Beastie Boys – Ill Communication Remastered Edition

I’ve been obsessed with the Beastie Boys for as long as I can remember. Hello Nasty was my first album review ever published around 11 years ago. This year I came this close to interviewing the guys at their Presidential inauguration show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, but that didn’t happen and I was crushed. Now that MCA (Adam Yauch) has been diagnosed with cancer, the Beasties have postponed their tour and the release of their upcoming album, Hot Sauce, and have possibly eliminated any chance I might have to interview the guys together (I know, I’m exaggerating a little). So where does this leave me? Loving the remastered version of Ill Communication and the additional disc full of B-sides and a few unreleased tracks.

Ill Communication was a chart topper back in 1994, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, and the album gave fans favorites like “Sabotage,” “Root Down” and “Sure Shot.” Revisiting this album reminds me why I love the Beasties in the first place — the mixture of samples and live instrumentation and the combination of hip hop and hardcore punk. I also find myself focusing on the rough and raw vocals of MCA in fear that his voice will be affected by his surgery and radiation, even though his vocals on To the 5 Boroughs were more coarse than usual.

The remastered version doesn’t sound overdone and is a pretty good replication of the original tracks. It includes remixes of tracks (“Root Down” and “Sure Shot”). While I’m quite attached to the originals, it’s always refreshing to hear a new spin of an old fave. The live bits (“Atwater Basketball Association File No. 172-C”) doesn’t add much to the bonus tracks, and “Heart Attack Man (Unplugged)” is entertaining at first with the guys breaking into laughter throughout (which is an extension of the original version’s intro). But the track probably should have ended when Mike D says, “I think I got my ya-ya’s out now,” yet it continues on for a bit longer.

However, anything from the Beastie’s will find its way on my iPod and a place in my heart, even if it is moderately disappointing.

Related posts:

1. Beastie Boys-BBoys in the Cut (Innerpartysystem remix)
2. pH10
3. Iller Than Theirs – Wash Rinse Repeat EP

Tagged as: Hip-hop, NYC

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