Customer Reviews

Licensed to Ill

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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This album is the best next to run dmc's raising hell album
Buy it Enjoy it
I have purchased this cd over 6 times.
FYI I love the Beastie boys

Fast delivery and my CD was new and I'm very happy I found the exact one I lost years ago.

This is of course, the Beasties' debut and the album that made them a household name. Rock fans were outraged at the sampling of Led Zeppelin's deceased drummer John Bonham, rap fans were wondering who these snotty white kids were to think THEY could rap, while a whole new generation of kids hypnotized by MTV just didn't care. They wanted to paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarteeeee and the Beastie Boys were all too willing to provide the jamz. Cuts like "Fight For Your Right (to party)", "Brass Monkey" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" are still playing at frat parties today I would bet....

To me though, this is their "Born In The USA" album: it's their biggest seller and the one album even non-Beastie fans are likely to have, but it owes its success to the fact that it's also the most watered down and genericized Beastie Boys. While some of the songs truly are interesting and fun to listen to (I particularly like "Girls"), the sound and feel on this cd is ICE cold. It's very sterile and non-groove feeling. If the songs weren't as good as they were, this one could have been a true disaster of a debut because the feel just isn't there.

Which is truly odd because if you listen to subsequent Beastie Boys albums, particularly their 1989 followup, "Paul's Boutique", you find that the Beastie Boys are anything but talentless rappers with no feel. In fact, quite the opposite, they are true slaves to the groove! They would later play their own instruments and do so with enough prowess to release individual cuts and even a full album of instrumentals with grooves so strong that they stand on their own. But groove is completely lacking on "Licensed To Ill", so I have a hard time with much of it. But if you want a great party record, this one could be for you.

To get more of what the Beastie Boys are really capable of though, check out "Paul's Boutique" or even the 2-disc compilation "Sounds of Science" (which contains most of the best songs from "Ill" anyway and is pretty cheap for a used copy here on Amazon....).

I ordered this item as a Xmas gift, and the quickness of the delivery was excellent!