Beastie Boys Albums Ranked

Beastie Boys were an American hip hop group from New York City formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael “Mike D” Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam “MCA” Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming).
Beastie Boys were formed out of members of experimental hardcore punk band the Young Aborigines in 1978, with Diamond as a vocalist, Jeremy Shatan on bass guitar, guitarist John Berry and Kate Schellenbach on drums. When Shatan left in 1981, Yauch replaced him on bass and the band changed their name to Beastie Boys. Berry left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Horovitz.
After achieving local success with the 1983 experimental hip hop single “Cooky Puss”, Beastie Boys made a full transition to hip hop, and Schellenbach left. They toured with Madonna in 1985 and a year later released their debut album, Licensed to Ill, the first rap record to top the Billboard 200 chart. Their second album, Paul’s Boutique (1989), was a commercial failure, but later received critical acclaim. Check Your Head (1992) and Ill Communication (1994) found mainstream success, followed by Hello Nasty (1998), To the 5 Boroughs (2004), The Mix-Up (2007), and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011). Beastie Boys have sold 20 million records in the United States, making them the biggest-selling rap group since Billboard began recording sales in 1991. With seven platinum-selling albums from 1986 to 2004, Beastie Boys were one of the longest-lived hip hop acts worldwide. Here are all of the Beastie Boys’ albums ranked.

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10. The In Sound From Way Out! (1996)

“It’s great for road trips, or those times at home when you just want some ambient sound while you’re tooling around the house. One of the best albums of all time, and to think, it was an import bootleg. It garnered such a cult following, that the Beastie Boys ended up trying to duplicate the effort recently (which falls far short of this one!). Even if you don’t like the Beastie Boys, you should check out this album. I once played it for someone who HATES the Beastie Boys, not telling her who this was. Once I saw her tapping her toes and getting into it, I asked her if she knew who this was. When I told her, she looked like I just sneaked up on her and splashed her in the face with ice water.”

9. Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds Of Science (1999)

“As eclectic of a single-group retrospective that I can recall. Either a jumbled mess or a kaleidoscopic thrill ride, depending on one’s perspective. This particular listener was impressed by the fact that the Beastie Boys sound like a completely different group from one selection to the next, as the track order constantly juxtaposes one phase of the group’s career against another. Thus, the listener walks away at the end with a clear idea of just how versatile and creative the Beastie Boys were”

8. The Mix-Up (2007)

“This is a great album. I have always enjoyed the instrumental tunes that the Beastie Boys placed throughout their albums. I love how even though this is only instrumental music, they kept their intricate and complex sound. Almost everything has just the right amount of layering without being distracting. It just makes you want to listen to each song multiple times to see what you can discover that you may have missed before. Not all of the songs are overly complex, a couple of theme seem like the kind of spontaneous jams you get when just having a good time with some close friends. Overall, I love everything this album has. A great feather in the Beastie Boys cap.”

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7. Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011)

“The album is an amalgamation of all their sounds throughout their career. Big beats, collaborations, instrumentals, vocal effects, electro and rock sounds. This album is consistent and having no hit singles benefits it has you listen to whole of the album. The production is really good which I think is vital for a hip hop record.”

6. To The 5 Boroughs (2004)

“The Beastie Boys have made a disappointing album, their first one ever, and it’s still pretty damn good. Despite sounding a bit…dated, you can’t deny the old school fun that To the 5 Boroughs delivers, and any weak rhymes and shakey voices that you hear are usually overshadowed by catchy choruses and good use of samples. But still…even though it’s a great party record, the Beastie Boys are showing their age, and it’s just hard to compare TT5B to past Beastie Boys masterpieces like Check your Head, Paul’s Boutique and Hello Nasty. A good album by a great band, but we all know they can do better.”

5. Hello Nasty (1998)

“Here they’ve created more of an electronic funk sounding album and abandoned a bit of that heavy hitting punk/rap of the past.  Amazingly it worked extremely well for them.  Reverting to the past means synthesizers, scratching (love scratching), more ethnic snippets and even a bit of a space theme!  Speaking of scratching, part of their sound on this album can be attributed to Mixmaster Mike who is really killer at what he does.  The sampling is a little heavier here, but still not up to the standards of Paul’s Boutique yet differently fun.  Even with all of the things going on here the album has a remarkably pleasing flow to it, everything just sort of morphs into one another.  “

4. Check Your Head (1992)

“”Check Your Head” takes a huge leap from “Licensed to Ill” and “Paul’s Boutique” albums thanks to its more instrumental orientation. “Check Your Head” contains many great instrumental groovy funk/punk songs and yet again some very impressive yet funked up East Coast hip-hop sessions. It really doesn’t get any better than this. Take a road trip with your pals and play “Finger Lickin’ Good” on high volume. Even though everything works smoothly, I still think a) “Check Your Head” lasts a bit too long OR b) it has too many songs which seem to get too repetitious in the end. Hmmm… I don’t know… It feels like after “Professor Booty” the energy of the album decreases dramatically.”

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3. Ill Communication (1994)

“For better or worse, the music here seems to continue the pattern seen on Check Your Head. Straightforward rapping, punk rockers, and instrumentals all go hand in hand. As the images in the liner notes suggest, there’s a broader cosmology underlying this album. Consider Yauch’s dabbling in Buddhist ideas towards the end of the disc. Similar signs of growth are seen elsewhere. Note how the instrumental pieces have gone from 70s jazz-funk excursions to relaxed Latin grooves and more abstract (and relatively terrifying) numbers. The textures and moods are great; the musicianship is augmented by the fun interplay among the players.”

2. Licensed To Ill (1986)

‘Amazing record. Starts with the “When The Levee Breaks” and “Sweet Leaf” sample and  kicks off with “Rhymin’ and Stealin”. “Paul Revere” is definetly where Eminem gets half of story-telling skills from (the other half is from The Notorious B.I.G.) a comedic narrative about booze and robbery, of course this album is famous for “(You Gotta) Fight for your Right (To Party) but lots of tracks are underatted like “She’s Crafty” , “The New Style”, “Slow and Low (Run-DMC cover)” and “Hold It Now, Hit It”. All in All this is without question one of the best albums of all time.”

1. Paul’s Boutique (1989)

“Worst album … is what I would say if was mentally challenged but since I’m pretty sure I’m not Paul’s Boutique is one of the most amazing albums ever. I LOVE “Licensed to Ill” but I have to admit a lot of the tracks have a lot of the same traits: goofy, silly and Rock-oriented. But Paul’s Boutique is a totally different trip. The beats are phenomenal, just layers and layers of samples that sound like original music and raps improved greatly, no longer frat boy anthems and sexist tunes but Intelligent rhymes (3-Minute rule), thorough narratives (High Plaines Drifter) and everything New York related. Of all the hip-hop albums i own this is one of the ones I can listen to all the way through, One of the greatest records of all-time.”