Disco de Beastie Boys: “Check Your Head [Remastered Edition]”

Well, after you have phenomenal chart success with your first album ("Licensed to Ill") that you will never see again, and you make a cut-and-paste masterpiece with your second album ("Paul's Boutique") that nobody has equaled since, what do you do for the third? Apparently, if you're the Beastie Boys, whatever you want. Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA actually picked up their instruments for this album and created a lot of funk and punk instrumentals, and then added some rap along the way. Of the rap songs, the high points are "So What'cha Want", "The Maestro", and "Professor Booty", and some of the non-rap songs that are really great are "Gratitude", "Funky Boss", and "Time For Livin'". Even parts of the album that would normally be filler are interesting: this is the sound of the Beastie Boys expanding their horizons even further. Second only to "Paul's Boutique" (and possibly "Hello Nasty") in the Beastie catalog.

Though I hate to make this official (because I am no masochist) I may have to proclaim this my favourite Beastie Boys album. Don't get me wrong; Paul's Boutique was good, but a little too profane, you know? I mean, I'm not really into screwing women so that might have something to do with it. Check Your Head, however, is just... Oh man. It is amazing. I'm not into the activist, "oh, man, peace is great and I'm sure one day it will happen because it isn't impossible or anything so let's write 23 songs about it" tracks but in judging the whole album...

I would be lying if I said I wasn't blown away. The Beastie Boys stunned me with just the right amount of sampling, droll verses, and innovative, addictive beats. I got the album over a month ago and it has not yet come out of CD rotation. It is incredible. I love it. Did I mention it's amazing?

"Pass The Mic"? Great. A perfect equilibrium of Beastie goodness.

"Gratitude" (oh man, "Gratitude"!) and "Finger Lickin' Good" are songs that just don't leave your head.

Who couldn't eventually find himself mumbling the lyrics to "What'cha Want"?

And only someone without a soul would be opposed to "The Maestro" or "Live At P.J.'s".

"Mark On The Bus" should please everyone who doesn't like rap, as should "Namasté".

Might I add that "Professor Booty" is really cool?

I didn't even mention everything.

The Beastie Boys had then created a beautiful, flawlessly balanced, and melodious way to coalesce their tastes into one album.

It makes me want to eat yogurt and hop on two or more feet while reading Douglas Adams books and murdering geometric equations.

I love this album.

It will make you a cooler person.

Listen to it.

The first three Beastie Boys CDs were solid masterpieces. I can't decide which of the three is the best--LICENSED TO ILL, PAUL'S BOUTIQUE or, this, CHECK YOUR HEAD. Does it really matter? They're all marvels of funk, rock, and hiphop. What set this CD apart were the jazzy sections, played by the boys themselves (with some critical help on keyboards). For more than a decade, this CD has earned a permanent spot on my tray, and has quite easily held its place on my "What ten albums would I want if I were stuck on an island (preferrably Manhattan island)?" list.

My personal favorites are "So What'chu Want?", "Pass the Mic" and "Something's Got to Give". One of the shining moments to me, as for several other reviewers, is hearing Dylan's voice singing "I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough" on "Finger-Licking Good". Which brings me to one other observation: The Beastie Boys are to New York as The Beach Boys were to California. CHECK YOUR HEAD, like all other Beastie CDs, is a tribute to their hometown, and they projected an image of it that is uniquely theirs.

whoever is selling their copy of this cd/album has lost their youth, and possibly their mind!! the album blends jazz, rock, punk, alt-rock, hip-hop and various other astral elements into a perfect puzzle. i heard this for the first time when i was 12, and it turned me inside out. classic.

If you're a Beastie Boys fan, you probably know about the changes they went through. In the 80's alone, they went from a hardcore punk-rock band to a rap group. After the commercial failure "Paul's Boutique" in '89 (even though it was a brilliant record), the Beasties picked up their instruments in '92 and recorded Check Your Head, the album that would secure the popularity of the Beastie Boys once and for all.

With Adrock on guitar, MCA on bass, and Mike D on the drums, the Beasties recorded "Check Your Head", an hour-long album full of witty rhymes, trippy instrumentals and crazy samples. The album starts out with the heavy bassline of "Jimmy James", definately a great opener. The next track, "Funky Boss" is almost the contrary to Jimmy James - very light and funky. After only two tracks, you already notice, "Man, the B-Boys aren't rapping too much in this album". And it's true - rhyming in the album is used quite sparingly compared to their previous albums. The next tracks, "Pass The Mic" is an excellent blend of rock and rap, and "Gratitude" has Adrock screaming over a really nice bassline. Other standouts include the tag-team rhyming on "Finger Lickin' Good", which also containts the funniest Bob Dylan sample I've ever heard, the warped vocals and heavy beats of "So What'Cha Want", the trippy organs on "Groove Holmes", the funky horns on "The Maestro", and the B-Boys showcase their rhymes on "Professor Booty".

If you're a rap fan and not so much a fan of rock, this probably won't be your favourite Beasties record because of the lack of raps on here, and you really have to be a rock fan to appreciate some of the instrumentals on here. The fact is, the Beastie Boys went back to their rock roots without having to give up their clever rhymes, and it paid off dearly for them. Can't forget about the hilarious Biz Markie cameo on "Biz Vs. The Nuge" - that's classic. It's not for everyone, and it's not as accessible as, say, Licensed to Ill, but it's still a four-star classic for sure.