Paul's Boutique and Hello Nasty

[Prof. Maestro]

I know there are some in the camp that the Check Your Head/Ill C. Beastie Boys regime is the B-Boys in their prime.

But after giving Hello Nasty another listen, those albums are just busting with creativity and sonic layers. A plusses, the two albums they should be remembered if one had to choose two.

[pm0ney]

I think the Beasties were at their absolute peak during Pauls Boutique/Check Your Head. Although Hello Nasty fucking rules as well. Ill Communication would have to be my least favorite Beasties cd. Too much distortion on the mics and too many "buddha" songs.

[Odie]

Yeah i agree, PB/HN are the ones that really only get the spin nowa days. think it's because their so thick and so sonically overwhelming. CYH is the coolist tho.

[funk63]

hello nasty is massive.

[JohnnyChavello]

Hello Nasty is probably my least favorite Beastie Boys album apart from Pollywog Stew or Cookie Puss. To me, songs like Remote Control, Flowin' Prose, and Three MCs and One DJ are weak. I agree that the production is good and, believe it or not, I like the hodgepodge of material on it, but I've never been able to fully get into it. I remember at the time starting to think what friends of mine had been saying about Ill Communication - that the Beastie Boys had gotten a little corny in their old age. Maybe if you weren't listening to them at the time, maybe even if you were, you can't relate, but that's how I feel about it. Certain tracks are good, but it has gotten by far the fewest spins in my Beastie collection and in terms of the hip hop, it doesn't compare to any of their previous albums. I have a theory that the Beastie Boys slowly started doing this "Beastie Boys thing" that involved them just trading pop culture references, lines about their zodiac signs, endless and repetitive old school references, etc. that is too reflexive for my tastes. The stuff on Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication is just lyrically way more interesting.

I don't hate it, but it's not a great hip hop album in my opinion.

In terms of the new album, although I'm not psyched about a completely instrumental release, I think everyone's known that at some point they'd stop recording the great hip hop tracks everybody loves; they may have actually stopped, give or take a few songs, in 1994 after Ill Communication dropped. I do think the new album might be quite good if taken for what it is, but this just seals the deal for me as far as them ever being as good at creating hip hop music as they used to be, and that's a shame because they're one of the best to ever do it.

[balohna]

If you don't care about the lyrics Hello Nasty is great. But I must say there are some brilliant lyrics on that album, and I don't mean just from the perspective of flow/entertainment value. Electrify, Remote Control, and Song for the Man especially. The entire album is like a sci-fi epic and it's great for straight-through listens. The whole thing has a "complete" feel to it.

Paul's Boutique has been discussed in depth, everyone knows it's great. IC and CYH are great too. These 4 albums are my favourite from the group, TT5B and LTI aren't quite up to snuff in comparison (but still great albums).

[Brother McDuff]

i think hello nasty was somewhat a return to great lyricism for the beasties since paul's boutique. comparatively, pb and hn's lyrics majorly eclipse those pf cyh and ic. though the cyh and ic lyrics were done with so much conviction and heart that they are by no means substandard.


although it's a bit wide of a window, i think 89-98 was by far the beastie peak, not to say that the rest of their career wasn't super-ill in it's own right, though.

[mate_spawn_die]

I think the Beasties were at their absolute peak during Pauls Boutique/Check Your Head. word.

[TommyD]

The three album's that have had me completely mezmorized at some point in my life are PB, CYH & Ill Comm.

PB was the first album from any artist that I really shit my pants about. It blew me away and it's still an absolute solid, ground-breaking fuckin' classic.

CYH I love because of it's rock/rap fusion and it's the first time that they used the fuzz-box on their mics, which to me is the true Beastie sound (So Watcha Want...are you kidding me....that shit is so off the hook it's not funny)

Ill Comm. again had that Beastie sound to it (fuzz box & rap & rock & sampling) plus it added a new dimension of maturity w/ it's element of social awareness or whatever you want to call it.

One other thing that has been bugging me is how a lot of people are mentioning that they wished the new album was hip-hop because the Beastie's are best at hip-hop (or something like this)....but I have never considered them as a hip-hop band, or any genre band. They are in a league/genre all on their own and have never commited to one style....especially hip-hop...the majority of their songs do not fit the hip-hop description. They are so much more than hip-hop....if anything they are some alternative form of hip-hop....

[JohnnyChavello]

One other thing that has been bugging me is how a lot of people are mentioning that they wished the new album was hip-hop because the Beastie's are best at hip-hop (or something like this)....but I have never considered them as a hip-hop band, or any genre band. They are in a league/genre all on their own and have never commited to one style....especially hip-hop...the majority of their songs do not fit the hip-hop description. They are so much more than hip-hop....if anything they are some alternative form of hip-hop....

That's fine. Of course they're involved in making more than just hip hop music, but if you ask me they're a hip hop band. They have never released a full length studio album without hip hop on it. It would seem to me that Licensed to Ill, Paul's Boutique and To The Five Boroughs are all examples of them commiting to one style if you want to call it that. They've released major label albums without instrumentals, without hardcore, without dub, without everything except hip hop. Shit, even their instrumental and dub records have been heavily influenced by what I'm sure are hours upon hours spent in the crates digging for samples. It makes sense that people think of them more as a band that does a little of this and a little of that and makes whatever they want to make...I'm just saying.

[tjpop]

I think the Beasties were at their absolute peak during Pauls Boutique/Check Your Head. Although Hello Nasty fucking rules as well. Ill Communication would have to be my least favorite Beasties cd. Too much distortion on the mics and too many "buddha" songs.


werd.exactly. I remember when I first heard Ill Communication...I instantly thought it was Check Your Head: The Sequel, and was a little disappointed for some reason. Now I think it's supreme, but it will always be one notch below Pauls and Check..and even Hello Nasty. Not much, but a lil..

[Late-Night Lion]

The great thing about PB and HN is the way they flow lyrics wise...they actually rap "with" each other and the three of their voices combine in neat way.

On the other albums they take turns rhyming and keep it separate.

[TommyD]

It would seem to me that Licensed to Ill, Paul's Boutique and To The Five Boroughs are all examples of them commiting to one style if you want to call it that.

I hear what you're saying...TT5B for sure was all-out hip hop....but LTI & PB both had that rock element in some songs...Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun, Fight for your Right, She's Crafty, Rhymin & Stealing, No Sleep till Brooklyn....

I know most of them are still rap'esque but they have always had that rock element too, and other elements, so it should be no surprise that they do other styles and it's all, to me, equally wicked.

And just to clarify, I can't say I like rock very much, there's very very few rock bands that I like....and I def listen to way more hip hop....but when it comes to the Beastie's I love just about every track they put out and for some reason I have never really put that rap band label on them:D

peace