Licensed to Ill

Licensed to Ill
Studio album by Beastie Boys
Released November 15, 1986
Recorded 1986
Genre Hip hop, rap rock
Length 44:33
Label Def Jam/Columbia
CK-40238
Producer Rick Rubin, Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys chronology
Rock Hard EP
(1985)		 Licensed to Ill
(1986)		 Paul's Boutique
(1989)

Licensed to Ill was the debut album by the Beastie Boys, released in 1986.

It was the first hip hop LP to top the Billboard 200 chart. It was also Columbia Records' fastest-selling debut record to date and sold over 9 million copies.

Contents

Background

Kerry King of Slayer made an appearance on the album playing lead guitar on "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" and appeared in the music video which is a parody of glam metal. The name of the song itself is a spoof on Motörhead's No Sleep 'til Hammersmith album. King's appearance on the track came about because Rick Rubin was producing both bands simultaneously (Slayer's Reign in Blood was originally released on Def Jam).

The full album cover, front to back, features a Boeing 727 — with "Beastie Boys" emblazoned on the tail — crashing head-on into the side of a mountain. The tail of the plane has the Def Jam logo and the legend '3MTA3' which spells 'EATME' when viewed in a mirror. The livery of the plane is based on that of American Airlines.

The original title for this album was Don't Be a Faggot, but Columbia Records flatly refused to release the album with this title and pressured Russell Simmons (their manager and label Def Jam head) into having the Beastie Boys to come up with another name. Adam Horovitz has since apologized for the band's earlier title.[1]

Music videos were made for the songs "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)", "No Sleep till Brooklyn", "Hold It, Now Hit It", "Rhymin' and Stealin'" and "She's Crafty".

CBS/Fox Video released a video album of the five Licensed to Ill videos, plus "She's on It" in 1987 to capitalize on the album's success. A laserdisc version was also released in Japan. All versions of the CBS/Fox release are currently out of print due to the rights to the album passing from Columbia and Sony Music to Universal Music Group, and also because of the acrimonious nature of the band's departure from Def Jam Records. Until the 2005 release of the CD/DVD Solid Gold Hits, none of the Def Jam-era videos had been included on any subsequent Beastie Boys video compilations. The Solid Gold Hits DVD includes the videos for "Fight for Your Right" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", as well as a live version of "Brass Monkey" from a 2004 concert.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Robert Christgau A+[3]
Pitchfork Media (7.8/10.0)[4]
Rhapsody (favourable)[5]
Q Magazine [6]
Rolling Stone [7]
The Source [8]
Ultimate Guitar [9]
RapReviews [10]

In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums.[11]

It is still the only album by a white hip-hop act to receive the coveted 5 mics from The Source.[8]

In 2003, the album was ranked number 217 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[12]

Vibe – Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.[13]

Q – 4 stars – "Licensed to Ill remains the world's only punk rock rap album, arguably superior to Never Mind the Bollocks…knowing that apathy and slovenliness were just around the corner."[14]

Melody Maker – Bloody Essential – "There's lots of self-reverential bragging, more tenuous rhymes than are usually permitted by law and, most importantly of all, an unshakably glorious celebration of being alive.… A surprisingly enduring classic."[15]

In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #16 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".[16]

Commercial Performance

The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on February 2, 1987 and eventually certified 9x multi-platinum on September 5, 2001. The single "Brass Monkey" was certified Gold for shipment of 500,000+ sales.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Beastie Boys and Rick Rubin, except where noted. 

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Rhymin & Stealin"   4:08
2. "The New Style"   4:36
3. "She's Crafty"   3:35
4. "Posse in Effect"   2:27
5. "Slow Ride"   2:56
6. "Girls"   2:14
7. "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)"   3:28
8. "No Sleep Til Brooklyn"   4:07
9. "Paul Revere" (Adam Horovitz, Darryl McDaniels, Rubin, Joseph Simmons) 3:41
10. "Hold It, Now Hit It"   3:26
11. "Brass Monkey"   2:37
12. "Slow and Low" (McDaniels, Rubin, Simmons) 3:38
13. "Time to Get Ill"   3:37

Personnel

Chart positions

Album

Year Chart Position
1986 The Billboard 200 1
Top Hip-Hop/R&B Albums 2

Singles

Billboard (North America) – singles

Year Single Chart Position
1986 "Hold It, Now Hit It" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 55
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 41
"The New Style" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 22
"Paul Revere" Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 20
1987 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 34
Hot Dance Music/Club Play 41
"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" The Billboard Hot 100 7
"Brass Monkey" The Billboard Hot 100 48
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 83

Samples

"Rhymin & Stealin"

"The New Style"

"She's Crafty"

"Posse in Effect"

"Slow Ride"

"Paul Revere"

"Hold It, Now Hit It"

"Brass Monkey"

"Slow and Low"

In the booklet included with the Beastie Boys' anthology set The Sounds of Science, Adam Yauch (MCA) noted that "Slow and Low" was first recorded by Run-D.M.C. in the sessions for their second album, King of Rock, but was ultimately left off the original release (though the demo version later appeared on the album's 2005 Deluxe Edition re-release). Being one of the Beasties' favorite songs from the sessions, they got Run-D.M.C.'s permission to record a cover version. Yauch states that only two lines were changed for the Beastie Boys' version: "D sees real well 'cause he has four eyes" was replaced with "White Castle fries only come in one size", and a line stating Run-D.M.C.'s name was changed to "We're the Beastie Boys, not Cheech and Chong". The notes for The Sounds of Science expand the writing credits to "Beastie Boys/J. Simmons/D. McDaniels/R. Rubin/D. Hayden", a credit corroborated by ASCAP's database.[17]

"Time to Get Ill"

References

  1. ^ Williams, Zoe (April 29, 2003). "Hiphopophobia". The Guardian (London). ISSN 0261-3077. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,945461,00.html. Retrieved November 24, 2007. 
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill > Review" at Allmusic. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert. "The Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill". http://robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=3478. Retrieved October 12, 2011. 
  4. ^ Leone, Dominique (April 15, 2004). "Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/reviews/albums/607-licensed-to-ill/. Retrieved October 12, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Licensed To Ill: Beastie Boys". Rhapsody. http://www.rhapsody.com/beastie-boys/licensed-to-ill. Retrieved October 12, 2011. 
  6. ^ http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1084923/a/Licensed+To+Ill.htm
  7. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The new Rolling Stone album guide (4th revised ed.). New York: Fireside. ISBN 9780743201698. http://books.google.com/books?id=lRgtYCC6OUwC&pg=PA49&dq=rolling+stone+album+guide+beastie+boys&client=firefox-a. 
  8. ^ a b "Beastie Boys: Licensed To Ill". The Source (New York). 1986. ISSN 1063-2085. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm#rated5. Retrieved October 12, 2011. 
  9. ^ http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/beastie_boys/licensed_to_ill/index.html
  10. ^ Young, Jayson (February 5, 2002). "Beastie Boys :: Licensed to Ill". Back to the Lab. RapReviews.com. http://rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_licensed.html. Retrieved October 12, 2011. 
  11. ^ "100 Best Rap Albums". The Source (New York) (#100). January, 1998. ISSN 1063-2085. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm#100albums. Retrieved November 24, 2007. 
  12. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone (Straight Arrow) (Special Issue). November 2003. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on August 21, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060821053344/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939357/the_rs_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time. Retrieved November 24, 2007. 
  13. ^ Vibe (New York City: InterMedia Partners): p. 158. December 1999. ISSN 1070-4701. 
  14. ^ Q (Bauer Media): p. 123. September 1994. ISSN 0955-4955. 
  15. ^ Melody Maker (London: Holborn): p. 35. July 22, 1995. ISSN 0025-9012. 
  16. ^ Q (Bauer Media) (241). August 2006. ISSN 0955-4955. 
  17. ^ "Slow and Low". ACE Title Search. ASCAP.com. http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=490604905&search_in=i&search_type=exact&search_det=t,s,w,p,b,v&results_pp=10&start=1. Retrieved November 24, 2007. 
Preceded by
Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi		 Billboard 200 number-one album
March 7 – April 24, 1987		 Succeeded by
The Joshua Tree by U2
Beastie Boys
Studio albums
Compilation albums
EPs
Singles
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