Reviews (page 7 of 14)
4.5 If you made a top 25 list for Hip Hop, the Beastie Boys would be an honorable mention.
Solid album
a classic
I am somewhat hesitant to admit that I have never heard this entire album. I quite liked the first two-thirds, but it got a bit raucous towards the end. I would definitely listen to this again!
a tad grating to thine ears at times, but mostly surprisingly enjoyed
While I'm listening to Rush and Genesis in middle school, my friends were listening to Kid N' Play and Technotronic (if anything at all). Beastie Boys' License to Ill was an album that united us. I was surprised my dad didn't need much convincing to buy the record for me at Jamesway; I think this Air Force veteran was just happy to see that there was a plane on the cover. A couple of weeks later, my sister tried to get me in trouble for owning the album; as evidence of its inappropriateness, she showed my father the inner gatefold image where Mike D wore a pin that said "Oh Shit!" and the album sleeve showing the Boys and Rick Rubin dumping what looked like beer on their heads. I got a talking to, but ultimately could still listen . . . but I kept it on very low so it wouldn't be heard outside of my bedroom. Fast forward to 1989. I have my own money now, and the local BX carried Paul's Boutique on CD in the full cardboard sleeve (often times I would have to special order the music I wanted from them and wait some weeks for it to come in, but it was worth it for $10.25 per CD). Right there front and center, they slapped one of those new Parental Advisory stickers onto it. The idea at that time was that stores would not sell an album bearing that sticker to someone under 18 years old. I NEEDED this album (and to be the first in the crew to know all the new lyrics), but how would I convince some random stranger to buy this for me in the electronic department while my folks were in another department? Certainly after the License To Ill fiasco, my parents wouldn't buy it for me, especially now that it had the Parental Advisory sticker. Obviously my sister wouldn't be any help. Could I peel the sticker off?? It's just a sticker on shrinkwrap. Long story short, I go to the counter and attempt to buy it as is, heart racing and feeling like a criminal. It was a transaction like any other; no request for an ID or an adult. I was in the clear, and my parents didn't question what I bought when we left together. Owning this CD was a bit of a secret, and I kept it hidden in the very back slot in the CD drawer. I made sure to only listen to this on my headphones. What was THIS?? Certainly not License To Ill rhymes over metal guitars and bombastic drums. And they are openly cursing, talking about dicks and drugs. But also . . . breaking the beat for out-of-time samples, soulful backup singer vocals, banjo pickin' and rodeo calls, droppin' science, Disco Dave's new wave guitar sounds, Donald Trump and Donald Tramp living in a men's shelter, and somehow finding a way to rhyme with Horowitz. The last track is "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" but this whole album is a bouillabaisse mixture of everything from everywhere. I didn't care for the adult content where I couldn't openly listen to it in front of my parents--or even now, in front my kids--but I seemed to enjoy it before the rest of the world. It didn't matter that I learned the words, none of my friends had this album. MTV dropped "Hey Ladies" from their rotation and didn't touch other videos from this album (which I didn't know existed until the YouTube playlist). This album came and went but somehow earned its deserved respect in retrospect as the Beasties kept reinventing themselves on subsequent albums, adding punk and relaxed instrumental grooves to their growing bag of tricks. At the time I didn't see this as a workshop on cultivating and layering samples from a wide array of genres and media; I just liked all of the sounds at face value and not what they represented or the deep reference from where it was pulled. Over the years since, I would catch glimpses of some of these samples in the originals on the radio. (I actively sought out the opening sample, and discovered a love for the jazz of Idris Muhammad.) It's funny, listening back now to "59 Chrystie Street," I have a different interpretation of this song of a girl with long brown hair undressing before them. I've always thought the unmentioned thing they saw when her pants were removed was a vagina (shock-factor enough for middle school me), but now late-40's me interprets it as a penis. Does this say something about the times, an expansion of worldview, or just about me personally?? Personal favorite is "High Plains Drifter," but there's really not a miss on this album; Paul's Boutique keeps the groove coming with enough funky and trippy sidesteps to keep your attention. A needed departure from the rude and disrespectful drunk-party-boy collective persona presented on License To Ill, Paul's Boutique reasses what these three are capable of and sets them off in the right direction for the remainder of their career.
I think this is their best--still find it exhausting to be hollered at by three dudes for an hour, but the beats are 100% dope on this one.
Aye these boys can rap! I never listened to a full Beastie Boys project because it just never crossed my mind to. I came not expecting much and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this music. Especially the B-Boy Bouillabaisse section of the album. It kinda showcased their ability to rap on a variety of different beats. Solid project!
eins der Drei grossen BB Alben, aber nicht Top-1
I've never really gotten into this one, but have always been intrigued by the critical acclaim. Listening to it again now, I can see why it's considered so influential. It has great production and samples, but the lyrics are still painfully immature in places. It's a big improvement on Licenced to Ill though. Shake Your Rump, Egg Man Shadrach and A Year And A Day are definitely the highlights for me. Hey Ladies is definitely a lowlight. I had a second listen on my good headphones, and the quality of the production and sampling is incredible for the time, considering it would been all analogue (I think). It's amazing that they were able to secure some of these samples..."Sounds of Science" for example, contains multiple Beatles samples. The production bumps this up to a 4 for me - would be a 5 if the lyrics were less sexist and cringe.
Still fun, still in your face. Wonderful in small doses
3.75
The Sounds Of Science really kicked in this album for me. dude this album GOES places.
eu não faço a menor ideia do que eles tão cantando mas o instrumentais são detalhados de uma maneira q meu amigo
I love the Beasties. Like with most of my listening, I have rarely sat down and listened to their albums. Paul's Boutique is interesting. They've done their "we want to be punks" thing and have realised hip hop is where it's at for them. So this very distilled hip hop. Like they're trying to find that balance of their particular brand of noise. I really enjoyed it. Very lo-fi, they sound like they are loving the process of it all. It's not wall-to-wall bangers, but it's a very good album.
Solid album. The cadence of all 3 guys it’s truly cool. No bangers, but solid songs.
I know this album well and like it a lot. It’s a classic but I’m lopping a star off because some tracks don’t feel that essential.
I’ll admit, back in the day it took me a while to get into this. After repeated listens it really grew on me and is now one of my favourite albums by them…
Gotta love the beastie boys
un'altra mina hip hop. ho adorato le tracce con le basi rock/punk, sapendo che loro erano un gruppo punk che si è spostato verso l'hip hop ha molto senso ed è super efficace. bello bello bello.
Bel sound + ironia. Ci sta. Non mi dispiacerebbe essere loro amica, sembrano simpatici.
How did I not have this album committed to memory when I was in high school? Great stuff.
4-
As far as Beastie Boys albums go this sounds like what it is: a transition album. But it also has its own huge merits. It is quite unique in that this is the one record where they pushed themselves to experiment with sampling as far as they could at the time. And far they went. There is no way this record could be done today, with this amount of sampling. It would cost a fortune (which apparently it did, by the way!). These are a bunch of snotty kids from NY, raised on bad jokes and underage drinking, and this sense permeates the record. It's funny, full of energy, it's all over the place, it's often really dumb (Johnny Ryall?), inappropriate (Hey Ladies?), and it borders on chaos. But it's also incredibly tight and cohesive, sonically speaking. It is relentless in its experimentation. It is urban music. Chaotic, hot, loud. It often feels like standing on a street corner and having all the sounds of city swirling by you. People run around, bump into you, everywhere you look there is something interesting and weird going on, and many stories are happening at the same time. Characters come and go, say one word and disappear. It's as disorienting and attention competing as modern life. It's also sunny and unthreatening. And there are the Boys, trying their best to help us keep up with their experience in this world. There is a deep love and reverence for the music that brought them here and the characters that opened to them the doors to this strange and fascinating world. After this one they went back to their instruments and brought back their hardcore roots into the mix, finding the sound they came to be most known for. But they would build on the seeds planted here, where they positioned themselves as serious artists in their own right. This here is a classic. I have been visiting for close to 30 years and will definitely be back.
Fantastic album
Vibrantly creative and full of bravado, this album is so much fun to listen to. Snotty and irreverent and smarter than it has any right to be. This is about as rich and eclectic an album as you will find in hip hop, with some of the most nimble uses of sampling ever recorded. Fave Songs: Shake Your Rump, Egg Man, Hey Ladies, Shadrach, Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun, Car Thief
Not their best, still decent
Honestly a damn good record. Loved the sampling and even though i hated the shouting or rapping , it came around to me eventually
some of it is great. it loses me in other places gets a bit wacky.
Yeah this was quite good. Early hip hop album I guess and it all works quite well
This is a really good album , i really enjoyed it
Ton of fun, not deep in any way but it doesn't need to be. Just guys having a good time and I had a good time with them
I enjoyed this much more than I expected to- many memories!
Always fun
Really enjoyed this album, especially the samples and grooves. Although the delivery can be grating at times, the vocals are on the whole enjoyable and the interplay between vocal parts is cool. Fav tracks: shake your rump, hey ladies, looking down the barrel of a gun, shadrach Rating: 4/5
innovative and very enjoyable to listen to!
Lacks any real hooks or truly memorable moments, but has a distinctive style/flow.
It's not the best Beastie Boys album, but it's good. It's definitely them from beginning to end. Tons of energy, in you face lyrics, and a lot of whimsical interjections.
Feeling generous giving this one 4 because I can’t stand how the Beastie Boys sound, however the use of samples on this album is absolutely fantastic. Made me forgot for a good portion how utterly awful the vocals sound.
Een verlate review, maar dit album is zeker niet even snel beluisterd. Hier is de tijd voor genomen, want dit album is van top tot teen een sample tempel. Van James Brown tot de Beatles tot Sly and the family Stone, de Dust Brothers en de joodse boys hebben aardig lopen cratediggen. En daar ligt voor mij ook het voornaamste plezier in dit album: het ontdekken en opzoeken van alle gebruikte samples. Los daarvan komen de stemmen weer keihard op de nummers met raunchy en ruige teksten. Dat het album geweldig in elkaar zit is mij duidelijk geworden. Wat ik echter niet verwacht had is dat ik eigenlijk Ill Communication nóg iets beter vind. Het luistert net wat makkelijker weg, en heeft net wat meer punk geluid dat vaak naadloos overgaat in de hiphop. Dat is hier wat minder, dit album is een frankenstein: een aan elkaar genaaide monster van een plaat. Rating: 8,5/10 Highlights: Shake Your Rump, Egg Man, Looking Down Rhe Barrel Of A Gun
Zondag organiseer ik een fietsevenementje Ik heb DJ Youri gevraagd daar wat plaatjes te komen draaien. Als hiphop 'connaisseur' heb ik hoge verwachtingen van de plaatjes waarmee hij op de proppen zal komen om de taaie heupjes van al die wielrenners toch wat te laten bewegen. Ergens zie ik een soort Beastie Boys show voor me waar DJ Youri de ene rock-sample na de andere door elkaar mixed en lekker scheutig is met scratcher. En waar hij over de beats heen schreeuwt zoals Adrock naar Mike-D. Ik weet dat het wat teveel gevraagd is, maar tijdens het luisteren van Pauls Boutique staat dat beeld op mijn netvlies gebrand. En toch is het een bijzonder knap werk van de 3 witte joodse jongens uit New York. 8/10
The Beastie Boys make some of the most restless music I've ever heard. They rip through samples of other songs like kids in a candy store. I thought the sample of "Superfly" was bold on "Egg Man" but then they top it by sampling The Beatles on "The Sounds of Science." So much fun to listen to these songs and get constant whiplash. I'm enjoying reading about the making of the album on Wikipedia. The Dust Brothers are apparently the geniuses behind the music and they apparently thought the beats would be too dense for anyone to rap over. The lyrics are the usual goofball antics from The Beastie Boys but the vocals are all about attitude and style. And the music is so consistently interesting and exciting that I don’t care if the lyrics are silly and juvenile. 4.5
What an impressive fade in to start track 1. I'm not listening on headphones (and low volume sounds are more prominent on headphones than speakers naturally) so unless I'm missing something there, it doesn't really have audible sounds until around 30 seconds which is a crazy long amount of time. Then it gives you a smooth jazz type groove to start? That is such an interesting but fun idea. The production is so good, the performances are so good, the lyrics are so good. But the one facet that stands out to me every time I hear this band is their energy. It's more than their coolness, their swagger, their volume. It's this bubbling excitement that threatens to appear in the verses and then explodes in the choruses. It's just easy to get pumped up when this music is on. For me it's a hard rate because I think it could be either a 4 or a 5 and it probably lives somewhere in between those two points. It's one of the better rap albums around but to me it's obviously not as monumental as "Licensed to Ill", which is my favorite of theirs. So if that is a 5, then this is like a 4.5. Still a bonafide classic.
Great hip-hop album. Really fun and great production. A classic for a well deserved reason. 4/5
80s white rap? Kinda? This doesn’t seem like music I should enjoy, but I did. The voices should sound annoying, but they never bothered me. To be honest, the whole album sounded like one song, but it kept me engaged the whole time. I can’t quite pinpoint what made it so much more enjoyable than Limp Bizkit. The layering is really interesting and diverse. Very fun album. I don’t know what the B-Boy Bouillabaisse are supposed to be though.— After finishing the album, they’re short raps over cool beats— Standouts: Johnny Ryall, High Plains Drifter, 3-Minute Rule, Hey Ladies, What Comes Around, and Shadrach.
Hey Ladies, that’s one fun ride! Crafty and clever, liked it from start to finish. I think I heard more than one guest appearance by The Pest… (3.6*s)
I dug it. A little all over the place but a lot of fun. I'll always give credit to BB for doing something original and carving out a niche that worked for them. Love the various sampling sprinkled all over the place. I've been exposed to plenty of Beastie over the years through pop culture but I should definitely give the rest of their collection a good listen. This only piqued my interest in them further. 3.51 stars
Classic nostalgia from the 90s
Beastie Boys are always a fun time. I don't necessarily have a favorite song, but I love their sound. Favorite tracks: - Shake Your Rump - Johnny Ryall - Egg Man - The Sounds of Science - Hey Ladies - Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun - Shadrach
I always considered myself to be an `Ill Communication`/`Hello Nasty`-era Beastie Boys fan, and a recent listen of `License To Ill` actually cemented that view even more. I enjoyed this listen of Paul's Boutique much more than I thought I would and also more than I remembered from my last listen (which would have been some time ago). Easy 4 star rating - could edge into a 5 on the right day!
not as good as other albums, but still solid. listened 3x. 4.0/5
Hip hop rock jazz funk. Te hace mover la cabeza. Este album de ellos no me ha aburrido al final como "Ill Communication". Así que 4.
Not their best album, but I am not objective about the Beastie Boys and they would never get lower than a 4 from me. Great album!
It’s a great album. 4
Super fun record. So many cool samples. Production absolutely slaps on a decent stereo with subwoofers. A few tracks I'd throw on at a party but tbh probs won't listen again front to back any time soon.
Nostalgic. Fun. 4/5
I really like the samples here, they're really cool. The only thing I dislike about this album is that is repetitive sometimes and a bit of the shouting. Cool album.
favourite song: looking down the barrel of a gun i enjoyed this quite a bit but the only drawback is that it gets fairly repetitive
Best Beasties album. It's Leo pointing at the TV except it is actually just Ricky yelling out classic rock samples. Vinyl is definitely worth it for the production quality of this one. 4/5
Tough one. The mixing is amazing. Fantastic use of sampling makes some tracks really fun to listen to. It's a shame I just don't gel with their style of "shout-rapping" and reminds me why I could never really get into the Beastie Boys. I gave this album two listens and definitely really enjoyed some songs. I was originally going to go 3 stars but I think by the end of the second playthrough I'll go 4.
"Humpty dumpty was a big fat egg". What a fun and unique album. Definitely embodies a unique sound of the 80's.
Such an innovative album.
One gets why it wasn't quite the hit that earlier albums were. But it's still pretty impressive, esepclally with the layered samples (the Superfly Curtis Mayfield on "Egg Man" is a highlight, as are the Beatles, Incredible Bongo Band and Mountain drops) and silly-to-genius name drops (DJT, Yosemite Sam, Ben Franklin, Scorcese, Gabe Kaplan, Chuck Woolery, Dicken, Mario Andretti, Saduhara Oh, anyone?) if too-clever-by-half at times. It's accurate, if overly flattering of Beasties, to call this the White album of hip-hop. Maybe the London Calling is more apt. "The Boullabaise" is the top section.
Went into this knowing I would hate the album. Came away tapping my foot. Not too bad.
It’s the boys! Like come on! Pauls is not my favorite album from them, but it is rising. Used to be a bottom 3 album, it’s a top 3-4 for me now
Goes hard but a bit too aggressive for listening to it for hours
Ferocious from start to finish. Star of the album was the sounds of science - can’t say I’ve heard a song quite like that before. Trev Tench went to see them play a Co headline show with Run DMC at Brixton when he was younger. 4/5
4.5 A masterclass in sampling. In a time before the digital age, you can only imagine how on earth the Dust Brothers put together this album. It’s jam-packed with creativity, flowing from one song to the next, which the Beastie Boys pair with excellently. Then just as you think they can’t fit anymore into a densely filled album, they drop a 12-minute song, split into 9 sections that have 24 samples spread across it. HOW DID THEY MAKE THIS?!
This IS great
Typical beastie boys fashion but without the banger lyrics. Still, rhymes are tuff and the beat is to be jammed to. Always loved their style and always will but it’s so good it’s hard to judge. Under the right advertising this could’ve been one of the most influential albums of all time, but it isn’t. I couldn’t imagine giving them a 4 but also I can’t give it any criticism so maybe it deserves it 4.3/5 AMAZING album Favorite track: HEY LADIES, Johnny ryall Least favorite: prettt much non Thé sampling is crazy good LOVED IT
Not very familar with beastie boys, but enjoyed the album. Egg Man favorite song on the album.
fun to listen to, unexpectedly good, but there’s music i like better out there. 4.5/7
Really great. I like check your head better but this was revolutionary when it dropped.
Well, it's Beasty Boys, hilarious at times, always groovy, and just fun to listen to... Maybe not my favorite album of theirs, but still really good.
When I first heard this as a teen I was expecting License to Ill, which this album was not. The older I got, the more I appreciated this album, when it came up today I had no complaints about a re-listen. Much like Paul’s Boutique itself, there are so many quotable lines and riffs on this album. High Plains Drifter is a weaving lyrical masterpiece. Hey Ladies and Barrel are fun and gangster at the same time. The only reason this is not a 5-Star is the massive Rick Rubin overproduction is not my personal preference (favorite B-Boy album is Check Your Head). Some say it is the one of the best albums of the Golden Age of Rap. I can’t disagree that it might be.
I like the bass, it has an interesting beat, not a fan of their voices tho :( I already had listened them years ago and kinda knew I wouldn't listen the entire album :S I really liked High Plains Drifter and Looking down the barrel of a gun :)
It’s a classic!
4/5 The beats are great. The lyrics, meh. Not as catchy as other stuff but the music hits.
We already heard this.
I enjoy this album. When I was in New York Sept '23 the street corner from this album was dedicated "Beastie Boys Square." Was a great time
Listened before. Enjoyed it, iconic. Defiantly hear the influence in later music
За интересное звучание
Nearly a 5 for me, this album is a party and a sampling heaven bringing forth a new level of sound to the time. It released in '89 but was helped usher in that new decade.
Good stuff. Love BB. Love the 80s/90s hiphop.
They like saying fun and making surprisingly catchy songs.
I love me some Beasties. This i not my favorite Beastie’s album but is still phenomenal. It still has the “party rap” feel that was prevalent in their earlier work.
So swag 💪 Beastie Boys don’t miss
Somehow, this might be my favorite beastie boys album despite having never heard of it before now. Licensed to ill is great but this one feels a lot more experimental and quirky with endless random samples making each song sound distinct from each other. I don't have much else to say except that I really liked johnny ryall, a year and a day, and hello brooklyn.
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.
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
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!!
Classic
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.
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
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
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 thing is so fun, they dont make white boys like this anymore
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.
# 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
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.
3.5
I generally don't like hip hop, but that was a nice departure from my normal music to listen to.
Swingende beats. Goede flow in de rap. Alt vibe. Heel leuk. Meer klassiek aan pak aan rap hiphop muziek
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
Hard not to jump around and see big along. Samples on point. Young Rick Rubin at his finest.
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
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
Liked this one better than the last beastie boys album. Not 100% my thing but still good 7.9/10
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
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
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).
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+
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
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.
Very fun album! Never listened to them before and really enjoyed this.
Awesome. What a great vibe.
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.
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.
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"
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.
Pretty old school
Very lively, requires some attention, some funny bits, some really good parts
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
A hip hop classic, though to be honest I don't know that it would be nowadays.
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.
A master class in how to layer samples to create something entirely new and fascinating. A sonic journey worth taking.
Love sampling, love Beastie Boy yelling, simple as.
Not what I was expecting hahah Early hip hop, a bit sexist, kinda fun
Dope.
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.
Great
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！
8/10. Funky album love the unique style and lyricism
Funky vibes
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.
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.
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.
One of the most iconic albums of ask time. Easily top 100.
Fun!
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 solid 4 for me, really enjoyed it. Quite different from their typical hits. Nice dubs and tight vocal delivery in true beastie fashion.
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.
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!
Really enjoy but not sure how much because it’s good or nostalgic.
4. Sounds 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.
Now this is some classy hippity hop
Paul's got the goods
just some guys having fun :)
This sounds so much better now than I gave it credit for at the time. In my indie snobbery I’d been too dismissive of Hip Hop. This is a really good, interesting and at the time obviously groundbreaking piece of work by great innovators.
I haven't listen to whole album in a long time. Still enjoy it.
Still like it, fav song sounds of science
Som marcou um estilo, dá pra lembrar de várias bandas que foram influenciadas a partir deles. Legal
Really good samples, but it was a lot of shouting for a Beastie Boys album. That said, it's grungy, "We don't give a shit and we got good rhymes" hip-hop. If you like it, you like it.
Good album for rap
смешно, весело, бойко и скрэтч-скрэтч
This gives me boyz'n'the hood songs vibe when ice cube and his gang passes the gangstas in the worst street ever and this album in the background.
Good album, I enjoyed listening. Hard to differentiate one song from another
Chaotic, energising, creative
Great album but some of the tracks are just okay.
this album is comfortably the best one i've heard from the Beastie Boys, in fact i'd probably go as far as to say i enjoyed this one.
The Beastie Boys are great, and this is a classic. I haven't listened to this album all the way through in quite some time, so it was great to rediscover some of the songs. Maybe not my favorite of their albums, but it's still amazing.
This is still my least favorite Beastie album.
Funky
Lots of "LAAADIIIIEEEES"
Hmmm. Is this a must listen? Licence to ill changed the world. This is excellent. I love the beastie boys. Probably the first hip hop act I ‘got’ before I ‘got’ hip hop. Hmmmm. Must listen? Are the beasties worth more than one album?
Okay, just spent 45 minutes raving about this album then accidentally lost it. Life’s too short to do it again. I love this record. It’s all about those brilliant samples & my memories of my kids discovering this album back in the day. I love it.
Un excelente álbum de Hip-Hop, y una adición increíble al catálogo del género. El particular flow de Beastie Boys sin duda marcó permanentemente a las generaciones de raperos, sobretodo blancos, que les siguieron.
Very fun album Standout songs: Egg man Looking down the barrel of a gun What comes around
Already listed to this one before but will again I'd rate it a 4/5 before my relisten
It's really good. Not as many hits as License to Ill, but still...
These are more of the 90's hip hop sounds that I like. Drums and scratches are nostalgia inducing. Lol @ 5-Piece Chicken Dinner I like that I didn't recognize any songs on this album, but still really enjoyed it.
The Beastie Boys sure are a unique sound. I dig it.
There's not really any "big hits" on this, but one must admit that it's just consistently good.
good raps, really good production, all with an insane amount of sampling. nice
I liked this more than I thought I would. Usually not a big fan of this genre, but this album had good writing + Beatles samples which also made it better (I’m really biased).
listened to again great sampling work and energy
Good beastie album, prob really fun when this first came out
This is tough. I would easily say that Beastie Boys are five stars all around… but… even they would say later that this was probably a three star album among their discography. So, I’ll split the difference this time.
This shit was deadly. Only gets 4 because they got even better later. This is iconic in its genre. Smasher
This album has some of the best sampling on it. When the riff to "The End" by The Beatles dropped, I was lovin that! Love the use of rock riffs in the beats. Love the way the guys rap in that call and reply style. Great stuff
looking down the barrel of a gun best song frfr
Impressive. Tons of attitude. Crazy amount of sampling. Really hard to do this in 1988.
They have such a recognizable sound, yet how do all their voices sound the exact same? Good rap music that doesn’t take itself all too seriously because Jewish white rappers from NYC can’t pass for Biggie Smalls. The sample list on the wiki page is nuts.
Typically fun Beastie Boys album here. Their ability to remix and repurpose classic sounds for their own music is pretty cool. Favorite track: B-Boy Bouillabaisse Medley
Strong 8
Hear the Beasties tryin' to bust out of their Licensed to Ill cage with every beat, sample and rhyme. Not running from themselves, but running to where they wanted to be. Despite some cringe lyrics that haven't aged too well, this album still makes my top three for them, even if their try-hard striving is apparent.
4.5/5. One of the most underrated and influential hip hop albums of all time. Who knew how much of an impact three white guys from Brooklyn could have on the genre. The multilayered samples were so far ahead of their time.
Where is the 4.5 star option ;_;
Some songs not as listenable as others, still good though
Great samples and lyrics
4.5
Say what you will about the obnoxious, frat-boy personality of the Beastie Boys, but Paul's Boutique is a feat in sampling that would not be topped until The Avalanches' debut. With production and beats this stunning, it's no wonder this is heralded as the greatest hip hop album of the 80's. The Dust Brothers are deserving praise for their contributions to this creative milestone in hip hop. Paul's Boutique is always "on". There is a constant stream of energy coming from the Beastie Boys here, feeding off of each sample like Goku's spirit bomb gaining power from everyone lending their energy. This reaches a natural climax with B-Boy Bouillabaisse, a 12-minute multi-suite epic that throws anything and everything at the wall (with most sticking).
Still great, still their pinnacle. Listening to it all the way through for the first time in a long while, I’m a little surprised by the relative low earworm density, but I don’t think this matters. One of the ultimate vibe albums? And the earworms are truly, truly catchy. Shadrach probably my favourite.
The music and the arrangements in this album I never appreciated until this listen. They took the evolving sounds of hip and really created interesting tracks around it. Good rhyming thrown in makes this one of the best Beastie albums.
A rare example of a hip-hop album that works better as a whole, rather than having stand-out hits that are often diluted with filler. Great synergy too!
Loved this album! 4/5
like it's just so beastie boys it hurts but you can't help enjoying it
I can see why this is called the Sgt Peppers of hip hop. Some iconic samples throughout. I liked how often some of the beats changed just in one song.
Innovative use of sampling, never expected to here Johnny Cash in Beastie Boys album. Many of the lyrics I've heard repeated by other artists. This album was influential on a variety of hip hop and rock artists. It seems dated to listen to it now, but at its time was groundbreaking.
Great throwback album
- Great fusion of rap, rock, and funk - Super cool use of scratches and electronics - Sounds like pure fun - Favorite songs: Shake Your Rump, Hey Ladies, Car Thief, The Sounds of Science
- The music is so fun - 40 year old moms definitely go hard to this - Clever, witty, irreverent - Guys being dudes over a beat
Fun album, was grooving along until it ended and never really got bored of it.
4.5
Helt ait
This was one of my favorite albums. I had listened to this one early in my music discovery days, so I returned to it with rose colored glasses. Still holds up well and reminded me of why I enjoy hip hop music despite the lyrics certainly being dated.
Fun and corny in a very 80s rap kind of way. It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back came out a year before this, I feel like it must have been a big inspiration to either BB or The Dust Brothers. Egg Man sampled it at least twice. The use of samples throughout is excellent. Favorite tracks: Looking Down the Barrel of A Gun and Shadrach. Really the whole stretch from that track until the end. Least favorite tracks: The Sounds of Science. The second half was good but not good enough to salvage that first half. 5-Piece Chicken Dinner is a close second.
I love the Beastie Boys. I’d never listened to this album before but I liked it.
Gott gäng. Gillar att dom samplat when I'm 64.
Really impressive sampling and wordplay. Like it much better than the debut. 4 stars
One of the stand out rap albums. Lyrics and vocals of these three are innovative as hell - every song I feel like I've been kegged in the middle of everyone laughing. Still, seeing them live would be 5/5 experience. Production is highly rated, though it's sometimes hard to follow. Appreciate this being a 5, but for me personally it's a 4.49. Thanks, Josh
Fluttered between a 3 and a 4 but I thought sheff would disown me if I went 3.
Best one as a ‘whole thing’. They say it’s the sgt peppers of hip hop I think that fits. Mental sample list. Sot Shake your rump Johnny ryall Egg man A Year and a Day Hello Brooklyn 4/5
beats, bears, battlestar galactica Top notch samples
Love a bit of beastie boys
4.5
I loved this, listened as I walked round Brighton this morning and put a big smile on my face. However, it is the sampling and instrumental that stands out. I've got a soft spot for the Beastie Boys, but on this album I just can't quire connect with their lyrics and vocal style. I found myself wishing for a purely instrumental version so I could really pay attention to the cool stuff going on in the background.
You still get the sense that the Beasties were still on the path to maturing from a baseline of License to Ill, but damn the DJ work and sampling in this album is out of this world. It's doubly frustrating to think that an album like this could never happen again due to the work and money that would be involved in clearing the samples today.
Not my cuppa
ok
Loved this - grimey beats, fun, feels homemade in the best way. Good groove and introspection as well as sillies.
The production on this elevated it over other Beastie boys albums, but eventually the vocals dragged this down.
Forgot how great the Beastie Boys were in their heyday. 4/5
nice
Everything is so incredibly dense on Paul's Boutique, and the sampling and production are superb. Layer after layer of recognizable samples flowing together seamlessly. It really is impressive. The record flows nicely, and I completely understand why it's a go-to album for many people when setting up sound equipment. Everything sounds amazing. And while Beastie Boys are fun and sound great together, I always find it challenging to listen to them. Something just gets on my nerves, and I'm never truly able to enjoy it.
SOMETHING ABOUT LISTENING TO BEASTIE BOYS MAKES YOU WANT TO WRITE THE REVIEW IN ALL-CAPS. I will abstain from it, though - mainly because I’m afraid I am not the first to make that joke. Beastie Boys paints a vivid tapestry through their work of sampling more songs than I dare guess. You could spend a week just trying to decipher the specific samples of each song. The B-Boys balances on the edge of insanity. They might even cross it on the brilliant “B-Boys Bouillabaisse”. But who cares? This is pure fun.
Hip hop rock jazz funk. Te hace mover la cabeza. Este album de ellos no me ha aburrido al final como "Ill Communication". Así que 4.
Love the beats and production on here. Beastie Boys’ rapping is fun but I guess not really that great lyrically. 3.5
A solid album that requires a bit of careful listening to fully appreciate, but it isn't as "hit"-ful as orher Beastie Boys albums.
Nice one.
One is reminded of the fun and cleverness of these records, especially the rhymes and sampling and name drops, but also how they can be a bit much. At best, this feels like hip-hop's version of London Calling. At worst, like a bad B-boy comedy act (Adam Sandler would be the Beastie Boys of standup comedy, yes, which flatters the latter.) Still, a real milestone and an impressive achievement, that might have bee even more so had it dialed back on the ribald fun and willful cleverness and overly determined attempts to provoke. Has aged somewhat less than gracefully.
Shame your rump is a good enough song to make the whole album a 4 already. It’s so good and fun. Overall I just really liked this album, it was fun and loose and good.
Shook my rump-a.
Egg man
Justo lo estuve escuchando el fin de semana. Lo curioso es que si te guías por la obviedad de los grandes éxitos radiales de los BB, te llevarás una gran decepción al escuchar este disco, porque no hay ninguno. y sin embargo, es un tremendo disco. Requiere paciencia, especialmente si lo único que has escuchado de ellos es Sabotage, pero esa paciencia será bien recompensada con un disco de melodías y ritmos complejos.
This is a fantastic album by the Beastie Boys; their second studio album. This album didn't get the praise that License to Ill did, but it is just as fantastic. Beastie Boys are a hip hop group from New York. This music, at the time, was trend setting because the Boys mixed rock and hip hop seamlessly. This album is full of samples from various different artists, and the way they blend it into their beats, and make it their own, many of them pass by and you don't even notice the sample. The lyrics are amusing by times, a few noteworthy phrases include: From the song 3-Minute Rule: "I was making records while you were sucking your mother's dick" From the song What Comes Around: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair, so I can climb up and get into your underwear" Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. Excellent beats, great rhymes. Will definately listen again!! Favourite songs: Egg Man, Hey Ladies, Shake Your Rump, Johnny Ryall, 3-Minute Rule, High Plains Drifter, What Comes Around, Shadrach Least favourite songs: Car Thief, To All The Girls, The Sounds of Science 4/5
This is good and I can understand why it's considered so important and influential. And Hey Ladies is a proper banger.
The Boys' flow is the love-it-or-hate-it piece. Rapping, the group is simultaneously grating and conventional. The words are right there on the surface, though, and there's a lot of good. The beats, on the other hand, are excellent. Pistol and tape deck are ambiguated, music building toward violence before taking a well-deserved left turn for B-Boy Bouillabaisse.
Oh goody. The shouty boys are back. I'm going to listen to this while doing the dishes which is a problem because I can't press skip while wearing gloves. Maybe they'll surprise me. For one song they did. Cool and mellow. They did get shouty but there was a lot of variety and a lot of humour. Schoolboy humour, but I enjoyed it.
Party hard for now guys
4.5
Didn’t listen to all of it
Get’s better everytime i hear it.
That opening Rhodes tone with that bass, killer. Give me an album of that. This album is kinda the height of that 80s sample-based hip hop, and it’s fantastically produced—great use of soundstage. the lyrics of the beastie boys are not great, both inscrutable and simplistic. a bit juvenile as well. Id like to see a post-superstar beastie boys when their artistry remains but their pomp wanes a bit. A year and a day slaps If it was just the bboy tracks it would definitely be getting a 4 and I will round up to a 4 but it’s more like a 3.6
The Beastie Boys’ masterpiece, and really one of the rap greats. I hadn’t realized before I read up on it the degree to which it was a Dust Brothers collaboration.
What a classic! Amazes me how many samples are harmonized from start to finish. Something new to catch your ear every listen! Love it.
Solid Beasties album. Album I dug a lot during my teens, but doesn't hit the same now. Nonetheless, sound of science never gets boring.
A cool One
This record is so refreshing, I really like the old 80s hiphop sound, definitely has some bangers, it amazes me that there's a great white rapper before Eminem lol.
very good, enjoyed it.
Great stuff in this album. Beatles riff in the sounds of science. Nicely used. I give it...a 6 out of 9
4/5 Classic stuff, I had never heard this entire album but I liked it.
Beastie boys
Old-school Hiphop aus den USA. Gute Instrumentals, aus heutiger Zeit gesehen aber simple Lyrics. Damals mit viel shock value versehen.
4 stars, never listened to the b boys before - fun East coast sound. Great sampling.
Oldscool Hip Hop, ganz interessant
Not my favorite Beastie Boys album, but still pretty darn good. The sampling on this album is bananas.
Dit heb ik heel veel geluisterd, en nog steeds vind ik het een geweldige plaat. Goeie samples, slimme teksten, lekkere mix tussen hip-hop en rock. Ik ga 'm dalijk nog een keer draaien!
A classic.
When I first bought this CD when it came out I was a huge fan of their first Album. This one was so different. It was nothing like License To Ill, and I was extremely disappointed. So, I went years without ever listening to it again. A few years back, I became interested in the Beastie Boys again and started listening to more of their past albums. Now, when ai hear this one, I think it is amazing. No, it isn’t like License to Ill, and that is a good think. This album is much more complex and imaginative that the simple rhymes and beats in their debut. 4/5.
Another classic.
Epic.
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Egg man, Shaldrach
Cool
Not my usual gente but Made me want to dance all day! 4/5, 8/10 to me
Solid showing from the Beastie Boys, this album is pretty much pure hip-hop through and through. They avoid some of the more bombastic ideas that come up in their later songs and stick to having a solid flow, seamlessly having the three MCs jump in and out through the lyrics and it feels much more like some guys freestyling on the streets of NYC.
Nothing but energy.
Beastie Boys still aren't my favorite but this album has grown on me some
Legends
Fave tracks: The Sounds of Science, Hey Ladies, Stop that Train Beastie Boys dissonant harmonies always bothered me but I couldn't help bobbing my head throughout. 1989- WOW! Fun surprises and sounds throughout