Aglio e Olio (EP)

Aglio e Olio is an EP by the Beastie Boys, released in 1995. On it, the Beastie Boys return to their roots of punk rock.

Recording and release

The EP was released after the band realized that they had written too many hardcore punk songs for their next record. Michael "Mike D" Diamond later said, "When we first started working on Hello Nasty in New York, Awol [Amery Smith] was around helping us get set up. Along with the usual bunch of experimental jamming/sampling etc., we started playing a bunch of hardcore, putting song arrangements together really quickly. Then I started writing vocals. Soon we realized that we had way too many hardcore songs to possibly put on the next album, so we decided to release them all together as an EP."^[1]

Aglio e Olio means Garlic and Oil in Italian, a reference to one of the simplest and most popular pasta dressings. Aglio e Olio was the first album released by the Beastie Boys since 1982's Polly Wog Stew EP to feature entirely hardcore punk songs. Almost all of the songs contained on the EP are almost under two minutes in length; each song is played quickly in the style of punk rock.^[2] Initial pressings of the CD and Vinyl release came with a small adhesive label affixed with the following warning to music buyers: Only 8 songs, Only 11 minutes, Only cheap $.^[3]

Critical reception

Despite the EP only being about 10 minutes in length, the record received mostly positive reviews. Punknews.org complimented the album, saying that Aglio e Olio is "a testament to times when hardcore was about attitude, not drop-D tuning, playing really fast, and listening to too much Pantera."^[2] Similarly, Randy Silver, Amazon.com said, "[t]here are better hardcore albums out there, and there are better Beastie Boys discs, but fans will still enjoy Aglio E Olio." Jam! Showbiz Music Reviews stated that the EP - and song "Deal With It" in particular, "is entirely representative of the faster-louder sound, which makes The Ramones seem like restless experimentalists by comparison"

Not all reception was positive. Allmusic awarded the album two out of five stars without any sort of explanation.^[4]

Track listing

1. "Brand New"- 1:24
2. "Deal With It"- 1:59
3. "Believe Me"- 1:19
4. "Nervous Assistant"- 0:43
5. "Square Wave In Unison"- 1:02
6. "You Catch A Bad One"- 1:21
7. "I Can't Think Straight"- 1:20
8. "I Want Some"- 2:02

Bonus tracks^[5]

9. "Soba Violence"- 1:14 (exclusive to Japanese and Australian releases)

10. "Light My Fire"- 1:59 (exclusive to Australian 7" double-vinyl)

References