My only memory of this album was getting pissed at lunchtimes as a 16 year-old whilst working on the record stall in the market. The local low dive boozer that specialised in under age serving had a video jukebox. The lead singles from Licensed were on rotation. Three pints of lunchtime lager, some Beastie snarling and I was KING OF THE WORLD and ready to take on the afternoon shift with added bile. How very Beastie Boys. Oh, it’s a bloody good album btw. SO much fun.
Bit conflicted over this one. I LOVED this when it came out, and the production still sounds fresh today. But some of the lyrics and general yobbishness are hard to digest now, no matter how much the Beasties latterly reinvented both their sound and their stance. The singles are forgettable, or maybe just overexposed, but Slow Ride, Slow And Low, Paul Revere and Brass Monkey are still up there sonically with any hip hop of that era. I guess we've all (hopefully) grown up a lot since this was first released.