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Track Listings
| 1. To All The Girls | |||
| 2. Shake Your Rump | |||
| 3. Johnny Ryall | |||
| 4. Egg Man | |||
| 5. High Plains Drifter | |||
| 6. The Sounds of Science | |||
| 7. 3-Minute Rule | |||
| 8. Hey Ladies | |||
| 9. 5-Piece Chicken Dinner | |||
| 10. Looking Down The Barrel of A Gun | |||
| 11. Car Thief | |||
| 12. What Comes Around | |||
| 13. Shadrach | |||
| 14. Ask For Janice | |||
| 15. 59 Chrystie Street | |||
| 16. Get On The Mic | |||
| 17. Stop That Train | |||
| 18. A Year And A Day | |||
| 19. Hello Brooklyn | |||
| 20. Dropping Names | |||
See all 23 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Review
Summer 1989, and hip hop is in rude health. Public Enemy are at their peak, De La Soul were blazing a daisy age trail across the world but amidst all this, one of the bands that helped hip hop explode into the mainstream are keeping their heads down, about to release perhaps one of the greatest albums of the genre.
The Beastie Boys had, two years previously, roamed the world with an inflatable penis and were inspiring the youth to dismantle Volkswagens. With the bratty metal hybrid of Licensed To Ill, they'd sold millions and opened the ears of white youth to the world of rap. Unfortunately, it all got nasty, and in Britain at least, the Beastie Boys had outstayed their welcome.
So when Paul's Boutique was released, it managed to slip in and out of the lower reaches of the album chart mostly unnoticed. However, in the years that followed, it became a word of mouth treat. It allowed the Beasties to operate at their own speed, and by the time of 1994's Ill Communication, people were beginning to love them again.
Released to celebrate its 20th birthday - now with added commentary disc and a delight of options on their website, Paul's Boutique is still a sumptuous feast of rhyming and stealing other people's tunes - in The Sound Of Science they grab the new sample culture by the horns and sample three Beatles tunes alone. With the then very hot production team of The Dust Brothers, nothing was off bounds - country, funk, Bernard Hermann scores, Chic, ping pong - all are fed into the mix. Nobody would even attempt to copy it, such was its audaciousness. Lyrically, Tibet was a few years off, here were tales of the Egg Man, Johnny Ryall and Shadrach, there were dedications To All The Girls in the sumptuous opener, and in Shake Your Rump and Hey Ladies, two of their most funktastic moments.
It's interesting to wonder what would have happened had the Beasties carried on in brat mode. Would their influence on contemporary culture have been the same if Paul's Boutique hadn't happened? Most definitely not. To tire of this album is to tire of breathing. A genuine masterpiece. --Ian Wade
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Something of a Cult Classic,
By
This review is from: Paul's Boutique: 20th Anniversary Edition (Audio CD)
It's 20 years since the release of The Beastie Boys second album "Paul's Boutique" and the arrival of a shiny remaster with a gatefold package couldn't be more different. At the time of its release the Beasties were not shocking, not clever, and (in the eyes of most) not really needed. They'd trailblazed the whole frat boy rap/rock which still has traces in the musical DNA to this day and many had found the novelty severly lacking. Shorn of their Def Jam label and heading straight for the bargain bins was this album's destiny. They were right, it didn't sell.
For those that did buy it there was something of a surprise. What it contained was one of the most sample heavy and innovative Hip-Hop albums of not just the year, but of that and subsequent decades. Yet despite all that it's quite obviously a Beastie Boys album. Listen to it, or any of the subsequent releases and the blueprint is set. The trademark lyrical chopping and changing is all here and so is a rather carefully honed intellegence which lurks both in the music and words the band declaims. Having said that anyone who only knew them from the mega hit "Licence To Ill" would still find a lot of the band they knew. The difference is that the cartoon style is replaced by something a lot more considered. Tracks melt into each other and there are simply dozens of samples weaving the piece together and also weaving in and out of other samples. The final "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" epitomises the magpie approach to samples and through the album there are samples from jazz, funk, country, Jimi Hendrix, and all kinds of other genres. Bouillabaisse is split into each of its component parts on the re-master which helps to pick out what makes its considerable sum from some impressive parts. The reissue exists because this album's influence is still being heard, turntablism's holy grail is how some would describe this. It is an abject lesson in how to weave a sonic tapestry from the most unexpected of places. There have been few equals to this day. Hearing it now seems to diminish little of its originality. What you get here is a nice brightly remastered album, the opportunity to download a track by track commentary, and nothing else. No bonus tracks, live outtakes, remixes or anything of the kind. They simply don't need it. If (like me) you've wondered why people rate this so highly then there is even less of an excuse to experience this exceptionally impressive work now. If you like Hip-Hop then this is definately worth hearing. Two deacdes haven't dimmed its power.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Hip Hop album ever????,
This review is from: Paul's Boutique: 20th Anniversary Edition (Audio CD)
The best Beastie boys album by a mile. One of if not the best Hip Hop album ever IMO.
No stupid rantings about 'Bitches,Hoes,Bling,' or 'shot the mother fu**er' just old school beats, clever non violent and non abusive lyrics and samples galore. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Paul's Boutique - 20th Anniversary Remastered,
By
This review is from: Paul's Boutique: 20th Anniversary Edition (Audio CD)
Great album, I'd actually forgotten how good this was. Extra (downloadable) content (band talking about the album, tracks etc) also worth a listen... *****
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