I don't really listen to Hip Hop and Rap, but when I do, it's old-school. This is great. A bit long, but great.

Enjoyable nostolgia

I’ll be honest, I never really liked the sound of their music. It baffles me how they have so many fans. They always sounded like an amateur act from mom’s basement that never got an upgrade.

Again something that I can only appreciate in a historical context. Just not for me, sadly.

Nope… love the beat, can’t stand the whiney boy vocals.

Ja, ich weiß, Beastie Boys sind Legenden, haben auch großartige Songs (hier zum Beispiel: "Looking down the barrel of a gun", geiles Riff) und ich habe beim Nebenbei hören immer wieder interessiert aufgehorcht. Aber es ist auf Dauer einfach nichts für mich. Wahrscheinlich brauche ich einfach mehr Melodien und/oder "richtigen" Gesang zum Glücklichsein 🤷🏼‍♀️ Allerdings musste ich bei einigen Liedern an The Office bzw. das Rapvideo von Michael Scott und Dwight denken, das hat schon gute Laune gemacht 😁

This is an album that demands and rewards multiple listens, preferably with a guide to the samples. There is so much going on here at so many levels, with samples used in surprising and unexpected ways, paired with some incredibly dense lyrics full of allusions and niche references. I can see why this wasn’t as commercially successful as their first album but it’s much more satisfying. It really does live up to its reputation as the Sergeant Pepper of Hip Hop!

This is great. Think I still prefer Ill Communicado

Their sampling is outstanding and I could listen to the instrumentals if they offered those on an album forever. I'm not a fan of their lyrics or their voices. They are a little grating and the lyrics sound cheesy.

I was more familiar with the "Ill" records, but Paul's Boutique is another Beastie Boys masterpiece. The samples are particularly insane, once you start to pay attention to the music behind the voices. Their flow is still the same (and either you like it or you abhor it; I'm in the first category), the music is a bit more funky with less obvious "rock" part, really a good album. Although perhaps a tiny bit too long since it's very dense.

This kind of hip hop is really tiring for me. Not that all this music is bad, but it's not for me. I'm a bit surprised, because I listened a lot to Licensed to Ill.

My favourite Beastie Boys album. One of those that needs repeated listens and a deep dive, always something new to notice. Recommend the 33 1/3 book on it if you are interested in how it was made.

I love their songs seperately, but listening to the entire album is A LOT

this thing is so fun, they dont make white boys like this anymore

Finds 2 other white males. All 3 of us pinch our noses shut with pegs, then abrasively talk-yell at the same time about New York. Rinse and repeat for a whole album/career?!

Perfect!

I’ve seen the Beastie Boys twice. Once at Lollapalooza (when it was touring). It was blistering hot. When the Beastie Boys came on a rain shower appeared out of nowhere and the crowd went WILD. It was definitely a top 5 show for me. I didn’t even need to listen to this to know it’s 5 stars. The Beastie Boys reinvented themselves so many times but remained consistently the three fucking baddest white boys in the hip hop genre.

so good. Way ahead of its time - revolutionary. The best Beastie Boys album, and IMO best hip-hop album of the 80s.

This is a fun record full of brilliant use of samples, cool grooves and immature lyrics. I prefer hip hop when it has some depth to its lyrics, but I liked this one a lot more than I expected to.

A classic!

beastie boys sounded interesting

Unparalleled perfection!!! No notes. One of THE BEST albums PERIOD

Scott-Stapp-Frat-Rap-Midwest-Boo-Bap. I won't ever say I don't like them, just didn't age great. White dudes yelling over really good samples.

well i've never been a fan of the beastie boys to start with. this is the kind of music my father blasts in the car when he wants to annoy me lol. i'm just not a fan of whatever you would call the beastie boys hip-hop rock genre. however, this album brings back lots of memories so that gives it extra points from me. new york jewish boy swag will never die. i appreciate how the album blends together and the chords. the lyrics are also goofy. alot of it sounds like it's straight out of a spongebob episode. stand out song: shadrach. overall would not relisten not my type of music xx

# Playlist track - Shake Your Rump # Notes - I believe this album shaped the 90s is ways that I don't fully understand. - Experimental, creative, fun. - Misses here and there, but overall a great listen

It’s such a fun album. Some songs are upbeat. Some are dark. Very clever. Great sample choices.

Haven't heard much of the Beastie Boys before. It is easy to see how they influenced a lot of artists and groups that came after them. From the Rock/Hip-hop instrumentation, sampling or their flow patterns. The instrumentation on this album is varied and unique. Lots of cool bass lines and strange instrumentation. The lyrics are sometimes clever and sometimes dumb, but they are always performed with enthusiasm. I think I would have enjoyed this album a bit more if it was a little shorter, but even in saying that there is a lot to like here.

Tío, que cacho de disco. Estamos a finales de los 80, los grupos negros de rap están ahí, construyendo su propia música que hasta ese momento era una anécdota, algo más parecido a una broma. Y aparecen tres blancos esmirriados que vienen del punk y hacen algo que no es rap, pero tampoco es punk. Y hacen esto, lleno de rabia, buen humor, reivindicación, historias... Tío, mola, aún sin ser el mejor disco de beastie boys

Fantastic classic hip hop/rap album. Pleasantly surprised, as I’m not familiar with the genre

The album that changed sampling forever. The beats is pretty much entirely made of sampled music and definitely a turning point in hip hop, also can’t beat the harsh vocals of Ad Rock, Mike D & MCA

Iconic. So much attitude and vibe. I do always find that old school hip-hop gets a little tedious after a full album though.

Hip-hop for a broader audience, minimizing the violence and gangster focus of earlier offerings. Interesting and creative with scores of nods to earlier rock artists across multiple genres. I'm not a big hip-hop fan but this record opened my eyes to a segment of the genre I was unaware of and find pretty interesting -- though I will still be unlikely to listen to it regularly.

oh god, not again. ok, here we go.

22/100 Based on this scale: 1 star - 0 to 19 2 stars - 20 to 39 3 stars - 40 to 59 4 stars - 60 to 79 5 stars - 80 to 100 While it has occasional grooves that don't suck, this is better in tiny doses. A whole album of juvenile rappers yelling nonsense at me is a bit much. It's like going to Baskin Robbins and trying all of their one flavour. It's not nearly good enough to be this long. At one point, I was like "okay, I get the point of this long, repetitive song." It turns out I was only 5 seconds into the song, so this "long song" was in fact a set of several. Holy fuck, these guys have no creativity. Please stop yelling at me with those squeaky little voices.

I have an ex that mostly ruined this album for me, along with License to Ill, by overplaying the hits from them when we were together. This one I tolerate more than License, but both Hey Ladies and Brass Monkey have some negative emotional attachment for me. I've come to enjoy the B. Boys later albums more than the early ones, so at least she didn't ruin them completely for me, but I'd much rather listen to Ill Communication or To the 5 Boroughs. These albums just sound so much more juvenile than their later work.

Awesome sampling work, but the vocals are hardly intelligible. Without the vocals to hold your attention, it starts to feel monotonous after a bit.

No songs downloaded.

I thought I liked this album more when it came out. I probably thought I was cooler than I really was. Listening now, I can’t really say I like it. I don’t think it aged well. Or maybe I didn’t….

Fun and cute but not my thing

Great fun listening to tracks and picking out the samples. Got a shock when the opening drum fill from Moby Dick kicked in (it’s my phone’s ringtone).

3.5

I generally don't like hip hop, but that was a nice departure from my normal music to listen to.

So good!

Swingende beats. Goede flow in de rap. Alt vibe. Heel leuk. Meer klassiek aan pak aan rap hiphop muziek

Not as good as Ill Communication. Not sure I needed my 4th album assignment to be Beastie Boys after being assigned that better BB album as 1st assignment.

TOO. MUCH. SHOUTING. Worth it for the samples, went to listen the original songs and loved them all.

Kinda perfect

Don’t know many Beastie Boys songs (none on this album), interesting with a lot of low-hanging rhymes but then something much more sophisticated. Album seems sample heavy but works in the genre. Unsure how B.B. is regarded within hip hop, but they have an undeniable sound. Imagery is comical. B-Boy bouillabaisse set is a totally different sound. Think my fave was either “egg man” or “looking down the barrel of a gun”

Хайповое фанковое хип-хоп звучание, но однообразно и довольно быстро надоедает, но спокойствие хорошо подходит под фон или что-то типо того, но цепляет не сильно

a vlassik album

Dated

Not my style...

Hard not to jump around and see big along. Samples on point. Young Rick Rubin at his finest.

Never vibed with the Beasties. Adam's voice grates on my soul

Always good music in early rap years

Five stars. One of my all time favorites.

Loud and yell-y

I Don ‘t like Hip-Hop.

Wasn't sure how I would feel about an hour of Beastie Boys but I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the album. That being said by the end of it I was ready for something else. Favorite songs: Shake Your Rump, Hey Ladies, Egg Man

Eclectic and smoothly flowing

Raucously fun

It felt kinda repetitive but sometimes the lyrics and the way they say it make me crack up. For example this made me laugh in the middle of listening: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair So I can climb up and get into your underwear" Sometimes it's funny and I'm vibing but sometimes I'm not -7/10

It was cute when they all rapped together Edit -- I watched a video of the samples that they used and it's quite impressive, but that didn't make it any more enjoyable to listen to again.

Liked this one better than the last beastie boys album. Not 100% my thing but still good 7.9/10

Ugh. It’s well executed I guess but shout rap is not my thing. Some of the samples were fun but mostly it felt disjointed. 4/10

3.1/10 - Basically the same as my last rating for Beastie boys. I do not like his voice but the backbeat is pretty good on a bunch of songs. The reason this one exceeded the other album is simply because of 5-piece Chicken Dinner and A Year and A Day went crazy.

not sure what the first half of sounds of science was supposed to be. Some of the songs were decent others were less good. 5 piece chicken dinner was something. 4.5/10

This one is hard to rate for me. Fantastic production, some of the best I’ve heard in a while, but I really dislike the way the beastie boys rap- the weird shout rapping just doesn’t do it for me. It ruins some of the songs that could be great if the rapping was at least bearable. 6.5/10

Great background music track.

Hadn't heard the whole album before, but knew some of the hits

wasn't that good - no catchy or memorable songs. The one guys voice is really grating. And it's basically all 3 of them (there are 3, right?) singing together the majority of the time. I have no idea why this is rated as a good album.

Likes: awesome blend of organic instrumentation and samples. Boutique is a great album title, because the beats, melody and flow are so lush and mellow it feels like a luxury good. Beasties also always had this way of using their voices as instruments with certain sonic value which enhance the instrument. Absolutely iconic album, wont accept less than 4 stars. Dislikes: Uh maybe, the use of the banjo lick in 5 piece chicken dinner. But even that was pretty cool.

b e a t s

Some pretty cool stuff going on. Also lots of shouting.

Looking down the barrel of a gun ✔️

Time for another artist to join the "I've gotten 2 albums from them for this project" club. This time, the Beastie Boys are back with their second album, Paul's Boutique. This one's okay. The writing could be better, but it's not that bad and could've aged worse. The rapping itself is still something that I'm not huge on, but it's not ear-grating either and I can see why it has its fans. The album goes on for quite a bit, but it doesn't drag too much. However, this album is not on the list for its sheer quality or anything (at least I don't think it is). No, this album is on here, and deservedly so, for technical reasons. This album is just a master class in the power of sampling. Most of the instrumentals on this album is sampling. One could say that this album is unoriginal as a result. However, I see this album for the technical accomplishment that it is. The sampling all works quite well, and this album was a sort of pioneer in that regard. Overall, while I think I liked Ill Communication more, Paul's Boutique certainly isn't bad. High 3/5.

Great piece

Kan ikke fatte hvad de siger fordi de råber sådan men der er fandeme gang i det! Og fede samples. Idk det rykker bare haha

Still just as fun nearly 40 years later. 4/5

A classic. For me, it gets a bit tiring after a while though.

This is the goods. Singular record that would have begun a new genre if humanity was worthy of it. Flawless masterpieces aren't always that entertaining or fun. At Paul's Boutique art, fun, and innovation flow like wine.

What a way to start off 2024 I have come to a realization about this album and its place in society recently. I came to Paul’s Boutique in the early 2000s, possibly when this album was having a cultural reassessment and being recognized as the peak of the Beasties powers, that this was heir apparent to Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. So ambitious and pushing the limits of what music could be (figuratively and legally). 35 (!) years on it still sounds ahead of its time and a miracle that it all works so well; never does it sound like all the samples are overused or out of place. I think now though this is closer to Exile on Main Street, in a much as it’s such a ‘dude’ album that people (me included) take so much joy in explaining to people why it’s significant. Like where the samples are coming from, how unique this was at the time, that a song is made up of all Beatles samples. Like I believe that the next Liz Phair will be writing a song for song companion to Paul’s Boutique. Kicked Out of Lees Sportswear? This along with Sound of Silver are on my essential New York record list I will be starting hahaha

I've heard most of these songs either individually or on other albums (compilations, soundtracks), but never this album on its own in its entirety, I don't think. I like it as a whole; I think the era of Check Your Head and Ill Communication was when the Beastie's were the most on my radar, and I kind of lost interest around Hello Nasty. This album has a rougher production feel than any of those, even rougher than License to Ill. I liked most of the songs and the overall production (I can tell my headphones are not doing the ridiculous amount of bass justice, lol).

Listened to this for the /mu/ list a while back. It was fine, and definitely better than the first album. 3/5

I prefer the funky instrumentals from Check Your Head and Ill Communication, but this is still excellent, a brilliant use of sampling throughout and a worthwhile evolution from their legendary first LP. Definitely essential. B+

I’ve never given them a fair listen past their classic radio hits. I love storytelling in music, but I still find them a bit of a one trick pony. I respect what they do like I do the Beatles. Still a solid album and a cool start.

Not my music

This is the first Beastie Boys album I was exposed to and it's still my favorite album by them. The shouting does bother some (I've noticed this in other reviews), but that's the style and so it's not for everyone. This still has my favorite Beastie Boys songs on it and the sampling is very innovative and it exhausts me just thinking about trying to get all of them together. Classic and will always be in my collection.

Everytime we get a beastie boys album im always gutted and then I listen and am pleasantly surprised. idk why i have this internalized beastie boys hate in me, THEYRE GOOD. Unfortunately, though on this album, the low lights are pretty low.

Ok

Ahhhh schrecklich, und jedes Lied klingt gleich!

Such a fun album. I love playing "identify the sample". Not an every day listen for me, but a great LP nonetheless.

that sure was a beastie boys album

Not my style.

I know this group is primarily just fun to listen to, but they really did have some legitimate musical chops to them. There are way more actual punk elements to them than just their overall demeanor. The deep groove on High Plains Drifter is flat out addicting.

Best Beastie Boys album. Fight me.

Not being a rap fan it was alright. Good beats and decent lyrics. 2

Not my favorite beastie album. Egg man was funny.

They have some good songs but they just doing hit right in large segments

Beastie Boys are best in small doses or as background music in a party setting. Listening to a full album with my full attention is just too much. I appreciate their role in music history but this album is not for me. It’s a solid 2. Loud, shouty, some very immature lyrics and just too much.

C'était bien, pas forcément ce que j'écoute. J'ai aimé, mais je vais surement pas y revenir.

I wish I liked this more than I do. I appriciate its value in the genre, and how influencial it was at the time. However I can't get over how silly it is, maybe this kind of hip hop just isn't for me.

good, probably innovative for that time

Very fun album! Never listened to them before and really enjoyed this.

Some words rhyme, but some also don’t?

Great album

Classic BB sound, but too many songs and some odd ones. 2/5

Not quite as good as Licensed to Ill but they seem pretty comparable

The production is pretty expansive and creative, though a lot of the songs themselves feel like afterthoughts for the simple joy of snipping together beats. Still more or less enjoyed it. Best song: B-Boy Bouillabaisse medley

I was vibing to it, but after a while it all kind of sounded the same.

Listening to an entire Beastie Boys album is a bit exhausting because their singing/rapping all sounds very similar (like shouting). There is a good variety of samples/beats on the album, and most songs are enjoyable enough on their own but it gets old. Favorite track: Shake Your Rump

Awesome. What a great vibe.

Listened to about half of it.

Ja ik vind dit dus he-le-maal niets... Dit is voor mij het slechte van hiphop met het slechte van rock. Het haalt alle kracht van early hiphop - de teksten- weg en vervangt ze met boze witte jongens. Nu ik er over nadenk he, is dit voor mij de voorloper van Turfy gang. Het zal wel. Qua rap doen ze me denken aan Public Enemy, maar waar Public Enemy's kracht voor mij zit in de boodschap die ze overbrengen is dat compleet weg bij de Beastie Boys. Nee, ik ben dol op hiphop, but this ain't it chief. Ze krijgen een sterretje erbij omdat puur de beats goed in elkaar zitten, wat dan blijkbaar weer komt omdat dit 1 van de eerste platen is waar vrijwel volledig gebruik werd gemaakt van samples. Was dit maar een instrumentaal album zeg.

Fun hip hop. Love these guys.

I've probably listened to a dozen or two songs that were obviously in the style of Beastie Boys, but I don't think I've ever actually listened to Beastie Boys.

Love love love

Never been a Beastie Boys fan...

Its fine I guess, still not really the biggest fan of hip hop though

As much as I love Beasite Boys, this album always felt like it was a misrepresentation of their best work. There are absolutely some gems on here, but as a whole project, I feel like they have better to offer. That said, the sample work here is among the best for early hip hop.

The sheer audacity of cramming 105 samples into this album's production is unreal; yet, the Beastie Boys manage to not only keep up but run rap circles around the kaleidoscopic beats.

7-11, Jell-O, Steve McQueen I think I just missed the boat on this. It sounds immature and one-note, there isn't a lot of variability, they hit one rhythm, one sound, and then never let up. Like that joke where a man thinks he's found an erogenous zone, so he just rubs the same spot awkwardly and consistently. Sabotage is hands down the best song, but Madness just sucks or whatever it was made us laugh.

Classic and only a little dated. If you can get past the nasally voice and back-and-forth rapping style that really gives away its age, the production and songs are excellent and many times still fresh.

Has a very unique sound that is the Beastie Boys. This album doesn't have any of their "big hits" but is still a great listen with plenty of those iconic interludes.

It's a record I don't think you can take in with just one listen. It's a full on assault, from the constantly switching samples, to the constantly rotating MC, hitting you with the enthusiasm of a child hopped up on a year's worth of pixie sticks. I've never actually noticed how much the Beastie Boys take from Run DMC, while adding a shit ton of energy. Favorite tracks: "Shake Your Rump", "Hey Ladies"

ehhh to much happening. overall headache

Still not

All time great.

As much as I think I like the Beasties, this all sounds like the same stuff from track to track, album to album. Intergalactic is the only song that really stands out from the last 20 years or so. It's not bad, but I just get bored of it. I'm not the type of person that really listens to lyrics, especially when they're this fast.

Strong 3 I think!

a great album....

Pretty solid. Love the funky vibe from the Beastie Boys. Solid 4/5

Nice old-school beat, with lyrics that follow the rythm flawlessly, reminds me of similar authors who constantly shout at you through the whole album, the sampling and jazz is simply unbeatable.

J'ai envoyé deux casseurs de gueule à l'adresse d'eltrapeze pour qu'ils lui rendent une petite visite.

ça fait toujours plaisir de retrouver les Beasties Boys, mais passé les 10mn les Beastie Boys recommencent à nous gonfler.

Pretty old school

Very lively, requires some attention, some funny bits, some really good parts

Love all the insane samples, lyrics are fun too.

I love the nonsense back and forth - Beasties got incredibly lucky to find each other. They sound like brothers.

I’ve made fun of 80s rappers previously for having that goofy, old school flow, but the Beastie Boys have such a distinct and unique sound (make no mistake, they still sound goody as fuck) that they can’t help but stand out against others. The production is surprisingly good for the time as well as only being their second album. The experimentation here is really what makes this album though. No hip-hop album would have this weird half rap half easy going psychedelic experimental sound for decades. Not to say there isn’t anything holding this album back. The lyrics and original vision seem a little unfocused, but ultimately it doesn’t take away too much from the experience. 4/5

10/10

No es muy mi estilo, me gustaron solo dos canciones

3.5 première écoute ça crie beaucoup quand même

A hip hop classic, though to be honest I don't know that it would be nowadays.

Didn’t like

A pretty monumental album. The was the Beastie Boys and Rick Rubin meshed so many samples together to create such lush songs, without the use of today's modern technology, is quite the achievement. The bravado the Beastie Boys bring to every song is energizing. Personally, I enjoy the samples and beats more then their collective rapping on the album.

Best album ever!!!

A master class in how to layer samples to create something entirely new and fascinating. A sonic journey worth taking.

ok

Meh

Love sampling, love Beastie Boy yelling, simple as.

Not what I was expecting hahah Early hip hop, a bit sexist, kinda fun

1/5 - Never listening again 2/5 - Its ok, but not for me 3/5 - good song, but wont listen again 4/5 - I love it, will listen again 5/5 - Going in my playlist (on repeat) 1. "To All the Girls" -/5 (intro) 2. "Shake Your Rump" 3/5 3. "Johnny Ryall" 3/5 4. "Egg Man" 2/5 5. "High Plains Drifter" 1/5 I honestly have no idea why this album is rated so high. The sound and rap is unique but thats the only thing I can say about it. I dont like it. It sounds like they are screaming nursery rhymes.

I'm learning that I might not like hip-hop. Don't get me wrong, this is very good. But I just don't think it's my preferred flavor of music.

Good energy but ultimately repetitive and uninteresting. Alright, if you like 90s rap but with annoying voices.

Dope.

Might be good, but I didn’t really have time to get into it.

I know it already! It's great!

Dang fun

Surprisingly meh for Beastie Boys.

This album felt pretty long. And I would say it was decent. I’m kinda torn between a three and a four for it. I like the Beastie Boys, but i found myself getting tired of their musical style pretty fast. Like good in small doses kind of thing. Too much of it was tiring. When I did pay attention to the lyrics I could usually appreciate the lyricism. Sometimes I thought they were kinda dumb but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Meh: the second time I have listened to the Beastie Boys and the shouty New York rap is getting a bit much at this point. They had some solid sampling and lyrics which flowed very well but it wasn't all to my taste. Just feel it's gotten a bit too familiar and almost boring. Nothing against the impact they've had but just not for me.

I like the rap of the songs. You have 2 voices that have a very fun dynamic and really make the songs feel more alive. I liked the sound of the heavy beats with bass melodies or the metal. I also liked the production decisions like the sound effects or little details that make songs more special. Overall, this album had a sound that I hadn't heard before, and I'd say it introduced me very well.

Not my thing.

Fabulous. Seminal. As good today as ever was.

Nope. I can't do it.

The samples are sick but the bars are meh. Lots of shouting. Gets aggravating after a whole.

Absolute garbage. Put me off so much that I subconsciously put off this whole 1001 albums thing for many days now. How could one even think this deserves to be on the list? Any basic album I listened to in the early 2010s on repeat that sounds a little crappier now could easily replace this shit.

Great

empieza mal la segunda remonta muchísimo mola pero las letras 0

It's the production. The Dust Brothers did something here that will never be equalled - mostly because Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy of the Southern District of New York decided that, unlike compulsory licenses available in every other form of music cover, sampling from thence forth required permission of the original songwriter. R.I.P. an amazing form of artistic expression at the hands of a disinterested legal academic.

Given how good the production and sampling were, I'd love to give this album at least a 3/5, but the vocals were annoying and repetitive. These aren't songs that I could picture myself vibing to.

When listening to the beastie boys, I have to be in the right mood to be able to listen to this type of music. Some of the songs were OK, honestly, it’s still a great album, but it’s just not my style, I wish there were some slower songs on it.

Know some by Beastie Boys, cant say I was ever a huge fan. This album is definitely different though, I like it. Always have loved their raw approach to rap, this whole album sounds like they all chilling together rapping into the same mic live. Although they have this cool raw approach, their vocals can become tiresome and almost annoying at times. Also love their beats, they're all pretty dope. 5 piece chicken dinner is a funny addition to this album Personal Favorites: What Comes around, Egg man

All the same rap rhythm, boring, unintelligible, no musical interest.

🤘🏼

Borderline iconic. Borderline amazing. Borderline annoying. Had to skip High Plains Drifter. The backing moaning track on that song was so fucking annoying. Honestly, don't mind the Beastie Boys just maybe do mind this album.

It’s exactly what you would expect from the beastie boys

嗯嗯这一张特别适合我这几天的The wire mood！

Harsh listening

my second beastie boys experience, and somehow i managed to get their first two albums in chronological order. i liked this one a bit better than their debut, i felt like it felt less like an obnoxious party and more refined. i thought the beats were better and more clever. their rapping still felt a bit... raucous, we'll say, but that's sort of the point there. but yeah, overall, i felt like i enjoyed my time with this one.

I always hear something new

Forgot how awesome this album was when it came out and still is. BB is by far one of the most talented and gifted trio of the past 40 years and will always be a huge fan of their stuff. Paul’s Boutique is an eclectic group of songs that will keep you locked in from beginning to end. Enjoy

The intro "To All the Girls' was fun, and I really liked the first song. However, after four songs in, everything started to blend together. The only way I noticed a new song begin was the silence in between them. They just yell (always in the same way too) and it all sounds the same, despite all the samples.

8/10. Funky album love the unique style and lyricism

Funky vibes

Not my favorite Beastie Boys

A bop. Starts smoother than expected but develops into the ahead-of-its-time 90s style hip hop we anticipated. There's some clever sampling on the tracks, some slightly strange sampling also. Overall, an enjoyable listen.

3.5/5

I appreciate this album more now than I did when I was a kid.

Great samples, moving forward from LTI and laying the foundations of things to come.

It's better on a big stereo and you are a teenager.

I'm much more into the backing tracks here than the vocals or the lyrics. The whole thing feels like a mixtape in a cool way, but so many of the songs have really juvenile or gross themes. Fun at times, but overall not all that memorable for me.

Zu alt, zu unstrukturiert, nicht mehr zeitgemäß. Feiern die Menschen glaube ich nur noch, weil sie es mit ihrer Jugend verbinden.

Ok i have to confess, that I really enjoyed this. The lyrics are not that bullshit as in todays rap and the music is also ace.

Not for me.

One of the most iconic albums of ask time. Easily top 100.

Fun!

My first album out of 1001 and what a doozy. Would be a great album if you took out all the shitty white guy rapping. Great sample work, I just don’t like their style. It’s giving very Andrew Dice Clay, except that he was more fun.

Straight, head bobbing fire.

Day 7,614 without sex. I suppose it's one of those cases where my inability to comprehend English is a buff. This sounds completely fine to me.

I watched a documentary about the Beastie Boys and they talked extensively about his album and all of their other stuff Boring. I like the mixing theyve done to their vocals. Makes me nostalgic for the old GTA:SA days

Masterful use of samples. Rhymes effortless.

it's a fun album but I like licensed to ill better and

I was never a big Beastie Boys fan back in the day, but I found this album to be surprisingly enjoyable. Perhaps I should have explored them more.

I stole this tape from a big box store that was going out of business. The place was a shambles - clearly they were short staffed because the whole place was just shelves of products in the wrong places and stuff laying all over the floor. This tape had been broken out of its plastic theft-proof case and just laying there, out in the open. It was too much temptation for 15 year old me to handle. I took it and didn't expect much. Then I wore this thing out. Much like De La Soul's debut, this is just that junkyard of samples and sounds that are perfectly mixed. Listening now, it suffers from a lot of the same things most of their albums suffer from - it's overlong, just throwing every idea in the pot. But the bright spots are the brightest of their career.

A huge amount of energy, some really fun samples thrown into the mix, and the beats are chunky. Yet despite the 'feelgood' vibe that prevails, it's yet another rap album that slips from 'great' to 'fine' through a lack of variety. The Beastie Boys remain iconic but a whole album of their sing-song, see-saw delivery can be a little wearying.

nicht mein Geschmack

Full of creativity and energy

Good rap. Stopped halfway thru

ok

The number of listens on spotify are definitely telling of the song's quality. Slow songs are too slow. Beats are cool but not enough variation in the "melody" from the MCs. Every song sounds just about the same, with the most famous ones showing some more personality. B-Boy Bouibaisse sounds more like small samples that didn't evolve into full songs.

The production on this CARRIES hard. It’s tough listening to the Beastie Boys rap for an hour.

no musicality at all

Doofy and fun

Honestly an excruciating listen. Did not enjoy it at all. I don’t get it and never will.

Like them but this one is not great. One good song. Other stuff is better.

A solid 4 for me, really enjoyed it. Quite different from their typical hits. Nice dubs and tight vocal delivery in true beastie fashion.

All time great rap album

I like this record a lot. I prefer "Check Your Head" but that has more to do with the production and the overall sound than the actual material.

2/5

I really like the vocals and the delivery. The samples are mind-boggily well executed. Even though it's not my style of music I can see the art and dedication to the craft (over 8 hours worth of songs were sampled!). Hey Ladies and Shake Your Rump were standouts for me.

Loved this!! So refreshing even for 2023, let alone 1989. I was hooked from the intro.

This is IT. So fun, so silly. Amazing beats. Completely obsessed with “Hey Ladies”!

I usually would enjoy hip hop more i guess but i think the shout rap kinda took me out of it

It's pretty good, but I don't get why this is considered peak Beastie Boys.

Awesome album. Love it.

Pretty, pretty, pretty good

Good but not their best album

What the fuck was that? 💀💀

The album that made the Beastie Boys what they are. Totally changed their sound from the first album. Egg man is a favorite.

Doesn't quite reach the heights of I'll communication but it's still incredible in its own way. Also B-boy Bouillabaisse is a 10/10 track title.

I love hip hop. At its best the MCing and instrumentation are so clever and full of heart. It's a worldview-changing way of looking at musical art as a pile of interrelated pieces you can collect like a magpie, rearrange, reimagine & recontextualize with respect or irreverence or both at once. The very best of hip hop is like Ulysses was to modern literature, both a 'fuck you' and 'I love you' to all the music and poetry that came before. I did not like this at all. music: hated. (⌐■_■)

One thousand times in my life, I’ve expressed that I am something of a Beastie Boys hater, and someone has replied “You should listen to Paul’s Boutique.” Well I have now, and I’ll be damned if they weren’t right. I stand corrected.

This is didn't have any goto Beastie Boys songs, but it was solid nonetheless

What a ride!

Good instrumentals

decent beats, weird lyrics

Sounds like Beastie Boys

Another classic

ngl they had me in the first half The first few tracks I wasn`t really feeling the whole record, the beats, this old school energetic, shouting type of rap - it just didn't vibe for. However after a few tracks I opened up to their style. The last track is an absolute jam by the way and I was already digging it twice in a row. Will definitely be coming back to this album, at least to check out, if I feel differently about the first few tracks. Although I guess for me it will probably never reach the status of an essential hip-hop album, it has for so many other people.

There's a level of angst required for the beastie boys that I do not possess.

Loved it. Major flashback nostalgia. Solid early b boys charm

Really enjoy but not sure how much because it’s good or nostalgic.

Never listened to it front to back before. Listened to it twice today.

Samples eram interessantes, e era algo uplifting, mas um bocado esquecível honestamente

Favourite tracks: bboys boulabaisse; car thief; Shadrach; shake your rump; egg man

Not my cup of tea

This is one of my favorite hip hop albums of all time, hearing it again for this list was a pleasure.

Is it rock? Is it rap? Beats and instrumentals are awesome - sampling is so cool and its really fun recognising random little bits taken from other songs (like Sounds of science with the guitar from The End - Beatles). Reminds me of an early version of Death Grip's 'Exmilitary.' Vocals vary from kinda fun (Hey Ladies) to annoying af (the dude with the real high voice), really hold the album back (wish someone like DOOM, Mos Def or Nas were rapping over it). Music for driving around downtown NYC in a beaten up car wearing homeless person clothes. PS this would sound very good stoned High Plains Drifter and the Sounds of science are some phat tunes.

4. Sounds good

What a joy. Like a hug from an old friend. Hasn't lost a thing in all the years since we had the posters up on our bedroom walls and celebrated the sound of these B-Boys from Brooklyn.

It's incredibly rare to find someone who'll finish your sentences for you. So glad these three found each other.

I think "Paul's Boutique" might be the starkest example so far in the 1001 of tastes changing as we grow up. "Paul's Boutique" was a bit too early for me. My first Beastie Boys exposure was "Ill Communication," and I worked a bit backwards from there. I definitely dug it as a teenager. I didn't keep up with them too tightly, and don't think I listened much to "Hello Nasty." But I loved "To The 5 Boroughs" as a young adult. Going back to "Paul's Boutique," I was struck by the in-your-face brashness and immaturity. But that was the Beastie Boys, right? I was just in a better place to receive it when I was younger. I still think early Beastie Boys has a special place in the history of hip hop, and parts of it are still enjoyable. They always were incredibly clever, and this is probably one of the best representations of the 80s style of hip hop which could too often be slow and corny. But the constant yelling and childishness throughout is too much of a turnoff for me now. We'll eventually get to "Ill Communication," but in the meantime I went back to "To The 5 Boroughs," and I'm happy to say I liked it much better. They toned down what needed to be toned down, while still keeping the bite and the wit, and the beats were improved, along with guest spots that helped the flow and broke up the monotony of the Boys' voices. Musically only a ⭐️⭐️ for me now, though "To The 5 Boroughs" is still at least a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Looking forward to revisiting "Ill Communication," and not so much looking forward to "License to Ill."

The sample game is strong and I like the music quite a bit. I strongly dislike their vocals, all of them, specifically their metre. It bugs me so much that I can’t listen to this. The vocals remind me of the Spinal Tap version of white guys rapping.

Not for me, still good.

Good album

More lyrical and less shouty than their debut album, I prefer this out of the two.

Good samples and influential to a lot of rappers which I can hear. They’re a little too loud which is my only real complaint. I’d rather order a 5 piece chicken dinner than hear that 23 second song.