Average Rating: 3.75 Rating Variance: 0.66 Objectivity Score: 69% (Fairly Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name5.0 classicBeastie Boys Paul's BoutiqueNot a lot to say that's not already been said, but I consider this to be the crowning achievement of the many-faceted genre that is hip-hop. Nobody before, or after, matched it, and nobody ever will. And the great thing is, even the Beasties didn't try to replicate it, they went off in a totally different direction after PB dropped to make Check Your Head. This is an album that exists in a different plane to the rest of hip-hop, and it was made by three white Jewish kids from New York. High Plains Drifter is probably my favourite hip-hop song ever, certainly top three. Hip-hop is a genre that lends itself especially to albums, however, not singles; the cohesive nature of this album put it echelons above the rest, you can tell what they were trying to do, and it's a proper album instead of an arbitrary collection of songs. If you've never heard this, you'll get to experience something which, sadly, I never will again, which is hearing this album for the first time, with no idea what to expect.Beastie Boys Ill CommunicationI adore this album, for me it takes the edge over Check Your Head cause there's more great straight-up hip-hop tracks on IC (Sure Shot, B-Boys Makin' With the Freak Freak, Root Down, Get it Together, The Update, Alright Hear This, Flute Loop, Do It, The Scoop and Bodhisattva Vow), which is half the album devoted to it (and what I personally think they do best). Then there's the instrumental jazzy-funk stuff, which I think there was a bit too much of on CYH, whereas here it's spread out a bit more. That leaves the two hardcore songs (Heart Attack Man is my favourite Beasties punk track), and motherfuckin' Sabotage, the most hyped and energetic song probably ever recorded.4.5 superbBeastie Boys Hello NastyThis album is oft overlooked in the Beastie Boys' near-flawless catalogue, but if you give it time, you'll learn to love it. It's certainly less cohesive than the likes of Ill Communication or Paul's Boutique, but that's what I love about it. They are truly scientists of sound, and Hello Nasty is the sound of them making all kinds of crazy science in the studio, but each cut is different, and always has a little thing that will throw you off, just a little curveball, like the sudden classical piano/harpsichord interlude in The Move, and then the bass kicks back in like nothing happened, or the 8-bit explosion in Unite. This album also has some of the best rhymes they ever wrote ("In the next millennium I'll still be old school"? Come on, that's awesome, and true!), and the production rules; Mix Master Mike's insane scratching really adds a lot, and they took the vocal effects they messed with on Check Your Head and Ill Communication and just threw that shit on EVERYTHING, this is a very noisy and dense album, so if you like sparse simple beats, this is not for you. They would revisit this idea more in 2011 on the Hot Sauce Committee.4.0 excellentBeastie Boys Check Your HeadOne of the most innovative hip-hop albums ever, but isn't hindsight wonderful? For me, somebody who wasn't around at the time this came out, I heard it and Ill Communication at the same time, and so the impact of this crazy unique sound wasn't as much, and I felt that IC took what makes CYH excellent and made a classic record; however, CYH is nothing to be scoffed at! So What'cha Want still probably stands as the fucking coolest song ever, and this has the criminally underrated Stand Together, which is basically just MCA spitting three really dope verses. CYH is really the B-Boys finding the sound that they would develop from 1992 to 1998 before they took a break post-Hello Nasty.3.5 greatBeastie Boys To The 5 BoroughsSadly overlooked, it's strange that people were surprised/annoyed by the political lyrics on TT5B, as if the guys had never made a statement in the past (apart from all the times they did). Granted, their views are more overt here; previously, they'd have a braggadocio song like Sure Shot with one verse containing some kind of socio-political content, but now, they have whole songs about these issues, like It Takes Time to Build, All Lifestyles and, most obviously, An Open Letter to NYC. The production on this album is very love-hate, but I think it's pretty cool; this is their first entirely hip-hop record since 1986's Licensed to Ill, and that is where the problems begin. The 90's trio of albums had great hip-hop interspersed with instrumental songs, hardcore songs and other little oddities to break up the hip-hop, but on TT5B is all hip-hop for 45 minutes, and while it's better than your average hip-hop (and a nice dose of the old-school sensibilities in the over-saturated mainstream hip-hop market, where everyone wanted to sound like 50 Cent), it starts to lag a little by the end. This album also features Crawlspace, which is weird because it's not even recognizably them at first, and then you realise that the B-Boys shout all the time, and when they rap at a speaking level, it sounds weird, especially Ad-Rock!Billy Talent Billy Talent IIII don't understand the hate for BTIII. Sure, it's probably their least consistent record, but when this gets it right, it really gets it right. The one thing consistent throughout the whole record is Ian D'sa's guitar playing, there are some really inventive riffs, and the kind of chords you'd normally hear in jazz; it's been said before, but Ian really does the job of two guitar players in Billy Talent. If you look at the tabs the band released alongside this record, you can see how interesting and unique some of things Ian and Jon Gallant (bass), play here. Also the vocal harmonies are impeccable; my favourite one is Saint Veronika, when Ian joins in on "Always said her life...", the whole thing soars.rOf course there are some clunkers, but the only song I really dislike is Sudden Movements. Devil On My Shoulder, Saint Veronika and the haunting White Sparrows are the best tracks, but most of the album is pretty solid, just standard fare for Billy Talent at this point, and certainly a cut above the majority of sub-par pop punk out there.rSo yeah, the vocals and guitar work are amazing, the bass and drums are solid, and the songwriting is a bit hit or miss.Eminem The Eminem Show3.0 goodBilly Talent Watoosh!Eminem Relapse: Refill2.5 averageEminem Encore
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