What You See is What You Get and You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
Friday. Yeah! Right now I am totally stuffed. We had a pot luck here for lunch and I chowed. Since I usually eat a really light lunch my stomach right now doesn't know how to handle this sudden overload. Plus now I am super sleepy. I wonder if anyone would notice if I crawled under my desk and took a nap...
The JavaScript manual I ordered arrived in the mail yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised since it came about a week ahead of its estimated delivery date. I plan to sit down this weekend and start learning some new code. I know I'm a nerd, but I'm seriously pumped. Definitely expect some new interactive and dynamic features on Inaction in Action in the near future.
Well, once again I grabbed a CD this morning only to find that I had grabbed an empty jewel case. Lame. Luckily I had my iPod as a backup, but that meant spinning through my selector wheel trying to find something good while barreling down the interstate at 75mph. So, I stopped at the Beastie Boys since they seemed to be a pretty good selection to get my Friday started off right.
I chose Licensed to Ill because I don't think I've covered that one on this site before. It isn't my favorite B-boys album, but admittedly, it is a lot of fun to listen to. I think I like this one less than the others because it was released as a joke album. The Beastie Boys were really a punk rock band who were fooling around in the studio one day with some of the turntables and were overheard by a couple of producers. They cut a rap record, with the big joke being that they were three white Jewish guys busting rhymes about Led Zeppelin, Budweiser, skateboarding, and other "white" things. Much to probably everyone's surprise, people took the joke seriously and suddenly they had phenomenally successful album. Unfortunately for the B-boys when they really did try to put out a serious album, no one paid attention, and the world missed out on hands-down one of the greatest albums of all time, the insanely fabulous Paul's Boutique.
Licensed to Ill isn't without merit, though. Fight For Your Right is a timeless party anthem, and Brass Monkey is a whole lot of fun as well. The New Style is an excellent track, as are Slow Ride and Posse in Effect. I usually skip over Girls (a song that came back to haunt the B-boys when they spoke out against the misogyny of Prodigy's Smack My B1tch Up), but who doesn't catch him or herself turning up and singing along to No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn? Sure, you'll be hard pressed to find anything substantial lyrically here (besides the in-jokes about white culture that no one got) but they are quite clever and a lot of fun. There are definitely better B-boys albums out there to buy, but this is the one that they will always be remembered for and no record collection would be complete without it.
The JavaScript manual I ordered arrived in the mail yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised since it came about a week ahead of its estimated delivery date. I plan to sit down this weekend and start learning some new code. I know I'm a nerd, but I'm seriously pumped. Definitely expect some new interactive and dynamic features on Inaction in Action in the near future.
Well, once again I grabbed a CD this morning only to find that I had grabbed an empty jewel case. Lame. Luckily I had my iPod as a backup, but that meant spinning through my selector wheel trying to find something good while barreling down the interstate at 75mph. So, I stopped at the Beastie Boys since they seemed to be a pretty good selection to get my Friday started off right.
I chose Licensed to Ill because I don't think I've covered that one on this site before. It isn't my favorite B-boys album, but admittedly, it is a lot of fun to listen to. I think I like this one less than the others because it was released as a joke album. The Beastie Boys were really a punk rock band who were fooling around in the studio one day with some of the turntables and were overheard by a couple of producers. They cut a rap record, with the big joke being that they were three white Jewish guys busting rhymes about Led Zeppelin, Budweiser, skateboarding, and other "white" things. Much to probably everyone's surprise, people took the joke seriously and suddenly they had phenomenally successful album. Unfortunately for the B-boys when they really did try to put out a serious album, no one paid attention, and the world missed out on hands-down one of the greatest albums of all time, the insanely fabulous Paul's Boutique.
Licensed to Ill isn't without merit, though. Fight For Your Right is a timeless party anthem, and Brass Monkey is a whole lot of fun as well. The New Style is an excellent track, as are Slow Ride and Posse in Effect. I usually skip over Girls (a song that came back to haunt the B-boys when they spoke out against the misogyny of Prodigy's Smack My B1tch Up), but who doesn't catch him or herself turning up and singing along to No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn? Sure, you'll be hard pressed to find anything substantial lyrically here (besides the in-jokes about white culture that no one got) but they are quite clever and a lot of fun. There are definitely better B-boys albums out there to buy, but this is the one that they will always be remembered for and no record collection would be complete without it.
posted by john at 2:36 PM
4 Comments:
i LOVE the beasties! they are amazing live too (i managed to see them during the ill communication tour at Lollapalooza in the 90s). i love that album. license to ill is amazing too, but it is great in a way that most first albums are great... they aren't polished, and they set the stage for what that band is to become. i personally like paul's boutique better too, cause hey, nothing beats the rocking cowbell in hey ladies! and to this day, whenever i hear the barking dogs in the beggining of Sure shot, i get weird chills that bring me back to highschool. them guys are v. cool...
Hi Lisa-
I was Beasties obsessed in high school and my first few years of college. I've seen them three times in concert, once in Saint Paul during the same Lollapalooza tour that you saw them with, once in Minneapolis(about 3rd row general admission, that was super sweet), and once in Denver. All three shows were spectacular. They have a lot of energy on stage.
Ill communication is pretty darn good, but my favorite by far is Paul's Boutique with Check Your Head coming in second.
Of course, you can't go wrong with any of them...
I have a musician friend who says that the reason a lot of second albums disappoint is because a band gets years to write and polish their best songs for a debut release, but only get a year or less to follow up that success with 10 more songs that have to be as equally as good. However, a few bands such as the Beasties and yesterday's band Alice in Chains seem to buck that trend and end up with their second album being their best. I don't know where I was going with this... just an observation I guess...
it's about evolution. if the band evolves then so does their music and their fanbase. freshness.
if it doesn't? every album is just a lesser copy of the first one...
Hi Sass-
I definitely agree, a band must evolve in order to keep the music fresh and the fans interested. However, this usually leads to another treacherous tight rope that bands must walk: if they stray too far from their original sound they get accused of "selling out" or some other such transgression, yet if they stick to the successful formula, they will be accused of being one trick ponies who are unable to mature their talents. It's kind of a catch-22 an indy band can never win. How can a group find commercial success without selling-out on some kind of level?
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