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.