Beastie Boys
Ill Communication
★★★★
GRAND ROYAL/CAPITOL
If someone tries to make you feel old by pointing out that the original release of Ill Communication is now as far off as A Hard Day’s Night was when the fourth Beastie Boys album came out, the correct response is to point out that such a rigid conception of chronology overlooks the capacity of pop’s eternal now to slow life down as well as speed it up. In this context, the difference between the 30 years before Ill Communication and the 30 years since is largely a question of percentages – the first three decades constituting as they unfolded the vast majority of Common Era pop time (if you think of Elvis as Jesus, which it’s fair to say most people do), the next three adding up to less than half of it.
The way the irresistible Jeremy Steig flute loop that powers album opener Sure Shot somehow manages to keep its territorial integrity even as it dissolves into the monstrous beat is the perfect musical embodiment of Ill Communication’s power to resist the march of time even while reminding us of it. Even as the vivid character of Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch’s vocal presence on this track, gruffly declaiming, “I got more rhymes than I got grey hairs, and that’s a lot because I’ve got my share”, testifies to the sadness of his absence from the earthly realm, the listener sinks blissfully back – or even (and what riches await those who are new to this) forward for the first time – into the intricate and endlessly rewarding parallel world the Beasties and their languid legion of collaborators created.
Far from disrupting the equilibrium of the whole, the exhilarating full spectrum over-familiarity of Sabotage is a portal to appreciating the level of scrutiny Ill Communication’s infinite detail can sustain. Let’s cut to side two instrumental closer Futterman’s Rule for a fresher paradigm. Diligent readers of the second issue of Grand Royal know this title refers to the convivial dining protocol (first referenced on 1992’s The Skills That Pay The Bills) “When two are served, all may eat”, and this instrumental’s glorious fusion of overloading bass, clattering percussion, half remembered Jimi Hendrix chord progressions and Mark Ramos Nishita’s trademark keyboard flourishes is given a further metaphysical kick by a sampled Big Youth waxing existential at the outset. Times that by 20 and you’ve got the album.
The birthday reboot of this crate-digger’s bible is presented on vinyl and even more nostalgic cassette, like CDs (never mind downloads) never happened. This is funny, given that CD was the medium in which most people experienced it first time around, and to whose expanded running times it seemed to owe its 60-minute duration, but also appropriate given Mike D’s assertion (again in Sure Shot) that he was “still listening to wax… not using the CD”. Beastie Boys were behind the times in a totally prophetic way, and it’s a joy to go back to their future.
Ill Communication 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is now on Grand Royal/Capitol.
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Tracklist
Disc 1
Sure Shot (Side A)
Tough Guy (Side A)
B-Boys Makin' With The Freak Freak (Side A)
Bobo On The Corner (Side A)
Root Down (Side A)
Sabotage (Side B)
Get It Together (Side B)
Sabrosa (Side B)
The Update (Side B)
Futterman's Rule (Side B)
Disc 2
Alright Hear This (Side C)
Eugene's Lament (Side C)
Flute Loop (Side C)
Do It (Side C)
Ricky's Theme (Side C)
Heart Attack Man (Side D)
The Scoop (Side D)
Shambala (Side D)
Bodhisattva Vow (Side D)
Transitions (Side D)
Disc 3
Root Down (Free Zone Mix) (Side E)
Resolution Time (Side E)
Get It Together (Buck-Wild Remix) (Side E)
Dope Little Song (Side E)
Sure Shot (European B-Boy Mix) (Side E)
Heart Attack Man (Unplugged) (Side E)
The Vibes (Side F)
Atwater Basketball Association File No. 172-C (Side F)
Heart Attack Man (Live) (Side F)
The Maestro (Live) (Side F)
Mullet Head (Side F)
Sure Shot (European B-Boy Instrumental) (Side F)
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Picture: Getty