Licensed To Ill

Perhaps Licensed to Ill was inevitable -- a white group blending rock and rap, giving them the first number one album in hip-hop history. But that reading of the album's history gives short shrift to the Beastie Boys; producer Rick Rubin, and his label, Def Jam, and this remarkable record, since mixing metal and hip-hop isn't necessarily an easy thing to do. Just sampling and scratching Sabbath and Zeppelin to hip-hop beats does not make for an automatically good record, though there is a visceral thrill to hearing those muscular riffs put into overdrive with scratching. But, much of that is due to the producing skills of Rick Rubin, a metalhead who formed Def Jam Records with Russell Simmons and had previously flirted with this sound on Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell, not to mention a few singles and one-offs with the Beasties prior to this record. He made rap rock, but to give him lone credit for Licensed to Ill (as some have) is misleading, since that very same combination would not have been as powerful, nor would it have aged so well -- aged into a rock classic -- if it weren't for the Beastie Boys, who fuel this record through their passion for subcultures, pop culture, jokes, and the intoxicating power of wordplay. At the time, it wasn't immediately apparent that their obnoxious patter was part of a persona (a fate that would later plague Eminem), but the years have clarified that this was a joke -- although, listening to the cajoling rhymes, filled with clear parodies and absurdities, it's hard to imagine the offense that some took at the time. Which, naturally, is the credit of not just the music -- they don't call it the devil's music for nothing -- but the wild imagination of the Beasties, whose rhymes sear into consciousness through their gonzo humor and gleeful delivery. There hasn't been a funnier, more infectious record in pop music than this, and it's not because the group is mocking rappers (in all honesty, the truly twisted barbs are hurled at frat boys and lager lads), but because they've already created their own universe and points of reference, where it's as funny to spit out absurdist rhymes and pound out "Fight for Your Right (To Party)" as it is to send up street corner doo wop with "Girls." Then, there is the overpowering loudness of the record -- operating from the axis of where metal, punk, and rap meet, there never has been a record this heavy and nimble, drunk on its own power yet giddy with what they're getting away with. There is a sense of genuine discovery, of creating new music, that remains years later, after countless plays, countless misinterpretations, countless rip-off acts, even countless apologies from the Beasties, who seemed guilty by how intoxicating the sound of it is, how it makes beer-soaked hedonism sound like the apogee of human experience. And maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but in either case, Licensed to Ill reigns tall among the greatest records of its time.

One of the most entertaining debut records of all time. It has it all, extremely creative and hard-hitting funky jazzy beats, a nice variety of headbangers and funny satire of frat culture, and an edgy raw energy that is rarely seen from a contemporary hip hop outfit. Even after having listened to it many times, I never stop shaking my head and tapping my feet to Rhymin & Stealin, Fight For Your Right, No Sleep Till Brooklyn, Slow and Low and Brass Monkey, and I don't think I ever will. 5/5.

It's the fuckin' Beastie Boys, man!

If I break it down into its parts, no one bit is massively to my taste. But as a whole... Fantastic. Great fun.

Classic style, unique production, unabashedly playful. You can try and throw this on in the background, but someone will start singing along.

It’s fantastic and I’ve heard it on vinyl (still have an original pressing), tape, CD, and then into high resolution digital audio. It’s garish and fantastic.

loved their song I want it that way 😀

Great album, really didn't realise that Rick Rubin had produced this and the inclusion of Slayers Guitarist on "No Sleep To Brooklyn" is evidence of the broad nature of Ricks influence across music generally (Not forgetting his brilliant work with Johnny Cash of course) Amazing that these three white boys got the Hip-Hop Kudos they did but you have to love their mix of hip-hop humour and rock. As They say You Gotta "Fight For the Right" to Party! Well worth the listing in my opinion

I love this album. I didn't even realize how much I loved it until I listened to it top to bottom (which I'm not sure I've ever actually done in a single sitting before). It's early hip-hop that's done well. The sampling, scratching, and "hyping" at its finest. But the Beastie Boys are also punk rock. They rap AND play instruments. They're angry and anti-establishment. It's also crazy to think that this was their debut album. It has so many classics on it. Well done, boys.

Run DMC hires the singer from RATM

Is this good, or is it just nostalgia.

Gave me a headache.

This is painful to listen to. Fight for your right is the only vaguely listenable track on here, there rest is cringey, outdated and dull

Haven’t listened to this whole album in years and I forgot about some of the deep cuts. This thing still bangs. Some of the lyrics are dated, but otherwise from start to finish this album is great. It starts with the crushing Led Zeppelin drum sample and doesn’t let up. It was so much fun to revisit a favorite from when I was young.

Best album in the history of recorded music!

Possibly the best debut album in hip-hop history. It’s hard, it’s funny, and these guys tell stories with the best, as evidenced in tracks like Paul Revere. And everyone who’s ever been a teenager can relate to Fight for Your Right. A blast from start to finish.

The album that started it all, absolute classic

What kind of elder millennial would I be if I didn’t like this album?! I knew several songs already.

Hard to listen to

it’s like if hip hop and rock had a baby

Followed by a masterpiece

Still fun. In small doses.

Disappointing. I'm familiar with later Beasties material but hadn't listened to this. I knew Fight for your right and was expecting a broader approach but...yeah, a lot of this is trash. Admittedly it has some charm in the puerility of the lyrics and the roughness of the production, but mostly its just sloppy. The beats and scratching are all over the place and a lot of the lyrics are VERY dated. The beasties were never the most experimental act - they have limited flows, but at least the later material has a psychedelic, cartoonist approach to the lyrics. This is pretty much all just frat-house nonsense. 'Girls' in particular is trash. I know they matured and apologised for this kind of material later in their careers. They were young and dumb and didn't know any better. YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS. This is Brett Kavanagh's "I LIKE BEER" whining stretched out to full album length and performed by Gilbert Gottfried.

no

Amazing album that probably couldn't be made today with all the samples. Especially love the reversed 808 beats on Paul Revere.

One of the great hip hop albums

Modern classic, rapcore staple, amazing debut

I do like me a bit of the Beastie Boys. Three Jewish white kids made a place for themselves in a place they had no right to be. Rappers? Rockers? Yup!

This is a fantastic debut album. The Beasties were truly original and solid musicians on top of their legendary use of samples.

Obviously already knew some but loved this album.

It's content was misunderstood and misconstrued a lot - even by its creators for a time but this remains an absolute steadfast classic.

oooooo nice. impressive debut album

I love the rythm and the instrumens used in this album, the vibes it transmits to me are simple so cool

great album with a blend of hip hop and rock

Really not sure what to make of the Beastie Boys; they’re objectively bad, but they don’t seem to take themselves too seriously. Or at least I hope they don’t! Wouldn’t choose to listen to any of these apart from No Sleep Till Brooklyn.

A quick disclaimer: I fully realize I'm going to sound like an old curmudgeon yelling at kids to get off his lawn with the review. Having said that, I just don't get it. It's like hearing a bunch of kids yelling at me for 45 minutes. Fight For Your Right is the one exception - I like it because it's actually musical in nature. Still shouting but at least there is more going on than that. I also (slightly) enjoyed hearing some of the samples from Led Zeppelin and CCR. Sorry, but it's just not for me. 2 stars.

Love this album

I was 14 when this album was released which is the optimal age for optimal enjoyment. This album was played what seemed like years, cars, house parties etc. Compared to the more complex "Paul's Boutique", these samples are straightforward, but the mashup of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" with Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" was done so well and with taste as not offend the original artists, unlike say Ice Ice baby. My 14 year old self gives a 5.

Omg! Get fuckin real!! You gotta fight!you gotta be ill in’1

+++ girls, paul revere --- she’s crafty, slow ride one of my moms favorite albums at all time, and i love it just the same. girls sticks out the most to me, it was my FAVORITE as a kid, and as an adult its such an immense guilty pleasure. the whole album conjures memories from childhood for me, from walking to school listening to the whole album on my ipod shuffle, to making bag ice cream with my classmates screaming brass monkey, to my mom rapping the whole of paul revere on my eighth grade trip. even my least favs are absolutely fantastic. one of the best albums of all time imo. MMMM DROP.

Funky - love how they use the different tones of their voice as almost like another instrument.

This album is my childhood

i just like when boys are weird and have weird singing voices

"Girls" is kind of a disaster, but I think Licensed to Ill gets kind of an unfair reputation as being like, obscenely puerile or juvenile. Most of the songs hold up shockingly well, considering they were written and performed by three guys who couldn't even buy their own alcohol when the album was being recorded.

Listening to this album made me realize i need to listen to more Beastie Boys. The samples from Zeppelin and Black Sabbath in the first song sucked me in from the get go. The whole album just flows from one track to the next. So. Much. Fun.

I was right in the zone for Licensed To Ill to act as a gateway drug to hip hop. I was a 16 year old suburban white boy in Australia when it burst onto the radio. Licensed to Ill was fronted by white boys and sufficiently rock and roll to be palatable to musically conservative Australia radio and record companies, making this one of the first easily available hit rap album in this part of the world (along with Run DMC's Raising Hell, which has similar crossover appeal). Within a year, I was devouring pretty much whatever I could lay my hands on (which was not a lot). I have teenage sons, and this album is the Beastie Boys album they first gravitate to. They have all moved on to subsequent (and superior) albums from the Beasties, but this is a gateway drug. Heavy yet agile, obnoxious yet funny, confident yet self-deprecating, smart yet dumb, strikingly original (rhymin') but sampling from the history of rock (stealin'), and always a heap of energetic fun. I didn't own a lot of records when I was 16, but I owned this and I played it to death. It's not a perfect album; the song 'Girls' and Kerry King's terrible guitar solos are pretty egregious. But I am surprised at how well it holds up. Some of the lyrics haven't dated well. I don't think anyone ever believed they were gangstas, but the frat boy sexism is occasionally grating. I will pay the Beasties the credit of being one of the very few bands ion history to actually come out and apologize for the sins of their youth. I highly recommend the Beastie Boys Story documentary for more context. It is a funny and highly entertaining retrospective look at their career that helps clarify that they were young and dumb and grew out of it. As, hopefully, most fo us did. I haven't listened to this album all the way through in decades, but totally enjoyed spinning it again. Other than 'Girls' (which was always shit), it stands up as a really great listen. Russell Simmons realised that, if he found some white guys who could rap and marketed it with Rick Rubin's rock style production, he could sell a bunch of records to a crossover audience. I think there was a certain amount of cynical opportunism behind the signing and production of this record, but Simmons and Rubin accidentally found a group of highly charismatic, funny and inventive musicians with a long career in them (not that Simmons really wanted that. He would have preferred some more cooperative flunkies that he could manipulate). The Beastie Boys are not _really_ rappers, but rather indie/punk musos who do a bit of rapping. Which is great, for what it is. I saw them at Selina's at the Coogee Bay Hotel in Sydney in 1992, and they were awesome. They were mostly playing from Check Your Head, but they were energetic and loud and a heap of fun.

The album for when you're ready to stop taking everything so seriously.

Beastie Boys took hip hop places no one ever imagined hip hop would go with Licensed To Ill.

Интересная музыка, очень крутые биты

Didn’t think I would enjoy as much as I did.

let me clear my throat... kick it over here baby pop and let all the fly skimmies feel the beat mmm, drop top 3: she's crafty, rhymin & stealin, fight for your right honorable mention: brass monkey

Putting aside the fact that the most annoying people you know have adopted “Fight for Your Right” as a mantra (looking at you, Travis Kelce), Licensed to Ill still stands up as a pretty great record. Sure, its production and some of the subject matter might be dated, but overall, it’s hard not to have a good time listening to this record. The Beasties would go on to put out better records, with more expansive sounds and intricate production, but their debut is no slouch, even if a lot of the tracks rely on the same tricks (classic rock guitar/samples, bombastic drum machines) to get their point across.

KICK IT!!

I ALREADY KNOW WHAT LICENSE TO ILL SOUNDS LIKE. YOU DONT UNDERSTAND THE CAN OF WORMS YOUVE JUST PRESENTED TO ME

Licensed to Ill has some standout tracks, though it feels a bit dated overall. The album has its highs but also some low points with less impressive songs. The sampling is excellent throughout, adding a lot to the sound, and the rapping is strong in places, though at times it falls short.

One of the most groundbreaking Hip Hop albums of the 80's even if it didn't age all that well when held against albums like those from Public Enemy. The combined energy of Rick Rubin's production which he showcased on previous albums like Run-D.M.C or even Slayer with three white guys that mixed Rap and Rock that created the first #1 Rap album in the US. Still to this day, the Beastie Boys get some legendary credit, mainly for pushing Hip Hop into a more commercial frame that ultimately helped artists later to be as popular as they are. Still, it is a relic of its time and at many points sound simply dated which does give it some very Old-School vibes (it's Mid-School Hip Hop but whatever) that might hit a nerve with some but to me it's more influential than an actual good listen. The fitting description of Hip Hop with 'Rhymin & Stealin' opens the quite fittingly. Because that's what they are doing: sampling rock records to make beats and rapping on top. That's what Hip Hop (at least back then) was and was about. The song itself is pretty good as well with a lot of Rock and even a tad bit of Metal which is abviously accompanied by the energetic and playful rap vocals. It's a very typical Beastie boys track in terms of sound and delivery and even if it does sound good, there is still the fact that I find that it sounds incredibly dated and not as interesting as when it released in '86. There seems to be lack of focus, knowledge as well as ideas even if that's not the problem here. It's above average but just slightly. On 'The New Style' they go more into Hip Hop than Rock but with enouh influence to not sound too far off. It also does some very interesting and experimental things with the beat which feels like a predecessor of the Trap genre but still is undeniably 80's (with the turntable bridges). Even in terms of delivery it's more interesting and the mix of ideas, production & rap results in a much more interesting song that even if it isn't perfect because there are just too many things happening, it's still good. 'She's Crafty' has a really well implemented riff that repeats throughout the track with some interesting elements added like a cowbell. The delivery has a nice energy but it doesn't come over the best way and has some moments that feel very dull. I think it sounds good but I don't care much about what it ultimately does. The Electro influence in the beat of 'Posse in Effect' does make it very much feel like early, early Rap and even though I think it's done better than Afrika Bambaataa did it, I still think that this isn't really the best way to make Hip Hop. The rapping also isn't the most interesting and I'm often more annoyed than hyped. It's still okay. The mix of Jazz and Latin Funk on 'Slow Ride' does make the song in the intro and the times it appears later on but sadly it's not there when they are rapping which does make the verses feel a bit empty. Again, it's okay but if they did more with the verses, they might've made an overall better track. The "Comedy" Rap of 'Girls' that combines a very silly New Wave sounding beat with some very annoying deliveries on the even more annoying instrumental. This is absolutely horrible to listen to and the text doesn't make it remotely better. Easily the worst song that they ever did on a major project. The legendary 'Fight for Your Right' which combines Stadium Glam Metal with Hard Rock and of course a bit of Hip Hop but mainly Rock... The result is a song that sees them do a much better performance that works incredibly well with the beat and stays interesting throughout the entire track. I think that it's a bit sad that they do the "Rock" better than the "Rap" (at least on this album) but it is what it is. It's an incredible track. On Side 2, the second legendary Rap Rock track 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn' starts with a pretty Heavy riff that repeats throughout. Both the production and the delivery doesn't feel much different than what they did before but it's both so much more effective and makes this easily one of the best songs here. It's the sound that they did all these songs before but something changed that makes this so much better. It's nearly a perfect song and one of the best Beastie Boys tracks ever. With 'Paul Revere', one of the most Experimental tracks on the album with the reversed drums and simple but weird production. Additionally the verses are much longer and feel more stiched together than on previous tracks but I personally am just irritated with what they did here. I get that some might like it but I personally think that this is a time when experimentation doesn't mean better. I can appreciate what they did but it's still pretty bad. 'Hold It Now, Hit It' continues the experimentation but does it less and a bit better. It does sound really dated with the Electro beat and the rapping is just 'eh' but the sampled interludes are pretty cool. I think that it's a middle of the road track with some nice moments that ultimately don't do much as well as some annoying parts that do effect the final outcome. With 'Brass Monkey' they go even further into the Electro Hip Hop which I am not a big fan to begin with because it just sounds incredibly dated. This song especially also doesn't much sound like them and could've easily been from someone else. Plus, it's annoying with both the rapping and the beat. It's really annoying and honestly bad. The return to more Rock on 'Slow and Low' also means another high in quality because even with some really annoying parts with the rapping, the beat and the energy is enough to make a really enjoyable track that is honestly pretty good. Only the bridge does ruin it a bit but it's still enough that I'd call it "good". The final track 'Time to Get Ill' which combines a lot of stilistic ideas that they played with throughout. I really like the instrumental at some points as well as the chorus but there are times that I do not enjoy it quite as much, mainly because it sounds a bit weak and not fully fleshed out but ultimately it's still a nice track. favourites: No Sleep Till Brooklyn, Fight for Your Right least favourites: Girls, Paul Revere Rating: strong 5 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

Licensed to Ill I’m never quite sure if they are joking on this, or if they actually mean it. I can see why they would say it’s a joke, and bearing in mind the rest of their career, I’m probably inclined to believe them. Even if their wordplay, pop culture references and delivery are all great, and whether it is all tongue in cheek or is actually sincere, the constant fixation on and references to girls, beers and defying the authority of teachers and parents does get a little tiresome over the course of the whole album. Musically it’s also very of its time and very 80s Rick Rubin, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Led Zep sample on Rhyming and Stealing is great and sets the tone for well chosen samples and big, echoey beats, and its fusion of rock and rap is clearly hugely important, along with Run DMC (with Rick Rubin of course), in Rap's emergence into the mainstream. I suppose the flip side of that is that it also birthed some god awful rap-rock in its wake, like Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and particularly and most egregiously Kid Rock. Rhymin and Stealin, Slow Ride, Girls, Fight For your Right, No Sleep till Brooklyn, Brass Monkey and Time to Get Ill are the standout tracks. I particularly like the Led Zep, War and Creedence samples on Rhymin, Slow Ride and Licensed to Ill and of course Fight for Your Right is a great tune. Girls (aside from the lyrics) and Brass Monkey do indicate some of the musical playfulness they would subsequently exhibit It may be a bit low, but in the context of their whole career a high 3 probably feels about right - it shows glimpses of their sense of humour, and their ears for a hook, but it misses the sense of inventiveness and fun that you get from Paul’s Boutique onwards. 🤒🤒🤒 Playlist submission: Fight For your Right

45 minutes of three guys yelling at me over a drum machine, is not really my thing. Some of the tracks that have actually music on them are not bad, though. Fight For Your Right is a classic, but I can't listen to No Sleep Till Brooklyn without thinking of Morris Minor and the Majors.

This should be good but it's not the beastie boys that resonate with me

One monster hit! Anthem for aging frat boys and high school dropouts alike, now living contently in their parent’s basement. Very white, very male, very East coast. More amusing than good. The rest is fodder and fill. 2 stars for losing their best porno mags.

They sure yell a lot. Probably why I liked it so much as an 8 year old.

Every song sounded so alike I didn't realize it was a next one.

I can’t help my foot tapping along and I know this is ground-breaking and technically v clever in an analogue 80s world…but it’s hard to take a whole album of this. Just sounds so samey.

Very obnoxious, would give it one star but I know its very influential

Cheesy beats, cheesy rhymes, samples where the original is infinitely better than the resulting song, it gets an extra star for the iconic cover.

I've never quite gotten the appeal of the Beastie Boys. After listening to Licensed to Ill all the way through, I...still don't get the appeal. But then I have listened to this album all the way through before. It's interesting, amusing, and am glad to listen to it as a cultural thing, but it's just not that interesting, musically, intellectually, or any other way.

I really love no sleep till Brooklyn and fight for your right, but would have been fine listening to just those 2 songs. So much yellinf

I just don't like the Beastie Boys, unfortunately

J'aurais mis 2.5 si on me laissait le faire...

not my taste

I’ve learned through this exercise that that there is an art to sampling. When done right it can create a whole new art form, enhancing not just the new song but recontextualizing and updating the old. When I heard the ‘ocean’ riff in ‘she’s crafty’ I felt like I’d just seen a retarded 8 year old draw a dick on the Mona Lisa. And then the crowd all clapped and said congratulations, good job buddy. This is pablum. This is the decline of western civilization. This is music for pedophiles in disguise as 40 year old sneakerheads. I know I’m prone to hyperbole but this album is the most inane, infantile bullshit I’ve ever heard in my entire fucking life.

It worked... I am ill

Boring with nit great lyrics or sounds

If you don’t like this, you hate music.

Hell yeah. So solid all the way through. Paul Revere with the backwards high-hat. What an absolutely gold record stem to stern.

In the context of hip hop of its time, this is catchy as hell and super goofy, a good time. 5* Highlights: no sleep till brooklyn, fight for your right, brass monkey

I love it

Just an absolute classic

Stealin' and rhymin'

Beastie Boys represent another side of urban youth, like the second generation of immigrants to any country who look like they're from somewhere else, but when they speak with your own accent you realize their from here now. Beastie Boys let people know white people CAN make rap music. Wearing their punk roots on their sleeves, and almost amateur diy vibe, it might be hard for people used to their later efforts to realize they were making this shit up on the fly. And they were both dorky and cool as fuck at the same time. Five stars.

Barnligt, plat og dumt. Men jeg elsker det

Goody white boy party rock. Some tracks aged well some didn’t No Sleep Til Brooklyn is still one of the best cock rock songs ever, even unintentionally

All time favorite. One of the best albums. Period

Another perfect album. Not one bad song.

'Deliver Colonel Sanders down to Davey Jones' locker'; 'I got a girl in the Castle and one in the pagoda / You know I got rhymes like Abe Vigoda' (or is it Phyllis Diller?); 'Now your mom threw away your best porno mag (busted).' The Beasties spend a fair amount of time rapping about 'girlies with the def behinds,' and really girlies of all shapes and sizes, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this album remains sonically fresh and persists as a cultural touchstone that few other records approach. Behind the boasting, rhyming, and stealing is the inception of the hip hop avant-garde, persevered by Kool Keith, MF Doom, etc. Sampling is a form of cultural allusion, and when the lyrics are equally, hilariously allusive, you get something that is truly sui generis. And fun as hell.

10/10.

5/5

I think I gotta go 5 on it even though the Beasties middle period is my favorite. Incredibly strong debut and brilliant blend of punk and rap at the time when hip hop wasn't even fully developed. So many iconic tracks

This is my childhood. I love every single one of these tracks.

Literally packed full of iconic tracks. I admit it got a little tiresome listing straight through the album. Also I think I'm getting too old for stereotypical rap lyrics.

Classic juvenile rap rock, creative, quotable, funky fun.

Stacked with hits, groundbreaking, creative and influential. This was huge at the time of its release. Not much else to say. Not quite a full 5er but I’ll round up. 4.5/5

To have the ability to incorporate samples from Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, CCR and Mr. Ed while featuring Slayer’s guitarist…pretty much says it all. A great debut and definitely one of the greatest rap albums of the 80s. Setting the stage for their next album that would be their masterpiece. 4.5/5.

Love how they use familiar elements in creative ways…some more explicit that others. The beat from When the Levee breaks is prolly one of the best of all time. So if you want to start some heads bobbing, why not start with that? I’m quite stingy with my 5’s but just enjoyed this too much. 4.5 and rounding up.

Not sure this is truly a 5 star album…but as a soundtrack to a weekend? Chefs kiss. I’m not on the bandwagon that Paul’s Boutique is their best album. Gimme this debut any day of the week (especially the weekend days of the week). 4.25/5

They have such a unique sound and just like their other works this album gets you ready to run through a wall. Few do hype music as good as them. It’s even better on a second listen when you know the lyrics and can sing along.

I listened to this one over and over again back in the day.

Iconic. Defining a genre, and well done.

The best

I still know all the lyrics to this album, its etched in my brain pan.