Listening to Check Your Head now...

[LuciferHam]

These guys are still my favourite band. Just confirmin'

[Jiberish]

agreed.

[cwdoom]

to me that's what i call a "ONE IN ONE" album. since adam has passed away i have been checking (pun intended) that period of their creativity. one of the things i think people sleep on is that no album has ever been made like that EVER. sure you got people like the roots, everlast, wyclef, etc, but the bottom line is that the beastie's were first group in music to blend elements of a band, emceeing, and sampling at the same time. that's huge for hip hop, but huge for music in general. i love paul's boutique, but the reality of that record is that there were also other great sampled based records out (i.e. bomb squad (public enemy, ice cube's first record), de la, epmd, paul c(rakim, main source, ultra mag). so i felt (don't beat me up on this site) "paul boutique" was part of a collective of great hip hop records. but "check your head" and "ill communication" was next fucking level shit...i don't think anybody can duplicate that sound on that level, with cohesiveness. just an incredible musical period for me (92-94).

[Guy Incognito]

its their coolest album. Its the band at their most free because they just decided to whatever they wanted, nothing to lose. If i think about the other albums there was always some kind of pressure or other influence:

LTI- Def Jam influence
PB - Dust Brothers, matt dyke's ideas as well as their own plus the pressure of following LTI
IC- I think they wanted to continue the formula of CYH so in effect were governed by it a bit
HN - To do something different, to move on
TT5B - Politics, to make a more straightforward hip hop album, not a lot of live stuff
TMU - Self explanatory
HSC2 - Maybe this runs CYH a close second for creative freedom.

Plus its the one that really got me into them and i took great pleasure from introducing it to friends who i know are still fans

[Brass Monk]

its their coolest album. Its the band at their most free because they just decided to whatever they wanted, nothing to lose. If i think about the other albums there was always some kind of pressure or other influence:

LTI- Def Jam influence
PB - Dust Brothers, matt dyke's ideas as well as their own plus the pressure of following LTI
IC- I think they wanted to continue the formula of CYH so in effect were governed by it a bit
HN - To do something different, to move on
TT5B - Politics, to make a more straightforward hip hop album, not a lot of live stuff
TMU - Self explanatory
HSC2 - Maybe this runs CYH a close second for creative freedom.

Plus its the one that really got me into them and i took great pleasure from introducing it to friends who i know are still fans

Interesting theory.
But IMO they always have resisted pressure to do music a certain way.
For example, I remember before HN came out I was sort of afraid that they would try to make an album full of "Sabotage" inspired songs. I loved/love that track but I didn't want to hear them copy themselves trying to make the same thing again. I thought the success of that song might have changed their direction.
I was pleasantly surprised.