First impressions are a powerful thing. Like many people, my first introduction to the Beastie Boys was “Fight For Your Right,” an irreverent and ubiquitous track that struck many as a novelty. And at the time of that track, the Beastie Boys were a novelty: the three Jewish kids from New York had transitioned to hip hop after their hardcore band found a burst of attention with the jokey rap song “Cookie Puss” (after which they hired an aspiring DJ named Rick Rubin).

But after riding the novelty act thing to notoriety, the Beastie Boys decided to get serious—a memo I had largely missed until my wife picked up a CD copy of Ill Communication on my regular detour at Vertigo Records in Grand Rapids. Listening to it on the drive home, I realized what an idiot I was for not just buying the vinyl at the same time, because this is truly one of the greatest records of all time.

Of course, I had heard some other tracks besides their jokey stuff: most notably the absolutely incredible “Sabotage,” which for a long time I figured was the only Beastie Boys song I loved. But after popping it into the CD drive of our Honda Fit, I was blown away by every track—which is not an easy thing to do when there are twenty of them.

From the opening yelps “Sure Shot,” it was clear that the group was approaching their work with seriousness—not something I was expecting based on the cultural image of the band I had seen. Their gritty hip hop beats are augmented by healthy doses of funk, bounce, dub reggae, hardcore punk, and jazz fusion (Miles Davis’ On the Corner was an especially large influence). The group had gone back to playing their own instruments on Check Your Head, the album before this, but this is the album where it really pays off. “Sabotage” is the most staggering and impressive proof of this (the bass line of “Root Down” is right up with it), but the entire album plays like an expertly curated mixtape given to you by your friend who knows all the best underground music.

The record bobs and weaves through all of the stylistic shifts with frightening agility. The shift between “Sabotage” and the Q-Tip (!) featuring “Get It Together” is a feat in itself, but perhaps the best example of this is the C side, which features a non-stop run from the mournful Middle Eastern strings of “Eugene’s Lament” to the bouncing “Flute Loop” into “Do It,” featuring the one and only Biz Markie (who, according to the liner notes, “appears courtesy of his own damn self), which then leads into the electric piano-led jazz jam of “Ricky’s Theme,” which also sees MCA bowing an upright bass in one section.  Even the earnest hardcore tracks, “Tough Guy” and “Heart Attack Man” don’t feel incongruous against the kaleidoscope of styles.

Also surprising is the large amount of instrumental tracks, none of which feel inconsequential. Many of them are standouts on the album, such as the relentless rock-funk of “Futterman’s Rule” or the aforementioned “Ricky’s Theme.” Some non-instrumentals, such as “The Scoop” and the throat-singing acid fusion of “Bodhissatva Vow” bury the vocals in the mix and coat them in echo and overdrive, making them more a textural element than a lyrical one.

And across this freewheeling cornucopia, Ad-Rock, MCA, and Mike D drop some of the best bars in hip hop. Whether it be Ad-Rock spitting absolute fire on “Sabotage” (I swear, someday I’ll get over that song), the three trading irreverent bars like they’re passing around a beer bong, or waxing philosophical, they have no problems holding their own against either the incredible instrumentation or legendary MCs like Q-Tip or Biz.

Some have called this record the most concise summary of the early 90s ever put to tape. And while there are certain important 90s movements that are missing (i.e., there isn’t any emo or shoegaze, though that’d be a chore to fit in), I can’t think of any other albums that create a cohesive snapshot of hip hop, punk, and alt-rock while also paving the way for artists like Gorillaz, Beck, and the entire nu-metal scene (alongside Rage Against the Machine, of course). All of that makes this an absolutely essential record from an act that I now realize were one of the best groups to ever do it.