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IVH: Beastie Boys / Ill Communication [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-09-11

Tonight’s selections from the Beastie Boys fourth album, 1994’s Ill Communication.

After the apparent commercial failure of "Paul’s Boutique", the Beastie Boys promised the fans that they were going to play their instruments instead of using just samples. So, "Check Your Head" would be a masterful combination between amateurishly played instruments and infectious samples, promoting rap-inspired alternative rock. Even if the critics consider "Check Your Head" an undisputed masterpiece, I believe that the record is a bit too artificial due to some collisions between low-quality samples and authentic playing. Also, the songs could be more developed, instead of feeling like rock-inspired sketches of the gems from "Paul’s Boutique". All the mistakes committed on "Check Your Head" will be straightened out by the following record, the truly outstanding "Ill Communication". The title alludes to the Beasties’ debut album, the party masterwork "Licensed to Ill." This signifies that the band returned to the hit single creed of their beginning, provocatively adding hardcore punk jams and vanguardist introductions that gave the release a mysterious aura. If "Check Your Head" marked the assimilation of alternative rock motifs, "Ill Communication" evolves these stylistic elements and gives them a violent breath that raises them to the rank of classics. Tracks like "Sabotage" and "Sure Shot" are perfect party anthems, presenting that spark that was missing from the stiffy previous work. Along with these perfect singles, the album maximizes the experimental character adopted by the group at the beginning of the decade. It’s eclectic to its core, being the vehicle of a variety of soundscapes, masterfully organized in a voluptuous edifice.

Practically, it was impossible for a joke rap rock group to propose such a variety of sounds and tracks and to be taken seriously. With "Ill Communication" the Beastie Boys try the impossible, but with a hint of confidence that raises their music to the rank of true art. — Sputnik Music

Sabotage

Ill Communication continues the formula established on Check — home-grown jams powered by live instruments; speedy hardcore rants; and insane rhyme styles buried under the warm hiss of vintage analog studio equipment. (An old-school distrust of the digital age pervades Ill: As Mike D states on “Sure Shot,” “I listen to wax/I’m not using the CD.”) Since the Beasties’ earliest recordings, recently compiled on Some Old Bullshit, their mission remains intact: to explore the unifying threads between hip-hop and punk, taking their basic elements — the scratch of a needle across a vinyl groove, a pounding snare-bass thump, the crunch of a power chord — and slicing them up with a Ginsu knife. The resulting B-boy bouillabaisse blends both genres, living up to Mike D’s boast that he’ll “freak a fucking beat like the shit was in a blender.” Ill maintains the Beasties’ consistency of style, but underneath its goofy, dope-smokin’ antics lies — gasp! — an artistic maturity that reveals how the Boys have grown since they began as pimply New York punks making anarchic noise. The Beasties’ fourth album lives up to its title — layers of distortion and echo often render the vocals unintelligible, reducing them to yet another rhythmic element. A reggae influence also pops up on Ill, but instead of the stuttering dancehall pulse pervading hip-hop, the Beasties look to the reverb effects of dub innovators like Lee “Scratch” Perry (name-checked in “Sure Shot”) for sonic inspiration. Elsewhere, the Beasties show their roots in “Root Down” — in this case, the strutting bass undertow, organ fills and wah-wah, chicken-scratch guitar of ’70s blaxploitation-era funk. Throughout, the Beasties demonstrate their musical diversity, ranging from the Gang Starr-style minimalist piano loop of “Get It Together” (featuring a virtuoso freestyle cameo by Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest) to “Sabotage,” a bass-driven metallic rapfest. Only on the hardcore punk of “Tough Guy” and “Heart Attack Man” do the Beasties falter. While these tracks have visceral power, they ultimately show the Beasties to be punk classicists, unable to transcend the now reactionary sounding influences of ’80s thrash pioneers like Black Flag, Minor Threat and the Germs. Indeed, if the Beasties gave their hardcore the same sonic complexity they give their funk, they would prove truly dangerous. — Rolling Stone

Sure Shot

By 1994, the Beastie Boys were a lot closer to 30 than they were to 20, and it’s not much of a stretch to interpret their fourth album as a growing-up phase of sorts. Where Check Your Head was a jam session turned venting process turned crossover success, Ill Communication is the album that let them infuse their turn towards sincerity with a renewed sense of playfulness, solidifying their transition from the gleefully exaggerated bad-boy anarchists of their first two albums to a trio of (slightly) more mature, trend-setting enthusiasts. It’s as if they took stock in their history, realized they were past the point of having to prove anything, said what the hell, and decided to throw their whole repertoire into the album. Considering the record was assembled over a comparatively brief six-month span, it’s an ideal, condensed snapshot of the Boys’ genuine interests and cultural obsessions, whether they were spiritual (Buddhism), musical (late-’60s/early-’70s soul-jazz) or recreational (no less than three members of the 1993-94 Knicks get shout-outs). It’s the Beasties at their most lifestyle-savvy, though they came across less like opportunistic youth marketers and more like the idiosyncratic hipsters they’d always been. (Remember, this was in 1994, before “hipster” was a pejorative.) Their lyrical personalities are a bit more distinct, too, even as they keep up their traditional mic-passing back-and-forth rapport: MCA’s the pistol-smashing, anti-misogynist, spiritual one, who gets a couple of solo joints to mull over the decaying state of the world (“The Update”) and espouse upon his Buddhism (“Bodhisattva Vow”). Mike D’s the instigator of analog throwbacks (“I’m still listening to wax, I’m not using the CD”), working-class style (“I’m shopping at Sears ’cause I don’t buy at the Gap”) and B-boy golf chic (“Pass me an iron and I’ll bust a chip shot/Then you throw me off the green ’cause I’m strictly hip-hop”). And Ad-Rock’s the irreverent name-dropper who compares himself to everyone from underground cartoonist Vaughn Bode to Moog pioneer Dick Hyman in the process of big-upping his microphone technique. But even amidst all the Gen-X cool-hunting and social-conscience soul-searching the Beasties were undertaking at the time, Ill Communication rings true because it stands as one of their most dedicated engagements with hip-hop culture. They’re game as far as actual lyricism goes; even if they’re a half-step behind the dizzying, rapid-fire linguistic free-for-all of Paul’s Boutique, there’s enough quotables and inspired moments of limber beat-riding in tracks like “Sure Shot,” “Root Down,” and “Do It” to hold up. It helps the cause that the Caldato-abetted beats have a close affinity with the classic post-Premier/Pete Rock early-’90s NYC production sound, to the extent that it sounds a bit like the work of a Native Tongues auxiliary—and not just because of Q-Tip’s great, off-the-cuff-sounding guest spot on “Get It Together.” It’s an influence the Beasties wear on their sleeves, focusing “Root Down” around the reverently-acknowledged 1972 Jimmy Smith jazz-funk classic of the same name, infusing cuts like “Alright Hear This” and “Flute Loop” with Village Vanguard atmosphere, and throwing around a crate digger's shopping list of names—Les McCann, Yusef Lateef, Archie Shepp, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie—in “Alright Hear This.” Throw those moments alongside anything off Buhloone Mindstate or Midnight Marauders and they stand up strong, plus you’ve got yourself a hell of a pool party mixtape. — Pitchfork

Root Down

Eclecticism made ‘Ill Communication’ very Beastie Boys and very ’90s. The 1980s, by and large, was a decade of staunch musical tribes, where bands of distinct sonic identities stood staring at each other over cavernous stylistic divides. This eased a little in the rave years and early ’90s, thanks to groups like De La Soul and Primal Scream, but there was still a general belief that bands should stick to what they were good at. ‘Ill Communication’ was a line in the sand, a record held together by vibes, mood and attitude more than generic signifiers that helped to change this straight-jacketed way of thinking. From ‘Ill Communication’ you can see a clear line to Beck’s wonderfully scattergun ‘Odelay’, The Chemical Brothers’ fiercely varied ‘Dig Your Own Hole’, or Fatboy Slim’s ‘You've Come a Long Way, Baby’, three records that are emblematic of the 1990s. — DJ Mag

Get It Together

However, the real standout moments throughout Ill Communication are the groove-soaked interludes like “Sabrosa” and “Futterman’s Rule” while “Eugene’s Lament” is otherworldly and feels straight from the dark shadows of a David Lynch film. Put aside the radio hits like “Sure Shot” and “Root Down” and what’s left is groove-drenched brilliance. “B-Boys Makin’ with the Freak Freak” is a patchwork of breakbeats that could blow out even the best stereos. “Get It Together” features A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip and is a significant highlight of the record, showing how all three members of the Beasties could keep up with one of the greatest emcees of all time who could have run circles around just about anyone else. The result of “Get It Together” is a textured cocktail of funky soul hip-hop that’s unrelenting and overflowing with deep-cut samples from artists like James Brown, Biz Markie, and Fred Wesley. Ill Communication has not one but two songs that use a flute for the leading hook, with “Sure Shot” and “Flute Loop”. They also use Mongolian throat singing as a backbeat that eventually turns into “Bodhisattva Vow”, which finds the three trading verses about their developing relationship with Buddhism. Later, the Beastie Boys, most notably MCA, would go on to throw one of the 1990’s biggest musical events, The Tibetan Freedom concert. MCA would be a practicing Buddhist up until his untimely death in 2012. The legacy of the Beastie Boys is timeless. They’re one of the rare bands that transcend style and musicality, finding universal love from backpack hip-hop kids to popped-collar bros and everyone between. The body of work they’ve left us with is a testament to experimentation, social awareness, and personal growth. Ill Communication is the exclamation point to that career. — Consequence

Sabrosa

‘Ill Communication’ was a huge hit, the band’s second No.1 record in the US and a top ten album around the world. “I wasn’t surprised,” says Hurricane, “because I was there when ‘Licensed To Ill’ dropped and sold 10 million. I was there when ‘Paul’s Boutique’ dropped and didn’t sell. And I was there when ‘Check Your Head’ did much better. So when ‘Ill Communication’ dropped I was expecting it to be a big record. I listened to the album, the way they put it together, and I expected it to be a big record.” — DJ Hurricane

Do It



WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?

Jimmy Kimmel: Sean Penn, Owen Cooper, Amaarae

Jimmy Fallon: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ronson, Gianmarco Soresi

Stephen Colbert: Usher, Gary Oldman

Seth Meyers: America Ferrera, Hugh Bonneville

After Midnight: Melissa Rauch, Jessica St. Clair, Nico Santos (R 2/4/25)

Watch What Happens Live: Jennifer Pedranti, Alexia Nepola

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