I was properly introduced to the Beastie Boys by my friend Adele in college. She was a huge fan and so shocked that I didn't really know their music that the next day she brought in three of their cds for me to borrow (Check Your Head, the Root Down EP and one other album, although I can't remember which; I'm pretty sure I only listened to the first two before I figured it was time to return them). At that age I was still deep into whatever bands Kerrang! magazine told me about and only listened to a handful of bands outside of that scene, so it took some effort get me into any other genres. Adele was mostly into punk (which I'm pretty sure is why she gave me Check Your Head), but her enthusiasm for the Beasties made me see them as more than just a hip-hop band and something worth checking out. I said "properly" in the first sentence because I'd of course heard of the Beasties before this event - they'd had top 40 singles all throughout my childhood so I could've easily written them off as "those guys who did Intergalactic", but that would've been foolish.
A few months later I picked up the Sounds of Science Anthology with the intention of getting into the band - 42 songs from all across their career for £11 was a bargain and showed me pretty much every side of the Beasties. A few more months later I started university and every so often there'd be a market in the square on campus featuring a guy with a few boxes of records. He rarely had anything of the sort of music I was into, but one of the first times he was there I found this copy of Paul's Boutique for £10 and I bought it on the way back from a lecture. I didn't have a turntable for the first term, so had to wait until January to listen to it.
I struggled with Paul's Boutique more than I had with Check Your Head probably for the key difference between them - Check Your Head is almost entirely live instruments where Paul's Boutique is almost entirely samples. For someone brought up on rock music, it was harder to grasp, but I got there eventually (unsurprisingly, the song Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun was my favourite). I still prefer Check Your Head, but not because of the way it was recorded; ten years later I like to think I can pretty much appreciate good music of most genres (although I prefer some more than others, of course. Who doesn't?) Anyway, I now enjoy Paul's Boutique; the raps are incredible and High Plains Drifter and the sprawling B-Boy Bouillabaisse are notable highlights.
Another point worth making is that the Beastie Boys are one of the reasons I find myself taking panoramic photos pretty much everywhere I go. The four sides of the gatefold sleeve here make up a panorama of Ludrow Street in New York (thanks Wikipedia) and the sleeve of Check Your Head features a panorama of the Beasties recording studio. I thought they were very cool photos and once I discovered the panorama setting on my old phone I started taking them everywhere. I'm yet to capture anything as cool as these, but I enjoy trying.
I guess for the near future it'll be impossible to write about the Beasties without saying something about MCA's passing, and this is no exception. I was saddened when I heard the news, much more than I have been on hearing about the death for any other person who I've never met. One of the things I loved about the Beasties was that they were three friends who had been making music together for years, but known each other for even longer. There aren't many bands in that sense - a bunch of friends who also make music together - and it just seems like a nice way for things to work. I felt sad because Adrock and Mike D lost a life-long friend.
Format: 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 15
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Lancaster University Square market
When: 21/10/03
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
